Vet Med

As a recovered burnt out veterinarian, certified integrative health + life coach, and unicorn vet hospital consultant, I know what it takes to fall back in love with the vet med and to follow your heart + try something new - even when that feels scary. My unique training, holistic approach, and experience working in general practice, urgent care, and relief in a variety of settings has allowed me to see solutions for a profession I once wanted to escape from. If you're feeling stuck, I get it an…

Do you ever experience imposter syndrome? 

For years as a veterinarian and then again as a coach and entrepreneur I experienced imposter syndrome. I constantly felt like I wasn’t good enough and didn’t belong. 

When I looked around, I felt like everyone around me was so much smarter and talented than I was. 

And you know what? That was total BS. I was actually doing a really amazing job.

I had worked hard to get where I was and I belonged right where I was.

The only part of me that didn’t …

Here's a little pep talk for the start of your week, because you've got this!

How’s your brain filter today? 

Do you have your “ugh it’s Monday and I hate everything” brain filter or “it’s the start of a new week and there are unexpected positive moments waiting for me” kind of brain filter? 

Your brain will show you proof that supports your thoughts. What do you want to be noticing this week?

If you’re feeling anxious, that’s because your brain is probably replaying one hypothetical worst-c…

Most self-care and "prioritize rest" messages are missing this super important detail:

If you're a high achiever who has always been praised for your productivity or you're the one who always takes care of everyone, rest and self care aren't going to feel good. They will feel "bad" and unsafe. 

In order to truly start prioritizing rest, we need to talk about the discomfort that is part of the process of starting to put yourself first instead of expecting it to feel amazing.

During my lunch br…

First, let’s take a sec to release a bit of that pressure cooker situation you have going on inside of you.

Take a deep breath in, then breathe in a little bit more to fully expand your lungs and then let out a long, slowww exhale. (That's called a physiologic sigh.)

It’s going to be okay.

No matter how perfect you try to be, mistakes are part of the human experience. 

Isn’t it wild how little chemical reactions in your body can create such strong feelings? I know it doesn’t feel like it …

First, congrats on making it to this point where you finally get to be a veterinarian! 

Freedom! 🙌🏻 Vet school is NO joke, and you have had to jump through a lot of hoops to get here. This is a new chapter. You finally get to start choosing how you live your life instead of having every step laid out for you.

If you don’t already know your core values, now’s a good time to identify them. They’re an awesome guiding light as you navigate life decisions to find a path that feels fulfilling.

For …

If you've been in vet med long enough, you've probably experienced the sinking feeling when you discover that a pet owner requested to not see you or you receive negative feedback (even though you're a really awesome human and vet). 

Here are 7 tips for coping:

1. First, it feels good to be liked! It’s normal and okay to feel uncomfortable when someone doesn’t.❤️

Allow yourself to observe the discomfort that is part of being a human with a heart. Notice how the part of you that can observe th…

Click here to listen wherever you enjoy listening to your podcasts

In this episode, Dr. Stacey Cordivano shares her story of experiencing and recovering from burnout. As a solo ambulatory equine veterinarian and mom with two kids under the age of 3, she knew something had to change when she found herself driving to the hospital to have her appendix out after cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  Just a couple of months earlier, she had been diagnosed with Lyme disease and experienced the emotional tr…

Any time I tell someone outside of the veterinary profession about the high burnout and suicide rate, they're surprised. And that's totally understandable - from the outside being a vet seems like a really fun gig. We get to see puppies and kittens, after all! But there is a darker side of vet med that's important to talk about in order for it to change. Once someone learns about the high burnout and suicide rate, their next question is WHY. This podcast episode dives into the root issues …

The 5 Freedoms Revisited – An Epilogue (Part 2): Freedom From Want

By Dr. Amelia Knight Pinkston

The high burnout and suicide rate in the veterinary profession cannot be our norm, and it doesn’t have to be. Dr. Don DeForge’s article “The Veterinary 5 Freedoms” was inspired from a speech designed to rally change for “a world attainable in our own time and generation”. Change is possible starting now – today. As a profession we need to be asking, “what specifically needs to change to foster a su…