I believe large animal vets have an even tougher time maintaining the balance because of the constant on call demands, even longer hours, and travel. Couple that with the physical strain and you’re setting up for major burnout.

Hang in there Outrider! Nothing at all wrong with treating yourself first and your patients second. After all, would you rather have a fresh part-time vet or a burnt out full-time one?

Picture several hundred demanding clients like the one you described, all of whom actually have your cell phone number. I speak from experience when I say you were right to keep that number private.

A big take home message from me is that it is acceptable for a veterinarian to want to work “normal” hours and maintain a balance between work and life. It’s also completely acceptable for anyone, but especially a new mother, to want to work part-time for any length of time.

Dr. Severidt – Thanks for taking the time to give us a “baby boomer’s” perspective. I trust your delegation of duties has led to more balance and a “fresh” approach to your career as well.

I think you are right on with how veterinary medicine is changing. It is very hard for us “baby boomers” to understand the change of not wanting to work 70-80 hours a week and I struggled with it for years. In fact, I just wouldn’t hire veterinarians and would work a 7 day a week practice by myself because of this. In the past couple of years I have changed my outlook and am very happy I did. I now have 7 veterinarians working for me and most of them are part-time. They seem to stay fresh and more on top of things this way and it makes for a much better practice, in my opinion. Thanks for the post.

Dr. Dean Severidt