health

Young veterinarians and burnout

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Vet Burnout is worse in younger team members.

Dr. Ivan Zakharenkov suggests that those suffering the most place more emphasis on the work-life balance.
WRITTEN BY TODAY’S VETERINARY BUSINESS IN OCTOBER 2020

Veterinary professionals under age 30 suffer the highest rate of burnout, according to a study conducted by the CEO of Veterinary Integration Solutions.

Ivan Zakharenkov, DVM, used the widely recognized Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) to measure the responses of 1,457 people, mostly veterinarians and veterinary technicians, in all age groups. The project was conducted as part of his MBA dissertation.

The younger professionals stood out when asked about their emotional and physical exhaustion, enthusiasm and “sense of dread when I think about the work I have to do.”

“This finding is even more alarming because, in general, the veterinarian population is young. For example, 38% of U.S. vets are age 40 and under,” said Dr. Zakharenkov, also known as Dr. Zak.

“The reason for higher burnout can be that the younger generation places more emphasis on the work-life balance,” he said. “It’s harder for them to handle long hours or experience frustration from other factors such as the lack of control when dealing with problems at work.

“Looking to address this problem in my dissertation, I have considered a correlation between veterinary and human health care industries and proposed that implementing lean thinking methodology can help support veterinary employees’ mental well-being and keep their motivation levels high.”

Forty-three percent of the survey respondents were veterinarians and 38% were veterinary technicians. Also quizzed were practice managers, veterinary assistants, receptionists and veterinary technologists.

Burnout remains a significant issue for the veterinarians and the hospital staff, which negatively affects personal and professional wellbeing and sometimes leads to tragic consequences.

A researcher is Dr. Ivan Zakharenkov, who has extensive experience in veterinary Domain. While working for over 30 veterinary hospitals, an Emergency Veterinarian as well as a relief vet, he gained a deep understanding of the importance of a healthy work-life balance. Further, while creating “Smart Flow” – the first workflow optimization system for veterinarians, he was exposed to over 600 hospital teams as well. He was able to collect world-wide knowledge on this topic.

He decided to study to apply his experience and make a sizable impact on the industry’s wellbeing.

As burnout became a significant challenge for many veterinarians lately, various studies were conducted to investigate the issue. However, burnout rates keep increasing, which means that there is a need to go beyond assessing the degree, but also to provide a solution.

Veterinary Integration Solutions, a data and analytics company, is headquartered in Saint John, Canada.

Dog tests positive for SARS-CoV-2

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Niagara-area dog tests positive for COVID-19  …but most pets are still safe

A dog in Ontario’s Niagara Region has tested positive for COVID-19, although researchers say most pet owners shouldn’t be worried.

Positive tests for novel coronavirus in dogs are rare because they are typically asymptomatic and they get over the ailment quickly.

Scott Weese, the chief of infection control at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College, is part of a study that found the positive case in the Niagara area. He said that any household where a person has COVID-19 should include their pets in the quarantine as a precautionary measure.

“Your dog is less likely to be infected than the people in your household, but it’s possible and we don’t want to create the chance that your dog can pass it on,” said Weese on Monday morning.

He also noted that pet owners should not be worried about their animals falling ill.

“It’s a human virus,” said Weese. “It likes people and there are some animal species that can be effected but that’s a spillover.

“We’ve got probably not uncommon human-to-dog infection but the dogs rarely, if ever, get sick.”

Other animals, like non-human primates and minks, are much more susceptible to the virus than dogs.

Weese said that of approximately 40 pets tested in the study only the dog has been confirmed as having the virus. A cat in the study had some lingering antibodies from COVID-19, suggesting it had once been sick.

Testing animals for the study has been difficult logistically. The household first has to discover that a person has COVID-19, then contact the researchers to have their pets checked, and then the test has to be administered within the relatively small window that the animal may be sick.

“We’re looking at a few different aspects of (COVID-19) like how it’s moving and if it’s moving between people and animals,” said Weese. The antibody testing — after the virus has passed — is usually how it’s confirmed an animal had the coronavirus, he said.

“It looks like it’s probably not that uncommon for people to spread it to their pets and for the pets to not have any consequences from it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2020.

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