No matter where you are in your veterinary career, summer can be busy and hard—and when you’re stressed, a disrespectful client can feel like the last straw. Although most client interactions are pleasant, some are downright heartwarming, but we tend to replay the negative ones over and over in our head. It’s easy to let the negative interactions shape how we see ourselves, especially when we’re tired or overwhelmed.
To help you remember the positive stuff: Keep an I don’t suck file.
I have a box in my office full of thank you notes, photos, and cards clients have sent over the years. (Truth time: For a few years, I felt like my real accomplishment was fooling these clients into thinking I was a good doctor.) There’s a drawing from a little girl whose family adopted a super sick puppy from the shelter, thanking me for taking care of the dog even though the pup didn’t make it; a card that came with a tray of cookies from a woman whose cat nearly died of hemotropic anemia (a diagnosis and outcome I’m still proud of); a photo of a sweet chocolate Lab with a congenital condition that made it a miracle she survived to age 6; and many, many thank you notes for the care I showed when euthanizing a beloved pet. This box contains 16 years of reminders of patients and clients whose lives were made better in some way because of me.
What I wish I’d also done is keep a record of cases that turned out great or that I handled well, even without acknowledgement from the humans involved. As nice as it is to receive thank you’s from clients, a thank you isn’t necessary for a case or conversation to go in the I don’t suck file—our work is valid and important whether or not we feel appreciated. I’m going to start doing that now and encourage you to do the same.
Start that file and remember that you are worthy of appreciation and thanks even if you don’t hear it very often. Do what you can to remember the positives when your brain wants to stick stubbornly to the negatives. Share the good stuff with your family and friends, and believe them when they say you’re amazing.
Congratulations on being an essential part of the most beautiful profession in the world!
Find us anytime at cliniciansbrief.com/student-center or launchpad@vetmedux.com.