Launchpad: Learning to Trust Yourself

I’ll never forget one of my very first trust your gut moments in practice.

I’d been in the clinic less than a year when an older crossbreed dog was brought in febrile and not eating. She had been adopted from a shelter 4 years prior and always been the picture of health. At the time of adoption, the owner was told she had been spayed, so when I explained that I suspected a pyometra and she needed emergency surgery, they were understandably incredulous.

Inside, I was doubting myself too. She’d lived with them for years with no obvious heat cycles. Could I really be right? But blood work and radiographs (point-of-care ultrasound was not around at the time) pointed squarely to infection of the uterus. 

Burned into my memory is the moment the owner looked at me and said, “Well, we’ve been coming here for almost 15 years. If the boss trusted you enough to hire you, then we’ll trust you too.” I took a deep breath and leaned on my training, and we went into surgery. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy before—or since—to see a uterus.

Looking back, that case reminds me how natural it is to feel imposter syndrome. You’ll have moments when you wonder if you’re really ready or whether you’re about to make the wrong call. That’s normal. What matters is trusting your education, using the tools in front of you, and knowing when to ask for help.

Your patients don’t need you to know everything on day 1. They need you to keep learning, keep growing, and keep showing up with compassion and curiosity. Over time, the doubt softens, and the trust—both in yourself and from your clients—gets stronger. And every once in a while, you’ll find yourself in the operating room, ridiculously grateful for the sight of something as simple as a uterus, realizing: yes, you do belong here.