Veterinary burnout discussion shifts from ‘should’ to personal why

Veterinary professionals are still hearing plenty of advice about burnout, but a new dvm360 commentary argues the bigger issue may be that information alone isn't changing behavior. In the November 19, 2025, installment of The Resilient Vet: Mind and Body Strategies for Success, cohosts Aaron Shaw and Jennifer Edwards said the field's persistent burnout problem may be less about a lack of awareness and more about cultural norms, personal barriers, and motivation that doesn't go deep enough. Their core shift is from asking what people "should" do for wellness to asking why a change actually matters to them. (dvm360.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, that framing lines up with a broader industry move away from treating burnout as an individual resilience failure. CDC's Impact Wellbeing initiative says the most effective response is to address workplace policies and practices, not just tell people to practice more self-care, while AVMA reporting has echoed that leaders need to tackle staffing, schedules, administrative burden, and other root causes. At the same time, profession-wide data show burnout and distress remain meaningful workforce issues: the 2025 AVMA economic report said burnout scores have eased slightly from pandemic highs, but 8.6% of veterinarians are still considering leaving the profession, and a 2024 JAVMA study found serious psychological distress among nonveterinary practice team members was twice as prevalent as among veterinarians. (dvm360.com)

What to watch: Expect more burnout programming in veterinary medicine to pair personal coaching and values-based behavior change with practice-level fixes around workload, breaks, flexibility, and team support. (ebusiness.avma.org)