Belonging in practice means action, not just inclusive language
Bottom line
Building belonging beyond inclusive language in a practice leaders are being asked to move from symbolic support to day-to-day behaviors that make LGBTQIA+ team members feel safe, heard, and able to focus on clinical work. In a June 23 dvm360 commentary and video, emergency veterinarian Tripp Oliphant, DVM, said inclusive culture shows up in routine actions like respecting pronouns, avoiding assumptions, and responding promptly when a team member reports discrimination or discomfort. He framed belonging as more than a statement on a website, arguing that trust is built when leaders act in the moment and employees see concerns taken seriously. (dvm360.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the takeaway is operational, not just cultural. AAHA’s retention reporting has found that belonging, teamwork, and psychological safety are major drivers of whether people stay in practice, while PrideVMC and AAHA resources point to practical steps such as pronoun-respectful introductions, inclusive forms, visible allyship, and clear policies for addressing bias. In other words, inclusion work can affect hiring, retention, team communication, and whether clinicians have the bandwidth to grow rather than manage uncertainty about acceptance. (aaha.org)
What to watch: Expect more practices to translate inclusion language into manager training, onboarding standards, and reporting processes as retention pressures keep culture issues in focus. (aaha.org)
Veterinary practices are being pushed to think beyond inclusive wording and toward the daily mechanics of belonging. In a June 23 dvm360 piece, Tripp Oliphant, DVM, said an inclusive hospital culture is defined less by public-facing statements and more by whether people feel respected in routine interactions, whether pronouns are honored, whether assumptions are avoided, and whether leaders respond quickly when someone says they feel unsafe or discriminated against. (dvm360.com)
The commentary fits into a broader series from Oliphant and dvm360 this summer focused on LGBTQIA+ experience in veterinary medicine. In a June 16 Pride Month podcast feature, Oliphant described how authenticity, representation, and workplace acceptance shaped his own path in the profession, including the mental burden of compartmentalizing identity while pursuing a demanding clinical career. That gives the latest piece a clear throughline: belonging isn't presented as an abstract value, but as a condition that lets clinicians direct energy toward medicine, learning, and teamwork instead of self-protection. (dvm360.com)
In the new article, Oliphant points to several concrete leadership behaviors. He highlights respectful pronoun use, open communication, and timely intervention when an employee reports discrimination or discomfort. The article explicitly ties those responses to psychological safety, suggesting that trust is built when leaders do more than acknowledge a concern and instead show they can act on it. (dvm360.com)
That message aligns with existing veterinary guidance from outside dvm360. AAHA has reported that a sense of belonging and teamwork is one of the top reasons people stay in veterinary jobs, and its coverage of the Stay, Please retention work links strong teams to psychological safety, meaning employees feel able to take risks, speak up, and make mistakes without fear of humiliation. Separately, AAHA’s earlier inclusion guidance for practices recommended visible allyship, more inclusive client and employment forms, and introductions that invite people to share how they'd like to be addressed. (aaha.org)
Industry resources also suggest the profession has already built some of the infrastructure practices can use. Pride Veterinary Medical Community’s gender-diversity materials say correct pronoun use should be standard practice in veterinary workplaces, including on name badges and email signatures where appropriate, and the group maintains allyship resources for teams looking for practical implementation tools. AVMA’s Brave Space Certificate Program, developed with PrideVMC, offers CE modules on unconscious bias, LGBTQIA+ identity, inclusion, support, and workplace harassment. (pridevmc.org)
Expert and industry reaction around this issue tends to converge on the same point: culture affects performance and retention. AAHA’s retention work has framed belonging as a workforce issue, not just a values issue, and PrideVMC materials position pronoun respect and inclusive systems as baseline professional standards. Based on those sources, it's reasonable to infer that the significance of Oliphant’s message is its practicality. He isn't arguing for a new principle so much as urging leaders to operationalize one the profession already says it supports. (aaha.org)
Why it matters: For hospitals facing burnout, turnover, and hiring pressure, belonging can no longer sit apart from workforce strategy. If clinicians and staff members are spending energy assessing whether they can be open about who they are, that competes with learning, collaboration, and patient care. For practice leaders, the article is a reminder that inclusion is most visible in supervision, conflict response, onboarding, documentation, and the small habits of everyday communication. Those are also the places where trust can be lost quickly. (dvm360.com)
What to watch: The next step is whether more practices formalize these ideas into policy and training, including reporting pathways, manager expectations, inclusive forms, and CE-backed staff development. With retention still a live issue across veterinary medicine, expect belonging to be discussed less as messaging and more as a measurable part of team sustainability. (aaha.org)