Vet360 Vet360 Vol 06 Issue 02 | Page 13

BUSINESS COLUMN We need to ask: Do we really have a recipe for successful professionals? • Early fixed mind-set that could lead to an inability to cope with change • Extreme regard for technical expertise that could lead to perfectionism and inflexibility in all areas of life • A high need for autonomy and perceived resilience that could lead to control freakishness and micro-management • Poor ethical and moral reasoning skills that could lead to poor decisions because of conflicting ethical reasoning. There is no doubt that these norms associated with veterinary professional identity can cause stress, anxiety and undermine wellbeing and self-esteem. These issues have three very important implications 1 Fixed Identity and a Changed Reality. Unfortunately from day one of being in practice vets are faced with the stark reality of dealing with clients and patients in a commercial world – things go wrong - exposing then suddenly to a catalogue of real and perceived threats to technical competence, dedication, resilience and ethical and moral challenges such as: • • • • • • • • • • • • Complaints & mistakes Anaesthetic deaths/treatment failure Rejection/questioning of treatment options Rejection/questioning of competence Clinical perfectionism vs. pragmatism Appraisals and feedback Disciplinary proceedings Job dissatisfaction or loss Illness & stress Accountability & targets Euthanasia Commercial accountability Research shows that technical competence threats in particular, can have catastrophic psychological effects for individuals who have invested heavily in their identity as prof essionals. (Mellanby and Herrtage’s 2004) Other studies have shown that other professionals (doctors) who had experienced a current or recent complaint were at increased risk of moderate/severe depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. (Bourne and others 2015) 2. “Who am I” and “What do I do” Mismatch. These three identity themes are completely at odds with the widely held ‘Veterinary Myth’ held by the public, vet students and academics and espoused by the profession at all levels. The Myth says that vets act out of Altruism - that veterinary professionals should put the interests and welfare of others before their own; and Social Justice - the veterinary profession should, in the interest of fairness, provide equal opportunities of care to all clients. Nearly all veterinary students start their training with these beliefs intact and they are reinforced by their academic training. However they struggle to survive in the commercial real-life world of veterinary practice but the need to conform to the myth is still there. As a result vets are robbed of their primary purposeful belief in who they are and what they do. Student vets enter the profession with a distorted view of the professions expectations, an incompatible professional identity and a fixed mindset. This can psychologically damaging and undermine resilience. 3. Veterinary career choices. Because self-identification with the veterinary profession is far stronger than identification with either a particular organisation or their own values and beliefs, they seek organisations where their identity is a good fit and makes it less likely that veterinary professionals will adopt organisational rules, participate in activities or promotions or act ‘as the organisation’ they don’t believe in. With the increasing corporatisation of the veterinary profession, and trends towards employment rather than self-employment, individuals will increasingly need to work within organisational values. Can Commercialism help? The same research suggests that ‘Commercialism’ is of least importance to vet students in terms of desirable character traits and of low importance to their academic tutors. Veterinary professionals equate being a commercial organisation with being unethical. However the reality of veterinary practices puts commercialism centre stage as a pragmatic necessity of business. This is why the fundamental pets versus profit paradox issue is so hard – it is an ethical problem of identity. Practices and the profession have a significant challenge to manage the pets versus profit paradox. The veterinary profession has at its core a moral and purpose vacuum and a battle raging as Commercialism tries to replace Altruism & Social Justice as our sense of purposeful identity at the very beginning of our careers. However Commercialism can be a pathway back to Purpose. We need to find a way to be commercially successful that is ethically acceptable to the profession. One way to address this is to redefine and expand the definition of commercialism to include balancing 4 conflicting outcomes of: • clinical care, • financial viability, • client experience Issue 02 | MAY 2019 | 13