My Action Plan

Goal #1: By 2027 I want to return to a full-time job working as a veterinarian in an animal shelter, and I want shelter medicine to be a sustainable long-term career for myself.
1. Obstacles: This is not a new goal for me, I worked full time at an animal shelter for over 5 years previously and had to quit a few months ago because of extreme burnout. I need to both recover from that burnout and take steps to ensure that I don’t burnout again before I can achieve this goal.
a. The first thing I’m going to do is work on recovering from the burnout that I’m currently experiencing. I’m doing that by taking on a lighter schedule doing relief work only and working at jobs that I do not find overwhelmingly stressful. I’m also giving myself time to focus on hobbies and relationships that I neglected when I was overworked and chronically stressed at my old job. I’m working on improving my sleep schedule, improving my diet, getting more exercise, and on creating healthier routines.
b. The next thing I need to do is to work on eliminating/fixing the behaviors that I engaged in that caused me to get burnt out in the first place. I can practice these behaviors in my relief jobs:
i. Prioritizing a good work-life balance.
ii. Setting boundaries and not being afraid to say “no” or “yes, and” when asked to do things that would interfere with my work-life balance, or when asked to do things that are beyond what I will have the capacity to do during my regular workday.
iii. Being more Proactive/Enactive in how I deal with wok stress.
iv. Focus on creating work environments where I can engage in the 5 Freedoms of Welfare for Shelter Professionals2 even if I’m not working specifically in an animal shelter. Have the confidence to leave workplaces where I cannot do this.
v. When making to-do lists and plans for the day, utilize the Eisenhower Matrix3 recommendations to determine what are things I should do that day, what are things I should schedule, and what are things I should delegate to others.
vi. Be more conscientious about my choice of conflict management style and avoid using the “avoidant style” and venting to others, especially when dealing with conflict with superiors8
2. Action Steps:
a. Burnout Recovery/Prevention:
i. Do not sign up for a full-time job until 2026 at the earliest. Instead continue to work relief jobs and focus on a schedule that does not have you working more than 4 days/38hrs per week.
ii. My goal is to be in a better place mentally, and with better and more consistent routines by 2027.
iii. Others who will be affected: my husband will be affected by my change in schedule and income, hopefully for the better since I will be making more money and under less stress.
iv. Resources I need: further reading/self help books on handling stress and burnout. I plan to get recommendations from my therapist and from taking CE focused on burnout.
v. I will monitor progress by tracking my overall mood, my sleep quality, the number of days per week I make time to exercise, spend time with friends, and focus on my hobbies. I will use daily journalling to keep track of these things.
vi. I will measure my success by seeing improvements in my mood and routines, fewer anxiety attacks, and fewer stress dreams related to my old job.
b. Getting a new job in shelter medicine:
i. I will start looking for a full-time job in shelter medicine no earlier than 2026, in order to allow me enough time to recover from burnout and to establish new routines where I prioritize my work-life balance.
ii. My goal is to be employed in shelter medicine by the end of 2027.
iii. My husband is probably the person who will be most affected by this goal, since changes in my schedule and income affect him.
iv. I will need the resources from this course, in addition to further readings and CE that I plan on doing throughout the next year, to be able to maintain a healthy work-life balance while transitioning back to a full-time career in shelter medicine. I will also need to know about available job postings and will need information from people who currently work in the shelters I plan on applying for jobs at so that I can go into a job there with a good idea of what the work culture is like.
v. Success will be measured not only by whether I return to the field of shelter medicine, but by my ability to maintain a good work-life balance and improve my skills as a leader once I am in that role.

Goal #2: By 2027 I want to improve my surgical skills to be competent in non-HQHVSN surgeries, especially soft tissue and common orthopedic surgeries.
1. Obstacles: The biggest obstacle that has prevented me from achieving this goal in the past is not having enough free time or employer support in learning how to perform these surgeries. Because I am doing relief work only now, I can build my own schedule to allow me more time to learn how to do these procedures. I also am lucky that I am working with a veterinarian right now in a HQHVSN practice (Dr. Hodgson at MDSPCA’s Spay-Neuter Clinic) who is willing to take the time to teach me how to do the soft tissue surgeries, and a veterinarian at a private practice (Dr. Herbert at AAVH) who is willing to teach me the orthopedic surgeries.
2. Action Steps:
a. I plan to start working on these goals next month. I work with Dr. Hodgson at MDSPCA once a week already, and starting next month plan to focus as much of my time there as possible on working with her directly on these more specialty procedures. I also plan to start working with Dr. Herbert in April of next year, as he will be out of town from mid-December through March. Both veterinarians have my contact information, and I’ve asked them to reach out to me if a specialty surgical procedure gets scheduled on a day when I’m not already working for them, so that I can come in to help with it if my schedule allows.
b. I aim to be more proficient in about 80% of the surgeries I listed in my “Goals” section by the time I am looking to restart my career in shelter medicine.
c. The veterinarians who have offered to help me gain proficiency in these surgeries will have their surgery times affected, since it takes longer to slow down and teach than it does to do the surgery by yourself.
d. The biggest resources I will need are time and availability of cases. By creating a more flexible schedule for myself, I should have plenty of time to learn how to do these procedures. Availability of cases may be more difficult, especially at the MDSPCA as they prioritize doing public spays and neuters over special procedures in shelter. There are other high volume surgical centers in the area that I am considering reaching out to if the caseload at MDSPCA is not enough.
e. I will create a checklist of the common soft tissue and orthopedic surgeries, and will measure my progress and success by the number of surgeries that I feel competent doing by the end of 2027. I’ve also put a reminder in my calendar every 3 months to reflect on what I’ve learned, make sure that I’m learning at a pace that seems like it will get me where I want to be by 2027, and consider other options if I don’t feel like I’m making enough progress.