Why do veterinarians keep burning out?

In this episode of the Veterinary Leadership Success Show, I’m unpacking why so many great people in our profession are burning out, and what we can learn from elite athletes about how to fix it.

Because in sport, training hard every day is a fast track to injury. Yet in vet med, we do exactly that - long hours, relentless pressure, and no real recovery. Then we wonder why everyone’s limping.

I’ll walk you through how to think like a coach - setting the right dose of work, building rest into the plan, and checking in before things start to snap. We’ll talk about how to balance intensity with recovery and why emotional fuel is every bit as important as physical energy.

Episode Outline:

00:00 – Performance or wellbeing? (You can have both.)

01:00 – Lessons from the track: what sport can teach vet med

03:00 – Running slow to go fast

06:00 – The four factors of performance: volume, intensity, rest, and fuel

10:00 – When teams “train” too hard and start to break

13:00 – Building resilience, not fatigue

16:00 – Check in before they burn out

18:00 – Fuel, rest, and emotional recovery

20:00 – Your leadership training plan for a healthier team

Want more leadership tools in your corner?

Follow me: @drdavenicol

Check out: Veterinary Leadership Academy

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