Why Burnout Keeps Returning in Veterinary Medicine, and How We Can Break the Cycle

Don Adeesha (Host): You took a vacation, you changed clinics. Maybe you even changed careers, and then burnout came back anyway.

For a lot of vet pros, that’s the part nobody talks about. And nobody likes to talk about.

Burnout doesn’t leave just because you do.

Welcome back to the Veterinary Business Podcast, where practice owners get the strategies that build stronger teams and stronger businesses. I’m your host for this session, Don Adeesha. It’s great to have you here.

Now, today I’m joined by Dr. Amber Parks. She’s a board-certified veterinarian, former medical director, and practice owner, and now the founder of The Stress and Burnout Coach. She spent over a decade inside the profession, and now she helps vet teams break the burnout cycle for good.

We’ll get into why burnout keeps coming back, the signs most owners miss, how the “customer is always right” thinking burns teams out, and why self-care alone won’t fix any of it.

Now, this episode is sponsored by Ekwa Marketing, the team helping vet practice owners grow without grinding themselves down.

That being said, welcome to the podcast, Dr. Parks.

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yes, thank you so much for having me.

Don Adeesha (Host): Absolutely. Thank you so much for being here.

Now, let’s get into it. Why does burnout often keep coming back for veterinary professionals, even after they change jobs, clinics, or careers?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah, I see this a lot in my coaching clients, and I experienced this myself.

I did a decade as an associate and medical director, and I got really burnt out. I thought, “If I just switch to relief work, then this will be the solution.” And I was happier for a short period of time.

But then the really cool part was I started going into all these practices and seeing people who were experiencing the same things I was experiencing. So I realized it doesn’t matter where you’re at.

Certainly, there are some practices, and just like any job, some are better than others. But really, what it came down to was the way I was trying to process or manage the stress that we all deal with in a veterinary hospital every day.

Things like dealing with clients, maybe emotionally charged clients, maybe coworkers or colleagues who have really challenging personalities. And that is everywhere you go. That is even outside of our profession.

I even worked with a coaching client of mine. She was a veterinarian, and she left clinical practice to go to academia. That’s when she and I connected, and she said, “I’m so burnt out still.”

So she was a great example. We worked together. She actually went back into clinical practice, and she realized it’s not just about being removed from the sad cases. It really comes down to learning how to process the stress instead of completely trying to push it away and act like it didn’t happen, which usually catches up with us.

Don Adeesha (Host): So are we unintentionally training ourselves to thrive on chaos, making it difficult for the nervous system to actually settle into a healthy environment?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah, I think we’ve all been living that way.

The way many of us got to where we are in our careers, whether that’s as a support staff member or a veterinarian, is that we probably sacrificed a lot, worked very hard, and probably have some perfectionist tendencies. We just keep pushing through.

That is great to get us to where we are, but that is not the same recipe that will sustain us in practice and in our career.

I think many of us live in fight or flight without really realizing it. I know I did. You’re just kind of like, “Well, I have today and tomorrow off for the weekend, and it’ll be better next week.” And we just push through.

Then next week comes, and it’s a repeat of the same thing. So we’re always in that type of energy.

When you really dig down deep, the things we’re exposed to every day may irritate us, but there’s this deeper wound there. And being comfortable without having to always do something is a lot of what I see in people in veterinary medicine too.

Don Adeesha (Host): So it’s possible for this irritation to go away? Is that what you’re saying? And for us to really find more healing or a more meaningful aspect to it instead?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah. Again, we are in healthcare, which is never 100%, but we put that on ourselves to be 100%. So there’s always going to be a disconnect there.

I think we can absolutely find our passion again in the profession and in practice when we learn to manage some of that stress. Instead of, like I did, trying to avoid it and go to different practices, we can realize, “Yes, there’s a system of veterinary medicine that has a lot of opportunity for fixing, but I can start today with how I’m experiencing and dealing with that stress.”

That’s where we can get relief and be able to have a sustainable career.

Don Adeesha (Host): Now, what are some of the signs that a veterinary professional is dealing with chronic stress rather than just being tired or overworked?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah, I get this question a lot.

I was burnt out for years, and I didn’t know it.

The big difference is whether you have the ability to recuperate. Short stress, physiologically, is normal and okay. That’s when we can get back to baseline and say, “Okay, I’m not in that fight-or-flight energy. I’m good.”

The chronic stress that turns into burnout is when it doesn’t matter if you take a vacation or switch jobs. You’re so exhausted that even rest doesn’t touch it.

A lot of times, people will work really hard throughout the week. Maybe they’re off on the weekend, and they just sit there like a lump on a log, scrolling on their phone because they’re too tired to do anything. But then they feel guilty that they’re not doing something.

Then the weekend ends, and they have to start it all over again.

So there’s never really a mental break. That’s the biggest difference I find: can you get back to baseline? Many of us can’t, or we’re not aware that we should be able to do that.

Don Adeesha (Host): So exhaustion is the symptom. I’m wondering, how can we really identify that when we are in that position?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah. I experienced this, but there’s a lot of resentment.

I almost had resentment toward the profession, toward clients, and even anger at times. I would look at my schedule and think, “Okay, this won’t be too bad. I can get through it.” Then two things would get added on, and I would start spiraling and getting angry.

Things that really should just be a little speed bump along the way end up feeling like a mountain. That’s something I see a lot.

There’s also cynicism. I like to have fun in practice. I like to laugh, and I’m all for that. But this is more like doom and gloom. It doesn’t matter what comes in; you’re just constantly miserable.

That’s going to be a sure sign that we need to start looking a little bit deeper.

Don Adeesha (Host): Okay. Now let’s talk a little bit about neurodivergence.

How does neurodivergence show up in veterinary medicine, and why can it increase the risk of burnout?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah, this is a personal obsession, if you will, for me.

I was late diagnosed at 42 years of age with ADHD and autism. I was shocked at first. How did I get through undergrad, vet school, and a decade and a half of practice?

Then, when I learned more in depth, I thought, “Oh, I think there are a lot of us in this profession.”

Especially in my age group. When I was younger, I wasn’t a rambunctious kid. I sat in school really quiet and got really good grades. But the ADHD part of that was in my brain. It was the overactive overthinking, which I think anyone in this profession can easily identify with.

We also have challenges sometimes with communication. There are varying degrees on the spectrum, and some are easier than others.

What’s interesting is I also think many of us have an affinity for animals because maybe it was hard to communicate with humans, so we naturally went to animals. Then we went to veterinary school or some kind of schooling, came out, and realized, “Oh, the animals are attached to humans. Now I have to really foster that relationship.”

So we end up putting on what they call masking. We tend to people-please. We tend to put on this outward persona of maybe not who we are, but what people expect us to be.

I did this for years, and I didn’t know what it was. But it was also why I got home from a day of work and was exhausted and couldn’t get off the couch.

I think it sets us up for burnout even more if we go undiagnosed.

Don Adeesha (Host): So really, neurodivergence shows up in veterinary medicine if we are having chronic challenges with communication? Would you say that?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah, and a lot of it too, I know this will resonate with your listeners.

I didn’t know this, but things like perfectionism, all-or-nothing thinking, and some of the less desirable things can be part of it. But the good part is that we tend to be out-of-the-box thinkers. We do really well in chaos and high stakes.

That is also why I think we have a lot of people in veterinary medicine. It takes a certain person to do that.

We also tend to be very empathetic. When we’re facing all the challenges we do on a normal day in veterinary medicine, we’re feeling everyone’s energy and absorbing that. That gets very draining.

If we’re not aware of that, and then there is some communication challenge, it layers all these possibilities together and can really stack the odds against us, setting us up for burnout.

Don Adeesha (Host): With regards to masking, is that also multiplied because of these communication challenges, or is that something different?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): It’s a little bit different.

The interesting part is that it looks different for everyone, and I think that’s what makes it challenging to identify. What makes it look different for everyone is our personalities.

The communication piece was interesting because I still don’t really identify with that. I think I do a pretty good job talking to clients. But I noticed that I’m almost hyperfixated.

You’re having a conversation with someone, and you’re reading all the nonverbal body language because maybe you trained yourself over years. This happens many times in girls and women. We train ourselves to subconsciously pick up on those things and not realize it.

But in doing that, it takes energy as well. So it comes off as, “We communicate no problem.” But it can really drain a lot of energy.

Don Adeesha (Host): That’s really interesting. I would think you’re a next-level communicator.

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah, and I liked communicating with clients.

If you get that great client who wants to be educated and wants to hear about everything, I enjoyed that. I also enjoyed the medicine aspect of it too.

So in my mind, it didn’t even cross my thoughts that this might be a drain of energy. It was all or nothing. We give it all.

That’s why, if we’re not aware of that, it can become a problem. Had I known I was neurodivergent, I think I would have been more aware of it.

I just thought, “I need more sleep.” But that didn’t even do it either.

Don Adeesha (Host): That’s amazing.

So it can definitely lead to a risk of burnout because you’re not aware of what you’re doing. You might be masking. You might be having other challenges that aren’t being addressed in the typical sense of communication training and other continuing education opportunities.

Thank you very much, Dr. Parks, for sharing that experience and insight with us.

Now, we’ve been talking about cycles that keep coming back, patterns that don’t fix themselves with a vacation, a new job, or one more wellness app.

The same thing happens with practice growth.

Most clinics don’t lose growth in one big moment. It happens quietly. You try a new ad platform, you redo the website, you hire another tech, but the problem keeps growing, not the practice.

Because the issue isn’t tactical. It’s strategic.

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So no more guessing. No more piling on tools and budget without clarity. You walk away knowing exactly where to focus next, so the cycle can finally break.

Book your complimentary marketing strategy meeting at veterinarybusinessinstitute.com/msm.

I’m going to repeat that one more time: veterinarybusinessinstitute.com/msm.

Ekwa only takes a limited number of meetings each month, so if this resonated with you, go ahead and grab a spot while it’s open.

Alright, let’s get back into the conversation, because the next question takes this even deeper.

Dr. Parks, in what way does the traditional customer service mindset contribute to burnout in veterinary teams?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): This is an interesting perspective that I think we just assume is how it is.

We are in a unique situation where we’re obviously healthcare, but people pay out of pocket. Even if they have insurance, they typically pay first and get reimbursed.

I think that brings us to a different level of expectations around what clients should receive and how they should receive it.

So we’re taking something that is healthcare, which we all know is not 100%, and it never will be because we’re human, and then we’re pairing it with a business model that is trying to produce a product or service.

It may work many times, but there are going to be times when there’s a disconnect. I think that’s where we can lose some people when it comes to burnout.

Some of my coaching clients who are veterinarians feel like, “I had this client who was really rude or disrespectful, and I have to see them again.” Or the clinic manager or owner didn’t fire the client, and now they feel subjected to seeing them again.

We work through what that looks like and how to make it so they don’t feel like a doormat.

It’s that simple concept of “the customer is always right.” I think that mindset is changing a lot, and I think that’s very empowering.

I also think that will allow a lot of our support staff and doctors to want to stay in practices that support them and don’t allow employees to be second-rate to customers.

Does it cause burnout directly? No. It’s a business, and we have to look at the bottom line. But are we doing that to the detriment of our employees? That’s the big question.

Don Adeesha (Host): So what does a healthy, boundary-first customer service model look like in a high-volume clinic?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): I think it’s going to look different for everyone because everyone’s threshold for busyness, energy level, and chaos is different.

But we are really good at not even knowing what our boundary is. We’re just like, “We don’t need a boundary. No one’s going to listen to me, so I’m just going to keep going.”

Then we end up doing things or seeing clients who don’t really like us, and we don’t feel great about it. That’s not a great partnership.

It can be challenging to know where to set those boundaries. First, it’s you as an individual, and you have to set that. People will test you, and you have to walk them through that process of, “No, this is where I’m at.”

It’s going to look different for everyone. But I think we forget that, bottom line, you can have boundaries. Even though you’re an employee, you’re still human.

A lot of times, we think we’re either going to get in trouble or lose our job, so we don’t speak up. But we’re miserable inside, and that can fester.

Don Adeesha (Host): So really, take ownership of that boundary yourself.

What if the practice owner wants to help and wants to support, but they’re not aware that the associate is facing criticism from clients? Maybe the associate is keeping it bottled up because they’re afraid of bringing it up and seeming too sensitive.

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah. I lived this.

When I was a medical director, we hired a newer doctor. She was phenomenal, and she’s still there, actually.

I remember in one of our doctor meetings, she had experienced a client who wasn’t happy with her. The irony is this client just cycled through doctors they weren’t happy with, so it was going to be my turn next at some point.

I remember her telling the practice owner, who is a phenomenal guy. She asked in the nicest, sweetest way, “I saw these people. I really don’t feel comfortable seeing them again with what they said to me and what they said about me.”

I remember thinking, and I’ve done a total 180 since then, “Just do it. Just go in the room. It sucks, but this is work.”

It was that mentality of just keep pushing through.

But it was so well received by my boss. He said, “Absolutely. I’ll see them,” or whatever it was.

So having that psychological safety to bring that up and not have judgment is important. Thank God I wasn’t the one responding, because not that I would have said, “You need to just deal with it,” but I know there are a lot of practices out there that still have that mentality.

My biggest lesson from that was, one, you have to set a boundary and bring it up yourself, which can be the hardest part. No one is going to do it for you.

But two, for practice owners, if you sense something like that might be going on, it’s great to ask in a private setting, with a very honest and open-ended question, “Hey, how did it go with so-and-so? I know they were really challenging.”

What might come out of that is the fruit of what you’re looking for to have that conversation.

Don Adeesha (Host): Amazing.

As you mentioned, Dr. Parks, sometimes that feedback is not well received. I wouldn’t say usually, because in the veterinary profession, everyone involved is so compassionate. The amount of people I’ve met through my own time in the industry has shown me that.

So it strikes me that many times, the practice owner may not even be aware that such a thing is going on. Bringing it up nicely and setting the boundary for yourself first is so key, as you showed in that example.

Thank you so much, Dr. Parks.

Now, why isn’t self-care alone enough to heal this burnout we’ve been discussing? And what are some of the deeper changes that are needed at both a personal and a practice level to really root it out?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Self-care came from a positive place.

The idea was, “Let’s find self-care. Let’s present this as a solution, because then we get a break from the chaos of practice, and that will help with burnout.”

But as I started to experience burnout myself and dig deeper, I realized this is just a pause in the chaos.

I can go get a massage, go for a walk, be with my dog in nature, and that’s great. But I need to know how to handle a challenging coworker, a client, or my own inner imposter syndrome.

There’s no amount of self-care that is going to be the solution for that.

To get to the root of it, I truly think working with someone who understands the profession, a coach like myself, can help because we can’t see our own blind spots. I have a coach as well. I can’t see my own blind spots or the stories I’ve been telling myself probably my entire life.

To have someone else reflect that back is how we identify that there might be a deeper pattern here, and then root that out.

Some of the work I do with my coaching clients is getting down to the subconscious patterns, which are so interesting because there’s a lot we are not aware of that drives our decisions and mentality.

These patterns can develop in childhood. This is where perfectionism can come from. Maybe our parents said, “Well, you got a B+, but it wasn’t an A.” It may have come from a very benign place, but our little brains are like sponges.

We thought, “If we work harder, then my parents are happy.” Then we start all these patterns of perfectionism and people-pleasing.

So it’s really about getting to the root of that.

As far as practice owners, I love open conversations on a one-on-one basis. That’s where you’re going to get the most honest answer.

A lot of what has to happen before a conversation like that is creating psychological safety. If I tell my boss this thing, are they going to freak out or go off the deep end?

We know those types of people. We may have worked with them. Not having that type of reaction opens your office door, if you will, so people feel more comfortable having those conversations.

That’s really the basis of it.

I think when we can normalize some of these conversations, it doesn’t feel like this taboo topic. We all know burnout exists.

But I’ve had people tell me they’ve gone to job interviews and were asked, “There’s a gap in your resume. Can you tell us about that?” And they said, “I was really burnt out.” The interviewer said, “Maybe don’t tell anyone that because that’s not going to look really good for you.”

That happened to someone I know, and I thought, “We all know it exists. Why are we still trying to cover it up?”

So we need to normalize the conversation, not just in your practice, but in the profession itself.

Don Adeesha (Host): As you mentioned, we tend to tiptoe around the conversation. Then there’s the other side that says we need to speak a lot more about burnout. It’s an interesting dichotomy.

Dr. Parks, we began by identifying what can look like burnout: being exhausted, always being exhausted, and not knowing how to manage situations and relationships with clients or customers.

What do you mean by that? How can we step out? What does ideal managing look like for you as someone recovering from burnout?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): For myself, and I see this with a lot of people, we have to first recognize what is really going on for ourselves.

It’s very easy, and I was there myself, to get into the victim mindset of, “This profession is…” and then insert whatever adjective you want.

We sit in that place, and we stay stuck because we’re miserable.

But getting curious and asking yourself, “What is so bad about this?” can help.

Maybe it’s the clients. Okay, what about the clients is so miserable? “They’re draining. They ask me all these questions.”

We start to go a lot deeper. When we’re able to do that, I think we can really identify where we need to put our focus to create burnout prevention for ourselves.

Don Adeesha (Host): And that’s the path to sustainability, is it?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah. And that’s why there really isn’t a cookie-cutter way to do this.

It is going to look different for everyone. I do see a lot of patterns in my coaching clients and myself too, but this isn’t one-size-fits-all.

There’s a lot of good intention out there with wellness talks and webinars, and that’s great. But many of us leave that talk and go right back to our patterns because that’s all we know, and that’s what’s familiar.

So just getting curious about what truly is triggering you is where we can start changing the focus.

Don Adeesha (Host): Fixing patterns requires solutions on a systematic scale.

When you were in that mode of resentment toward the profession, how do you start identifying what it is about a client you’re not looking forward to, or what it is about two more appointments being added that feels so annoying?

How do you start identifying that when you are that deep in the hole?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): It sounds really simple, but ask yourself why, and just keep asking that.

Maybe not in the moment. If we’re really stressed, I always tell people that we still have to process and deal with it, but if we’re just trying to get through the day, then we just try to get through the day.

But reflecting back, you might say, “I was really frustrated when those two appointments got put on the schedule.”

Why?

“Well, I’m tired.”

Okay, why is that?

It could go in any direction. “I worked yesterday for a colleague, and that was usually my day off.” Or, “My spouse at home didn’t help me with childcare.”

Then ask why again.

It’s like peeling an onion. We just keep asking why.

You might be surprised because even though we’re asking ourselves that, our brains love to answer questions. The first thing that comes up when you ask yourself that is usually that deeper subconscious piece that is really driving it.

That’s what you want to go with too.

Don Adeesha (Host): That’s amazing.

So start with why. I feel like you’re also mentioning scheduling intentional time for self-reflection at the end of the day, instead of only thinking about it when you’re exhausted and down in the dirt.

Would you recommend that?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): Yeah, there’s definitely a different energy to that.

There’s the venting, exhausted, miserable, “Why am I doing this?” energy. Then there’s having even an ounce of compassion for yourself, the same compassion you give your patients.

I think, like you said, we are very compassionate people, but the last person we have compassion for is ourselves.

So we get upset and think, “Why did I get mad? I shouldn’t have been mad.” Or, “Why did they put that on the schedule?”

I think self-reflection is important.

I like to tell my coaching clients that if they get home from work and feel like there are a million things going on in their head, just write them down. You don’t have to solve anything.

Our brains tend to stay on a loop of a topic or overthinking because part of us doesn’t want to forget it. So writing it down physically can help.

We don’t necessarily have to go back to it right then and there that day. But at some point, once we leave the stress of the situation, we might have a totally different view of it.

That can be really helpful too.

Don Adeesha (Host): That’s right. Start breaking that loop by writing things down, getting it out of your head, exploring the why, and really digging deep into those patterns.

I really appreciate this, Dr. Parks. It has been an amazing conversation.

Before we wrap things up, I would love to get a key takeaway from you, or perhaps the golden nugget of our conversation. What would it be?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): The biggest thing I’d want your listeners to take away is that you truly have a lot more in your power than you think you do.

Even if you don’t own a practice, even if you’re an associate or support staff member, we often have the approach of, “Because I’m not in management or I’m not an owner, I can’t change any of this.”

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

It’s hard to see it when we’re in the muck, but that is so empowering because then we can change how we experience things.

How we process and experience stress is the hugest piece to take away from that.

Don Adeesha (Host): Amazing. Thank you so much, Dr. Parks.

Here’s something that stuck with me throughout this conversation: burnout isn’t a personal failure. It’s a pattern.

And patterns don’t break with a vacation, a new job, or a bubble bath, although we really wish they would.

They break when something deeper changes at the practice level, at the leadership level, and inside how we think about the work itself.

For practice owners, that matters because a burned-out team costs you retention, it costs you your culture, and it costs you the energy to grow.

Big thanks goes out to Dr. Amber Parks for the honesty and clarity she brought today.

Dr. Parks, where can our listeners get in touch with you if they are interested?

Dr. Amber Parks (Guest): I’m mostly on Instagram. My handle is @dr.amberparks. That’s Amber Parks, A-M-B-E-R P-A-R-K-S.

You can also check out my website, thestressandburnoutcoach.com.

If you’re interested in what this coaching thing is and what that looks like, just head over there, send me a DM or an email, and I’d love to chat.

Don Adeesha (Host): Amazing.

If you want to build a practice that runs strong without running your team into the ground, that also starts with strategy, not more hours.

So go ahead and book that free marketing strategy meeting at veterinarybusinessinstitute.com/msm.

I’ll repeat that one more time: veterinarybusinessinstitute.com/msm if growth is on your radar for 2026.

It has been my pleasure and privilege to host this podcast. I’m Don Adeesha, and this has been the Veterinary Business Podcast.

Until next time, take care.