“Resilience and grit got me through it”: Using collaborative narrative inquiry to understand how veterinarians overcame challenges in their profession

Introduction:
In many countries, the profession of veterinary medicine experiences high rates of attrition. Reasons why veterinarians leave the profession are well established and include difficult working environments and interpersonal conflicts, often leading to mental health struggles (e.g., anxiety, depression).

Goals and Methods:
While being aware of the negative conditions and consequences of veterinary practice is important, this study takes a strength-based approach. Therefore, the aim was to understand how those veterinarians who stayed in clinical practice have overcome difficulties, and often even flourished, in their careers.
We approached this project from a constructivist ontology and took an interpretative stance. Individual interviews were conducted with 11 veterinarians practicing in Prince Edward Island, Canada. We used a collaborative narrative inquiry approach, which enabled the participants to tell stories through reflexivity about their career, and how they overcame difficult times. Based on their stories, we created a narrative reconstruction, which was then discussed and amended with participants during a follow-up interview and observation.

Results:
Preliminary results indicate that overcoming experienced challenges was often a lengthy process, although in some cases these challenges were triggered by s specific (short-lasting) moment. While external support from co-workers was important, internal mental strategies were crucial for those veterinarians who stayed in the profession. Specifically, participants reported on the value of self-reflection, trusting their instincts, and establishing a strong sense of self outside of the profession.

Conclusions:
Specific challenges are inherent to the veterinary profession. However, through their stories, participants described a variety of strategies to successfully overcome difficulties, which can inform veterinary education in the future. A collaborative narrative inquiry approach was deemed very valuable for this study as it allowed participants to share the stories that had the most impact on their perception of their career, including associated challenges and strategies.