Good husbandry of the cow vet

Abstract

As a new graduate, we often think that honing our technical skills is the number one priority. While being a technically-skilled veterinarian is incredibly important for serving our clients and animals, we also need to develop the skills to take care of ourselves. We can assess our mental and physical states as cattle veterinarians through the lens of the 5 Freedoms and 5 Domains of Animal Welfare. We will discuss how goal setting is a habit of highly successful people and how we often overlook the value of intention setting. As cattle veterinarians, we can combat imposter syndrome through setting boundaries, recog­nizing burnout and investing in relationships. Cattle veterinar­ians, like our bovine patients, are herd animals too.