Dr. Michael Tokiwa

What Vet School Does Not Teach You About the Emotional Swings of Veterinary Life

By , DVM

Canine care · · 3 min read

Veterinary life can move from grief to joy in minutes, and learning to ride those swings takes time.

Vet school can teach you medicine, but it can’t prepare you for the emotional ups and downs of veterinary life. The highs and lows are part of the profession, but they don’t define your career. Keep showing up. #vetmed #vettech #veterinarian #vetschool #vetstudent
Source video thumbnail for the review-bound article. Source thumbnail from @drmichaeltokiwa

Veterinary life can move from grief to joy in minutes, and learning to ride those swings takes time. Vet school gave me a medical foundation, but it could not fully teach me what it feels like to hold several opposite emotions in the same morning.

The same morning can hold two opposite moments

One room may hold a family saying goodbye to a pet they have loved for years. The next room may hold a new puppy and a family ready to celebrate. Both moments matter. Both deserve my attention. The hard part is that there is rarely a long pause between them.

The swings also appear in less dramatic ways. A full schedule can make me feel as though everything is working, and then a quiet day can make me wonder where everyone went. A team can be moving in sync until a small workplace tension suddenly needs mediation. One client may be upset about every detail, while another reminds me to enjoy my vacation.

That is why I described veterinary life as a sine wave. The image is not about pretending every low point is small. It is about recognizing that one point on the curve is not the entire story.

Being the veterinarian does not remove the human part

There are days when a patient improves and I feel the full reward of the work. There are also days when my own pet becomes sick and I am no longer standing outside the worry. I am simply another person who loves an animal and wants them to be okay.

That vulnerability is part of the profession. Veterinary medicine is technical, but the people practicing it are not machines. The families, patients, coworkers, and decisions all carry emotional weight. The wellbeing resources from AVMA My Veterinary Life likewise describe veterinary medicine as emotionally and physically demanding and encourage self-assessment, boundaries, and practical support.

I do not read that as an instruction to push through every problem alone. Breathing through a low can include talking with a colleague, protecting time away from work, or asking for professional help. Keeping moving is not the same as ignoring what hurts. It can also mean noticing when a rough day has become a repeated pattern. That is a good time to stop, name what is happening, and use the people and resources around you before exhaustion becomes the only signal you hear.

Look at the direction, not only today’s point

When I step back from a difficult hour, I can usually see more than the immediate drop. I can see the patients helped, the trust built with families, the team moments that worked, and the skills that grew through uncertainty. The curve still has lows, but the longer trend can remain upward.

That perspective is what I wanted to share in the video: appreciate the highs when they arrive, breathe through the lows without assuming they will last forever, and keep moving with care. The profession is unpredictable because it is deeply human. That is also part of why the work can mean so much.

Originally posted on @drmichaeltokiwa
Video transcript
You know what vet school didn't teach me? Is that veterinary life, especially ownership, is basically a sine wave. You can go from the highest highs to the lowest lows, sometimes in the same morning. You help one family say goodbye to a pet they've loved for ever, and then you have to walk into the next room and celebrate a new puppy. So one day the schedule's full and you feel like you've got it all figured out. The next day it's crickets. You're wondering, the whole town disappeared. One day your team is working perfectly, until someone moves someone else's lunch and then suddenly you're mediating a crisis. You get one client who's upset about everything, and then another who tells you to go enjoy your vacation. You save a patient and you feel amazing, and then your own pet gets sick and you're just another worried owner. So that's the part of vet school that you can't teach. This career is emotional. It's unpredictable, but it's deeply human. So the lesson isn't avoiding the lows, because you can't. It's remembering that they do not last. Because when you step back, even with all the ups and downs, the trend is still upward. So, appreciate the highs, breathe through the lows and keep moving. Remember, we love your pet like they love you unconditionally. Have a great day.

Frequently asked questions

Why can veterinary work feel emotionally unpredictable?

The work brings very different patients, families, team needs, and business pressures together in a single day, so the emotional context can change quickly.

What perspective helps during a low point?

I try to remember that the low is one point in a much longer pattern. I can breathe through it, accept support, and keep moving without pretending the moment is easy.

Sources

  1. Your Wellbeing - Rising Professional — AVMA My Veterinary Life