Are we alright? And are we all right?

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

This is not really a fish related post, but is very important as it might affect you or the people around you. Yesterday I attended a brief presentation on suicide prevention amongst veterinarians. The stats in the first few slides are astounding. There are some pertinent points about how the veterinary profession could shift to create a better working environment. The problem is universal and centres on long working hours for low pay.

Did you know that veterinarians and architects are the lowest paid professions? Combine this with a hefty tuition fee, veterinarians may find themselves to be in grave financial stress. Check this out for a scenario; a full-fee paying student will pay AUD$45,000/yr for 6 years before graduating. The Australian Veterinary Association is only now campaigning for a minimum veterinary graduate wage of AUD$50,000/yr.

There are also some generic pointers that would be applicable to everyone to build resilience into your set of life skills and help you live life to the full. Below are some points taken from two of the slides from the presentation –

Happiness is best brought about by five things:

•Knowing yourself and using your 5 top character strengths each day
•Friends and family
•A job you enjoy
•Doing voluntary work
•Having a hobby ( where you do not feel the passage of time)

For well being in society or Individuals:

•Positive approach
•Engagement in life (something bigger than you)
•Relationships (friends and family – work at it)
•Meaning in life (have a purpose)
•Achievement or accomplishment (that can be to learn a language or play a musical instrument)
The danger period for most professions would lie in years 1-5 after graduating. This is when the person would be stressed, trying to learn new skills in their new jobs. The next danger period is 10-15 years after graduating because this is when they would be struggling to juggle family commitments with job commitments and finances.
I encourage you to download and share the presentation from the link below with your family, colleagues and friends:

Are we all right – suicide prevention

The presentation was provided courtesy of

Dr Brian Mc Erlean MVB MRCVS

Australian Veterinary Association Community Coordinator WA

One Life Suicide Prevention Strategy

Mob: +61 (0)4 3356 1922

nervoustransmitter@bigpond.com

www.onelifewa.com.au
“People Making Time for People”

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Published by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

Aquatic veterinary medicine, pathology and educational services for fish. A repository for useful information and events.

3 thoughts on “Are we alright? And are we all right?”

  2. Hi Dr Loh,

    This is a great post! Personally, I wasn’t aware of this issue before and don’t know how many others would subscribe me here, but I think there would be many…
    I re-posted your report on Novice (http://www.noviceproject.eu/), which is a professional network for veterinarians. If you are interested to see your and your colleagues posts and activities, you can follow the link and register with the net.

    Kind regards,
    PhD DVM Laura Urdes

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