When it’s OK to step away from veterinary medicine

In this video, Melody Martínez, CVT, executive director of the Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association, discusses recognizing when veterinary technicians may feel ready to step back from veterinary medicine and seek a new direction. She shares why leaving, taking a break, or finding new ways to stay connected to the profession can be meaningful paths forward.

Below is the video transcript, which has been edited for clarity.

Melody Martínez, CVT: I want to tell people: If you're done with this profession, that's OK, too. I don't want to give [the] advice that you should power through even when you're done, and you can't do it anymore.

There are plenty of people who have shared with me, "I'm looking for my next thing. I want to get out. I don't want to do this anymore. I'm burnt out. It's not the same as it was for me anymore. I don't see a pathway for me to grow in this profession." I think that's OK. I think it's OK to be done. I think it's OK to bless it and release it. Say, "I did this thing for a little while, and it was a lot of who I am. It's part of my identity, but I need to do something else. I need to be paid more. I need to grow. I have a different interest that I want to pursue."

[Veterinary medicine] is not going anywhere. It's always going to be here, right? So I keep my license [updated]. I do my continuing education. I keep my license [updated] even if I'm not always working in a clinical setting because it's important to me that if I ever need to fall back on that, I have it there. But also, I worked really hard to get that, and I want to continue keeping it. I want to continue learning.

I think that if you're done, be done, and let it go, or find a different way to connect. I know, for me, I may not be working full-time as a vet tech anymore, but I work once a week in a volunteer capacity at a clinic that provides increased access to care. For me, [it's] really fulfilling to have work that helps me pay my bills, feeds a different part of who I am, makes me very happy, and [I] still get to do this other work within the profession that means a lot to me and still utilizes my skills....

I want to tell people: If you're done, you can be done. You don't have to go away 100%. You can take breaks. You can come back. You can find where you feel more satisfied.

And the technicians who foster [animals]—maybe they don’t work as technicians anymore. Maybe they’re nurses now, or maybe they do something else—graphic design, restaurant work, [or] something entirely different. They're fostering animals, volunteering with shelters, doing occasional relief work, [and] teaching. They're doing other things that utilize their skills and make them feel fulfilled.

I think it's OK to leave and to figure out [whether] a new role exists for you within the profession. Find out what that is and pursue that instead. If that's where you are, then don't feel bad about it.