Have you hit the 5-year wall yet? (or the 10-year, 15-year, or 20-year wall......)

In my veterinary practice, we currently have a new graduate (still in her first year of practice), a vet that is coming up to her fifth year in practice, and let's say the rest of us are veteran veterinarians (15 - 20 years out).

After the usual flow to our vet meeting (interesting cases, client services, etc.), our new grad stated that she was very happy to be involved in all aspects of bovine (feedlot, cow-calf, dairy) and small ruminant practice (because she loves it, and boy is she already so good at it too!), but also because she figured she would likely never get bored. Of course, the veteran veterinarians side-eyed each other and then after a brief pause blurted out "oh, but you will one day!" After another short pause we said "but don't worry, we will support you in finding ways to stay interested in the game".

You see, most of us veterans have hit this "boredom" wall multiple times over the course of our own career. Some of us are more tolerant of boredom than others (I am not one of them- we will save that for another post), but the vast majority of us in vet med (and many other professions I am sure) will hit at least one boredom wall as we progress in our careers. I have talked to MANY colleagues about this same concept, and there is not a one who says that this has not yet happened to them if they have been in practice long enough. When I further ask them when they thought this first happened, almost all of them said "you know, at about the 5-year mark". Some of them that have been in practice for longer replied "every 5 years and then a few times after that".

So back to our vet meeting; as we start chatting with our new grad about some of the things we did at the 5-year mark to re-engage with our profession and stay interested and motivated, I recognized that our "out 5 years" vet was extremely quiet. I looked over at her and asked "are you hitting the 5-year wall?". She considered for a moment, and then replied, "actually, I think I may be". I suppose our timing was perfect to have a supportive group chat. The veterans normalized her feelings and then we openly conversed about ways to make a few pivots or add-ons to her career to make things more interesting and challenging again.

This lead me to share with her more about "The Box Theory". I honestly can't recall who I first heard this theory from, but a few years back, Dr. Sandra Godden, when she was president of the AABP, had a headliner in the AABP newsletter about how she learned about the Box Theory originally from Dr. John Fetrow.

It goes like this

The Box Theory

Descriptions of the Box Theory from Drs. Sandra Godden and John Fetrow

As I mentioned above, I think very few of us are fortunate enough to always stay in Box 2, and it seems from my informal interviews with my colleagues over the years, that most of us start to tickle Box 3 for the first time as we near about our fifth year in practice.

Now, what do we do about this?

First and foremost, I think we need to stop to reflect as we progress in practice and consider where we are. Are we feeling happy and engaged most days? Are we starting to get bored and dissatisfied?

In my own opinion (as a person who has been in Box 3 several times in the past 20 years), we need to recognize when we have more than one foot in Box 3, and do something about it soon. If we are fully in Box 3 and make no adjustments, Box 4 will creep up quickly. We owe it to ourselves, our clients, and the animals in our care to make every effort to avoid Box 4.

Does an adjustment have to be huge? I think it depends. When I hit Box 3 the first time when I was 5-years in practice, I decided to take an embryo transfer course and incorporate that into my practice. Problem solved. I think having some new challenges that catapult you back into Box 1 on some days just generally brings you back into Box 2. When I hit the 10-year doldrums, I took some National Mastitis Council courses and purchased some vacuum diagnostic equipment. I started testing milking equipment and performing more in-depth milking routine assessments. Problem solved again.

I have colleagues that have had to make larger changes to get themselves back into Box 1 or Box 2. Some have gone on to be industry vets, to further their education, or are now working in a different country or not with food animals any longer.

Ultimately, each of us has to figure out where we are, and what we need to do about it. Maybe you can figure it out on your own. Maybe you need some support and resources. A great place to start is chatting with your trusted veteran veterinarian colleagues. I have always been amazed at how much insight colleagues have, and how comforting their support is. We are also fortunate that access to therapy and career counselling are now more accessible than ever.

I think most of the time, we likely don't need a really big change to bring us back into Box 2 if we can recognize when we are in Box 3.

At all costs, avoid Box 4.