Embracing Neurodiversity in Vet Med | Episode 61 | Reviving Vet Med

Neurodivergence in veterinary medicine is more common than you might think — and it brings both incredible strengths and unique challenges. In this episode, we explore what neurodiversity really means, breaking down conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and anxiety-related neurotypes. You’ll learn how these differences shape the way individuals think, communicate, and work — and why embracing neurodivergent team members can enhance creativity, problem-solving, and innovation in veterinary practice.

We also discuss the obstacles neurodivergent professionals often face in high-pressure environments and share practical strategies for creating more supportive, accommodating workplaces. From flexible work hours to clearer communication styles, small adjustments can lead to huge improvements in job satisfaction and wellbeing. Tune in for an eye-opening conversation on fostering inclusivity and harnessing the power of neurodiversity in vet med.

Resources
ADHD in the Veterinary Profession (podcast): https://revivingvetmed.buzzsprout.com/2011463/episodes/15937735-adhd-in-the-veterinary-profession-episode-51-reviving-vet-med

Surprising aspects of OCD: how hidden symptoms can manifest in veterinary practice (blog): https://revivingvetmed.com/surprising-aspects-of-ocd-how-hidden-symptoms-can-manifest-in-veterinary-practice/

Neurodiversity Resource Hub (Mind Matters): https://vetmindmatters.org/resources/neurodiversity-resource-hub/#toggle-id-3

What can practices do to support access for neurodivergent clients? (article): https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/vetr.714

Thank You to Our Sponsor Scribenote
Book a Demo: https://calendly.com/d/4zm-dsr-wfh/scribenote-demo

Try 100 Notes for Free: https://app.scribenote.com/auth/register?referralCode=Reviving-VetMed

Newsletter
For more practical pointers and tangible tips related to veterinary mental health and wellbeing, subscribe to our e-newsletter: https://revivingvetmed.kartra.com/page/newsletter

Online Programs
To learn more about our 4- and 8-week online programs approved for CE credit in jurisdictions that recognize RACE, please visit: https://revivingvetmed.com/programs/. 

Questions, Suggestions, or Sponsorship Opportunities
Email: podcast@revivingvetmed.com 

Transcript

Still writing medical records manually, Imagine reducing the mental load of a full day's patient care. With Scribenote, the AI powered veterinary soap creator, you can streamline record keeping effortlessly as if you had a personal scribe. I recently used Scribenote during a hectic string of emergency shifts when I managed over 20 cases in 12-hour days. It drastically cut down my medical record completion time, letting me focus more on patient care and less on paperwork. Scribenote has truly transformed my workflow. Born from a desire to help, Scribenote now supports veterinary clinics across North America. It is dedicated to improving veterinary wellness and reducing burnout. Try it now at scribenote.com with a free trial of 50 records for Reviving Vet Med listeners. Use the link in the show notes for 100 free notes, 50 more than the trial.

Book a no obligation demo call and see how Scribenote can simplify your day. Foreign welcome to another episode of Reviving Vet Med. Today we're covering a topic that is gaining traction through increased awareness and advocacy, and that's Neurodiversity in Veterinary Medicine. In March, we have Neurodiversity Celebration Week, and this is a great opportunity to talk about this really important topic. Veterinary medicine is a fast paced, high-pressure field that requires strong clinical skills, effective communication and adaptability. But what happens when traditional structures don't support the way some of our colleagues think and work? Today we'll explore what neurodiversity is, discuss some of the common neurotypes seen in veterinary medicine, and highlight some recent studies that shed light on how we can better support neurodivergent professionals in our field.

I'm really excited to share this information with you, so let's go ahead and get into the episode. This is the Reviving Vet Med podcast and I'm your host, Dr. Marie Holowaychuck. My mission is to improve the mental health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals around the world. So let's start with the basics. What is neurodiversity? Well, neurodiversity is the concept that there is a natural variation in how human brains function. So basically this acknowledges that some people think, learn and process information differently than what society considers typical. So instead of viewing conditions like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia and other disorders that need to be fixed, neurodiversity simply recognizes that these differences are a rich spectrum of human cognition.

So what this perspective does is it shifts the focus from deficits to diversity, emphasizing the value that different cognitive styles bring workplaces and communities a lot of benefit. Neurodivergent individuals often possess unique qualities like an exceptional attention to detail or pattern recognition, or innovative thinking and problem-solving. For example, a person with ADHD might excel in really fast paced environments due to their ability to hyperfocus and multitask, while autistic individuals may offer deep expertise and an unparalleled commitment to quality and accuracy. In vet medicine, where problem-solving and pattern recognition are critical, neurodivergent individuals often bring these very unique strengths. Creativity, hyper focus, and an ability to think outside the box. And these are the traits that can lead to novel approaches in clinical care, in research, in client communication, and ultimately to enrich veterinary teams and improve patient outcomes.

So recognizing and fostering these strengths is really essential for creating inclusive, supportive environments where every team member can thrive. So once again, individuals with neurodiversity have a different way of thinking and processing information. Individuals that are traditionally considered neurotypical are what society considers typical. So in veterinary medicine, where there are intense workloads and rapid decision-making needs, and also a need for strong interpersonal skills, these demands can present specific hurdles for neurodivergent individuals. And the good news is, with the right support, they can also thrive and contribute in exceptional ways in the veterinary workplace, which is really what we're hoping to achieve by having this conversation. So let's take a look at some of the most common neurodivergent conditions that we see among veterinary professionals and veterinary students. And the first of those is autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.

This is often diagnosed through behavioral assessments and developmental history. And it's characterized by differences in social communication and interaction, as well as the presence of repetitive behaviors or intense interests. Now, it is a spectrum. So individuals are going to exhibit very different symptoms depending on where they are on the spectrum. But many individuals with autism spectrum disorder display very strong attention to detail, deep focus, and a preference for routine. So challenges among our veterinary colleagues with autism spectrum disorder can include sensory sensitivities like being overwhelmed by loud noises or bright lights. They can also have difficulty interpreting social cues or taking in a lot of information, or they can experience anxiety in unpredictable situations. Another neurodivergent condition that we see often in vet med is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

This is typically diagnosed based on clinical interviews and behavior rating scales that assess patterns of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, which tend to be the characteristics of this condition. So individuals with ADHD often excel in very fast paced environments because they are able to really think on their feet, they're very adaptable and they have very strong problem-solving skills. However, a lot of individuals with ADHD can face challenges when it comes to things like organization, planning, their day, task switching and time management. And this can impact their efficiency and their focus. And if you're interested in Learning more about ADHD, I recorded a podcast episode ADHD in the vet profession which was episode 51 and I will certainly link to that in the show notes as well. Another common neurodivergent condition seen in Vet Med is dyslexia and other learning differences.

So dyslexia is diagnosed through assessments of reading, writing and language processing skills. Individuals with dyslexia often excel in visual, spatial reasoning, creativity and problem-solving, but they can struggle when it comes to written communication, spelling or processing in a quick way. So these differences are sometimes misunderstood. But with the right accommodations, individuals with dyslexia can thrive in veterinary roles, especially those that require innovative thinking and very hands on skills. And the last neurodivergent condition that I want to mention that we see among veterinary professionals is obsessive compulsive Disorder, OCD or anxiety related neurotypes. So these are usually diagnosed through clinical evaluations and standardized psychological assessments. What we see among professionals with these neurotypes is that they can experience repetitive thought patterns, hyper focus on precision or a need for control and order.

And again, these are traits that can be invaluable in clinical practice where attention to detail and accuracy are important. However, these individuals can also struggle with managing anxiety, especially in high-pressure environments. We had a really lovely blog written for Reviving Veterinary Medicine from a veterinary colleague of mine who lives with obsessive compulsive disorder and I will link to her blog in the show notes as well. So as you can see from these descriptions, neurodivergent veterinary professionals bring incredible strengths to the vet workplace, but can also face a lot of systemic challenges because we've always done veterinary medicine a certain way, we've always practice in a certain way, practices have always been structured in a certain way and people in certain roles have always had certain expectations.

So we are going to dive into some of the ways that we can mitigate those rigid structures and more support our colleagues. But before I get into that, I want to talk about some of the research around this topic in vet medicine and I will say that the vast majority of this research comes out of the UK. They are way ahead of us investigating different neurodivergent conditions in Vet Med and also in providing resources which I will talk about later on. So the first study I want to look at is a study that was published in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education recently by Kirsty Pickles and Anna Hollis, and their paper titled Support for Neurodivergent Students in Veterinary Education really sheds light on current support practices and how we can improve those for students in vet medicine with neurodivergent conditions.

And so, according to the author's findings, about 10% of undergraduate VET students are neurodivergent and the study found that the intense vet school workload, the unpredictable clinical environments and the high interpersonal demands in veterinary education pose unique challenges for these students. The research identified that support for neurodivergent students varies widely across different veterinary schools in the United Kingdom. Only four out of eight schools provided support at open days or following offers of admission and just one offered a summer school program. Additionally, five schools reported making accommodations for clinical rotations and extramural studies, which was often guided by disability service support plans.

Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the study's roundtable discussions highlighted the need for more support and some of the recommendations that they came up with included creating safe spaces for disclosure, providing neurodiversity awareness training for staff and other providers, and offering students access to neurodiversity mentors or coaches, which is something that we are going to be expanding our offerings to include by reviving veterinary medicine in this year. Another important study I want to discuss comes from the Veterinary Record and also was published recently and was also led by Kirsty Pickles and colleagues and focused on the workday experiences of our autistic veterinary surgeons. So through interviews with 15 autistic veterinarians based in the UK, they identified key factors contributing to both positive and difficult workdays.

So they found that difficult workdays often involved challenging professional interactions, feeling out of control, sensory sensitivities and role specific stressors. And on the other hand, good workdays were characterized by positive interactions, a sense of control, having enough time to complete tasks and achieving a sense of accomplishment. So once again, these findings really underscore the importance of workplace design and support. By promoting neurodiversity awareness and offering clearer role definitions, we can also enable more control over work environments and create spaces where neurodivergent veterinary professionals can thrive. And the last study that I want to mention was also published in the Veterinary Record and explored the mental wellbeing and psychosocial work conditions of autistic veterinary surgeons again in the UK.

And so this study had 85 participants and revealed that the mental wellbeing and work environment quality of veterinary surgeons with autism were significantly below both the veterinary workforce and the general workforce norms. And again, there was two key factors identified that accounted for the 44% variance in mental wellbeing. And those two key factors were control over work and role clarity. So again, this highlights just how important it is to address these elements when it comes to managing practices and workplace culture in veterinary medicine. So that brings me to one of our really important sections within this podcast today, which is how we can support neurodiversity in vet medicine. What can we do to better support neurodivergent individuals in our veterinary workplaces and practices?

Well, I'm going to give you a few strategies that are going to be applicable in educational settings, in practice settings, and not only for employers, but also colleagues as well. And the first of those is to offer flexible learning and work structures. So it's really important to provide options for different learning styles and working styles such as video lectures, audio recordings and hands on demonstrations. It's important to recognize, again, with neurodivergent individuals not necessarily taking information the same way that neurotypical individuals might, we want to make sure that we are offering different ways to take information and process information that is going to resonate with these different needs. This also includes not just allowing alternative formats for information, but also extra time to process that information. So this might mean in the educational environment, different exam formats and extra time for writing exams.

And in the practice space, there might be different ways of conducting appointments and lengthier appointment times. The second thing that we want to offer is sensory and environmental accommodations. So it's really important to recognize that sensory overload can be a big contributor to the challenges that neurodivergent individuals face. And so creating quiet spaces for charting, for paperwork, for study, et cetera, allowing individuals to use noise, reducing headphones, or having designated low sensory exam rooms. Really important, again, to reduce that sensory stimulation. The third recommendation is clear communication and very structured expectations. So again, it's important to use written communication whenever possible, again recognizing that neurodivergent individuals can feel challenged to take in a lot of information at once and process it, especially when it is verbally.

We want to make sure that we're writing things down, that we're making things clear, that we're also offering things like checklists, structured workflows for tasks, and easy things to follow. Things are very laid out in very specific and legible and understandable ways. This is really going to be beneficial as well. And then last but not least, the fourth recommendation is to reduce stigma and increase awareness; this means encouraging open discussions about neurodiversity in veterinary teams. I think there are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to neurodiversity or neurodivergent conditions. And we wanna make sure that we're talking about this, that we are embracing the strengths of our neurodivergent colleagues.

And in doing so, or in order to do that, we would offer training not just for leadership, but for colleagues so that they can recognize and be able to offer support to their neurodivergent team members. It's also important not to forget that not only do we have a lot of neurodivergent colleagues, but we also have neurodivergent clients. And if we're going to support our neurodivergent clients in veterinary practice, we need to implement some strategies that will accommodate their diverse neurological needs and will also make sure that they have a comfortable experience when they come into the workplace or come into the practice. So I pulled some insights from an article called A Spectrum of Support, which I will also link to in the show notes, and those are number one, to have clear and accessible communication.

So this means it's not enough just to give verbal or visual communication to our clients, we want to write things down as well. Again, this caters to the different processing preferences. And this approach ensures that clients can understand and retain the information in a way that suits them best. So connecting with your clients to see what they prefer, or offering just the default, which is to have different formats available, and they can choose what resonates best with them. The second recommendation is to have sensory friendly environments. So again, being mindful of sensory sensitivities by minimizing loud noises, bright lights or strong smells, both in the waiting room and in the consultation areas. Creating a calm environment can help to reduce anxiety for our Neurodiverse clients. The third recommendation is to have flexible appointment scheduling.

So this means offering appointment times that accommodate clients’ needs, whether it's quieter periods of the day or to help those who might find busy environments overwhelming. It's also important to be able to offer clients the ability to communicate and do scheduling via email if phone calls are overwhelming for them or whatever the case may be. The fourth recommendation is training for staff. So again, it goes back to what I said earlier. We want to educate all of our veterinary team members about neurodiversity so they can boost their empathy and understanding. This training is going to improve interactions and ensure that team members are better equipped to support diverse clients’ needs effectively. And then last but not least, the fifth recommendation is to encourage open dialogue.

So this is where we want to create an environment where clients feel comfortable disclosing their preferences or any accommodations that they might require. We want to make it clear that we welcome Neurodiverse clients. We want to celebrate and share our neurodivergent team members. And all of this openness allows for personalized care and just demonstrates respect for individual differences and preferences. So implementing these strategies not only supports Neurodiverse clients, but it also enhances the overall inclusivity and accessibility of veterinary services, which is very important. So for more information, I do urge you to check out the Mind Matters Neurodiversity Hub, which I will link to in the show notes.

This hub of resources was created two years ago in honor of Neurodiversity Celebration Week in March, and there are a plethora of articles, interviews, videos, and much more to help improve knowledge and understanding about neurodiversity in the veterinary profession. Because when we embrace neurodiversity, we create a more inclusive, innovative and effective veterinary profession. By shifting our perspective and making small changes, we really can help neurodivergent professionals not just survive but truly thrive in veterinary medicine. Foreign so that's it for this episode of Reviving Vet Med. I hope this conversation has given you some insight into the experiences of neurodivergent professionals in veterinary medicine and what we can do to support them. Most importantly, if you found this episode helpful, please take a moment to forward it to a friend or a coworker who you think would benefit.

Also, we would appreciate it if you would please subscribe to the podcast so that you get these episodes as soon as they're released. You can also follow Reviving Vet Med on social media @RevivingVetMed on Instagram and Facebook, as well as LinkedIn for more tips and strategies for wellbeing in vet medicine. And if you have any questions about today's episode or suggestions for future topics, please email us at podcast@revivingvetmed.com. I'd like to thank the team at Bear Beat Productions for producing this episode, and I'd also like to thank you for listening. I hope you'll tune in next time. In the meantime, take care of yourself. Bye for now.