My head is currently swimming with information about IRAs, investments, stocks, bonds, and budgeting for post-graduation and retirement. But one thing about today's lecture really stood out to me as a clear issue within the veterinary/business/financial field.
The financial adviser that spoke to us mentioned the importance of obtaining disability insurance once we graduated. With the physical risks involved, especially in those who choose to work in large animal medicine, it makes sense that we should safeguard ourselves in case anything might happen. However, he mentioned that the AVMA GHLIT (Group Health and Life Insurance Trust Programs) offer disability insurance to veterinarians. Awesome, right?
Except for the details in the fine print which state (in layman's terms): If you are disabled and unable to work in your current position, they will pay you disability, but you cannot return to work in the veterinary field.
uh, WHAT? Isn't the point of disability insurance to protect you if you are injured on the job, and then help you return to your job? Essentially, if an equine vet was, say, kicked in the head and could no longer handle the physical demands of the job, he or she could not work in a small animal practice, work in another low-key veterinary environment, or even teach within veterinary academia.
Now, the AVMA is awesome for a variety of sources, but I wouldn't trust them to insure me once I am practicing. Thankfully, Mr. Bonnett explained a variety of other options for insuring ourselves after graduation, but again, I was shocked when he told us to watch out for our medical history.
We rely on physicians to help us maintain our health, but who knew that our medical history could prevent us from being insured? Mr. Bonnett said that conditions listed in our medical history could put us at risk of being denied insurance at all. Mainly, things concerning mental health.
This is where I grew angry. How can insurance companies NOT protect us when we work in a field in which mental health is a growing concern. We all know of the term "Compassion Fatigue", but for some veterinary professionals, we are more inclined to be predisposed to mental disorders.
Veterinary students have the third highest rate of suicide in professional programs. Veterinarians are in the top ten professions with high risk of suicides. With the recent suicide of Dr. Sophia Yin, as well as several student suicides throughout the United States and the UK, dialogues concerning mental health are finally being brought to light. It seems to me that with the high risk of mental disorders prevalent in the veterinary community, more needs to be done to protect us, but also to bring awareness to the issue, rather than stigmatizing it and hiding it from discussion.
Mental health conditions are not something that we should ever be afraid to disclose or seek help for.
Yet insurance companies force us to hide our struggles in order to be protected, and that only worsens the problem.
I'm going to get really personal here, so I hope that is okay, and I hope that if any of you are struggling, you will find the courage and hope to get help. I suffer from moderate to severe anxiety and depression. I don't take medications for this currently, for the very reason that many professionals never seek help: it puts us at risk of losing our insurance benefits, because we have a "pre-existing" condition. With this information presented to me today, I became scared. What if I can't get help when I really need it? Vet school is stressful. We are sleep deprived, our brains are fried, we have very little social lives, and we take a full load of difficult science-based classes. Right now, I am managing. But what if things get worse? Sure, we have counseling available on campus (which is an excellent resource; I recommend therapy for EVERYONE), but what if I need more help? What if my panic attacks become regular, and I need a medication to help me LIVE? Why should I be punished for trying to live like everyone else?
The problem we face as veterinary students (and honestly, as adults), is that mental health has become a topic that no one discusses. But it is something that needs to be addressed, and talked about, and we need to make resources available for everyone that needs them. We can prevent suicide. We don't have to suffer alone, either.
I don't know what I can expect as far as insurance when I get out of school, but I do know that I'm not willing to sacrifice my mental health to obtain it.
