The Vet Vault: Veterinary Career, Clinical Skills & Wellbeing15 Helmi 2025

#137: Why Emergency Vets Quit (Spoiler Alert: It’s Not What You Think!) With Dr Matt Booth

Most vets believe it’s inevitable—on average, they leave Emergency and Critical Care (ECC) after just 3-5 years. The obvious culprit? Shift work, right?

But what if that’s just scratching the surface?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Matt Booth, ER Practice Development Lead at Ethos Veterinary Health, to break down surprising findings from his survey of 3,500 emergency veterinarians. Together, we explore the Five Buckets of Retention—the REAL factors that determine whether your career in emergency medicine thrives or fizzles out. Spoiler: It’s not all about night shifts and burnout.

We dig into leadership challenges, the keys to professional growth, and how these insights apply beyond ECC to every role in veterinary medicine.

You’ll also catch highlights from my previous chat with Dr. Matt at IVECCS 2023, where we shared actionable strategies for improving recruitment and building sustainable veterinary careers.

Whether you’re an ER vet looking for longevity or a practice leader aiming to attract and retain top talent, this episode is your guide to rethinking retention and career sustainability in veterinary medicine.

Topics and Timestamps:

00:40 Meet Dr. Matt Booth and the Five Buckets03:47 Recruitment Insights from 202307:36 Survey Findings and Retention Strategies12:07 The Five Buckets of Retention27:07 The Burden of Being a Giver28:23 Creative Solutions for Employee Retention29:04 Leadership and Gender Representation39:59 The Role of paid time off in Retention43:40 Creating a Positive Work Environment46:37 Professional Educational Growth

Join me at JAVECCS Tokyo on 15 and 16 March, and at IVECCS 2025 in San Diego on 4-8 Septembet.

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