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REVIEW article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Humanities and Social Sciences
Volume 11 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1484412
This article is part of the Research Topic Animal wellbeing, conservation, research, and education: Supporting people in caring professions View all 7 articles
The Future of Flourishing in Veterinary Medicine: A Systems-Informed Positive Psychology Approach in Veterinary Education
Provisionally accepted- 1 College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, United States
- 2 Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, United States
- 3 Flourishing Phoenix Veterinary Consultants, Odessa, FL, United States
- 4 Veterinary Medical Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- 5 Flourish Veterinary Consulting, Firestone, CO, United States
Individuals in the veterinary profession are experiencing significant mental health and wellbeing challenges. A holistic view of wellbeing, which encompasses both physical and mental health, underscores their interconnected nature. This integrated approach reduces the artificial separation of wellbeing facets, and highlights how mental states influence not only individuals, but also their interactions with animals, the environment, and others in the workplace. Wellbeing challenges in veterinary medicine may contribute to negative impacts in animal, human, and environmental health. Veterinary education institutions and systems are also experiencing complex challenges as they adapt to rapidly changing societal, workforce, and professional wellbeing related pressures. This review paper explores the field of positive psychology and its application in educational contexts, commonly known as positive education. A thorough exploration of the systems-informed positive education approach and ways in which it can proactively enhance veterinary professional wellbeing from within the veterinary education ecosystem are presented. It is important to recognize that individual self-care, while valuable, cannot compensate for systemic dysfunctions such as poor team dynamics, ineffective leadership, or organizational culture issues.Addressing these systemic factors is critical for creating environments that support sustained flourishing.Positive psychology interventions delivered through the pathways of individuals, groups, and organizations specifically within a veterinary education context are discussed. Limitations, considerations, and proposed measurement strategies are reviewed. The implications of implementing a systems-informed positive psychology approach to enhance wellbeing in veterinary education include creating curriculum and cultures that enable flourishing within veterinary education institutions. Strengthening the individual and collective wellbeing of veterinary professionals has the potential to enhance the quality of care provided to animals, which has myriad positive implications for animal caregivers, their communities, the environment, and society.
Keywords: positive psychology1, wellbeing2, veterinary education3, positive education4, Veterinary Medicine
Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Corrigan, Newman, Richmond, Strand and Vaisman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Virginia K Corrigan, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, United States
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