Amanda Ensor

I attribute my success to the willingness to put patient care above my own fear of judgment or self-perception. By committing to always do right by my patients, I’ve cultivated courage that extends far beyond the clinic—whether it’s taking bold steps to drive positive change in veterinary medicine or pursuing new, exciting personal and professional challenges. Equally, I owe much of where I am today to the guidance, support, and mentorship of remarkable colleagues and leaders I deeply admire. Their wisdom and encouragement have not only shaped my skills and perspective but also inspired me to mentor and empower others in turn, creating a cycle of growth, bravery, and impact.

The best career advice I’ve received came from a fellow veterinarian: never ignore your instincts. Collaboration with colleagues is invaluable, especially when navigating complex cases or learning from a more experienced clinician. Yet, their advice may sometimes conflict with our own knowledge, research, or gut feeling about a patient. True confidence comes from weighing that guidance against what we know—and sometimes, what we don’t know—and ultimately making the decision we are comfortable with. Above all, we must always advocate for our patients, trust our expertise, and remain aware of the limits of our knowledge.

When entering the veterinary industry, my advice starts with being brave. This is not a career for the faint of heart. Yes, learning the medicine, surgery, and technical skills required to properly advocate for your patients is challenging. However, advocating for good medicine, psychological safety, and healthy boundaries often requires even more energy.

This is a female-dominated industry, and yet women do not dominate leadership within it. Being brave also means stepping into leadership roles—not because you feel 100% prepared or confident in your ability to lead, but because you know in your heart that you care deeply enough to help your team reach potential they may not yet see in themselves, and in doing so create meaningful impact for your patients and the communities you serve.

There are many ways to be a veterinarian, and it is vital for longevity in this profession to follow your passions. That often means stepping outside your comfort zone, building strong connections with colleagues, seeking mentorship from individuals you trust and admire, and, honestly, just going for it.

There will be many highs and lows, and it is important to practice self-awareness and put tools in place to take care of yourself along the journey. No matter what type of veterinarian you choose to become, you cannot fully show up for your patients or for the profession without first showing up for yourself. That may look like incorporating movement, prioritizing nutrition and sleep, engaging in difficult but necessary conversations with your team, and seeking help when you need it—whether from family, colleagues, leadership, or a trained therapist.

Don’t wait until you feel broken to take action. Stay vigilant about your health, seek environments that align with your values, and be part of the change you want to see in veterinary medicine rather than accepting things as they are. Be ready for change, because this profession evolves quickly. Learn from your mistakes. And take care of your vet people.

When it comes to challenges in the veterinary industry, there are many. At its core, veterinary medicine is made up of several complex systems that are not functioning optimally in today’s climate. This ranges from how hospital leaders solicit and deliver feedback to corporate organizations making sweeping operational decisions without meaningful input or buy in from the veterinary teams most affected.

And yet, the opportunities for change are endless.

There is tremendous potential to reshape veterinary medicine in a way that allows the extraordinary humans behind this noble work to thrive and to continue loving what they do. Without meaningful change, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide the level of care our clients and patients deserve.

One of the greatest opportunities lies in redefining what it means to be a veterinary hospital leader. The most influential person on a team is not simply the most clinically skilled, but the one who can cultivate psychological safety, uphold standards of care, train and retain team members, and navigate the ever growing workload of our profession. Without strong leadership, these pillars are nearly impossible to sustain.

Leadership requires self awareness, vulnerability, and a willingness to engage in healthy conflict regularly, but even that is not enough. There must be a fundamental shift from a purely patient focused model to a team focused one. In my experience, this is one of the most difficult transitions for veterinarians to make. We are trained, and often compensated, to focus on actively treating patients. Performing surgery, conducting wellness visits, or managing complex medical cases feels tangible and productive. Turning toward a colleague to address systems issues or engage in necessary conflict can feel far less comfortable.

Yet until the team becomes the focus, the systems that shape our days will remain unmanageable. We will continue putting out fires instead of preventing them.

To truly evolve, there must be broader support and understanding from veterinary teams and the organizations that support them that protected time during work hours may sometimes be better spent developing systems and strengthening the team rather than seeing another patient. Without permission to prioritize this work, it will continue to be avoided, often to the detriment of the hospital.

There is enormous opportunity for positive change if the right people are willing to listen, and if leaders at every level are developed and empowered to lead. Every team lead within a hospital plays an integral role in allowing these complex systems to function as they should. When we invest in people as intentionally as we invest in patients, everything improves.

What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

There are many, but if I narrow it down to my top three, they are compassion, patient advocacy, and collaboration.

Compassion will always be foundational for me. I love veterinary medicine, and I genuinely enjoy connecting with both pet parents and patients. I have been fortunate to work with a diverse range of clients, veterinary teams, and communities, which has taught me not only the importance of effective communication, but how to truly practice it. Learning how to foster meaningful relationships has deeply impacted my ability to provide better patient care and has given me the opportunity to grow both personally and professionally.

Patient advocacy has evolved significantly for me over the course of my career. Early on, I believed advocacy meant doing everything possible for every patient to achieve the best medical outcome. Over time, I have learned that it is more nuanced than that. True advocacy is rooted in connection and shared decision making. It means engaging in thoughtful goals of care discussions with pet parents so that the path forward aligns with quality of life and the values of the family. While patient advocacy has always been central to my work, I am proud of how much my understanding of it has matured.

Collaboration is perhaps the value that shaped me the most. For much of my early career, I did not have the privilege of working on a truly collaborative veterinary team. That experience impacted me deeply and nearly led me to leave the profession. The demands in this industry are relentless, and much of the empathy, effort, and care we give can go unseen and unacknowledged. When I finally stepped outside my comfort zone and joined new hospital teams, I experienced what a healthy, collaborative environment truly felt like. It was transformative. I was able to focus more fully on my patients, find moments of joy in the day, care for more families, and build resilience during the hard seasons because I no longer felt alone. We were in it together.

From that point forward, I knew I wanted to help create that experience for other veterinary teams. Because when compassion, advocacy, and collaboration are present, not only do patients benefit, but the people caring for them thrive as well.