Tracy Buckholz

I certainly feel like my upbringing is part of it. I was raised in a household where my parents were both very, very hardworking, and it was always about striving to do your best and wanting to grow. That drive has to exist within you to move forward. But I will say, probably what I think helped get me to where I am is the people who gave me an opportunity. Dr. Christine Carlson, who was our family vet, passed away a couple years ago, but she was the first person who welcomed me into a hospital and gave me a chance and trained me. She was my mentor. And I have the doctor that I work with now, Dr. Susan Shirley, who has really opened up that opportunity within business to kind of help me grow within that area as well. She taught me how to do ultrasounds, and now she says it wouldn't run without me here because she doesn't do any of that anymore. If I hadn't been given the opportunity to work in places like this and surrounded by these other amazing women, I wouldn't be where I am.

When asked about the people who had made the greatest impact in career path she stated that the late Dr Christine Carlson who was their fast family vet when she was growing up welcomed her into the hospital and gave her a chance. She took the opportunity to really train Tracy and was her mentor throughout the years. And now she has a doctor she works with currently Dr Susan Shirley who has really opened up more opportunities within the business to help her expand or her expertise. It is because of these two incredible women that Tracy has the career she has today, and she would love to honor them both and recognize them for their amazing examples of leadership, and the knowledge that they have instilled in her. She is ever grateful for the impact they made in her life and hopes to give back by inspiring the next generation of veterinary professionals. Her mother was also an incredible inspiration as well as her father, but professionally those two women have been the highlight of her inspirations.

The most important thing I would share with young women looking to enter the industry is that you need to commit yourself to being a lifelong learner, because there is never a stop to the evolution of medicine. You are never going to stop learning. It is not something where you go to school and then it's over. We are constantly learning because medicine is changing. But also, learn how to advocate for yourself. Communication is so very important. We have this overarching culture where I stayed later, I was always available, I came in at the drop of a hat, and that exists in medicine as a broad whole. Being able to set your boundaries and also being able to communicate your worth and advocate during that are huge points. I actually have a blog where one of my posts was about how you ask for a raise, how you actually get that, and how you communicate your worth and how you push to get to where you need to be and where to get that information. So I would say, one, commit yourself to be a lifelong learner, and two, really know how to advocate for yourself and know how to hold to those ideals, because that's something that's very hard.

The biggest challenge in veterinary medicine right now is that we are losing people from the field left and right, and we have the highest rate of suicide in all industries. A lot of that comes from what they call compassion fatigue, but it's really the abuse that happens within it. Unlike human medicine where people have health insurance or the state steps in, that doesn't exist for animals. Pet insurance is month-to-month and owners pay up front, so we take the abuse when somebody is financially stressed and can't afford care. We hear things like 'Why don't you just do it for free? Didn't you get into this because you love animals?' or 'They won't save my pet, so they must not care.' There are people threatening to kill their own pets at home, and there are online attacks on veterinary professionals that get really rough. On top of that, we are not a high-grossing industry. The costs are high because there are a lot of overhead expenses, and we try to employ enough people, but the wages are not super high. People get into this because they are passionate about it, not because it's a high-income field. Then the world gets more expensive and it's hard to get raises, and people feel beaten up by society. It blew up during COVID when people were getting overworked and fleeing the field. My whole goal is that we grow veterinary medicine so that it remains stable. We need people to be here, to be present and supported, to provide them with strength and competency to be happy and fulfilled in their field and continue to grow. There is no AI that's going to replace us, so it's very important that we have people who are competent and happy and fulfilled in this field so it can continue to grow.

The values most important to me are being a lifelong learner and advocating for myself and others. I'm committed to helping people who are stepping into the veterinary industry by providing them with the support and resources they need to thrive and sustain successful careers. At the core, it's about the service we provide and saving lives, and being able to give professionals the tools they need, the continued education, and being a source of encouragement throughout their journey. I want to have people who are competent and happy and fulfilled in this field so it can continue to grow. Communication is so very important, whether it's being able to set boundaries or being able to communicate your worth and advocate for yourself. I believe in servant leadership and really understanding the depths of what needs to be done to help people grow and reach their full potential. My mission is to extend my reach so I can actually help more people, because I feel like culture is one of the biggest struggles in our field. We promote well-trained assistants or technicians and say 'you're the manager now,' and they have no idea what they're getting into. It crumbles the floor below them and sets them up for failure instead of helping them grow. I want to change that.