Fresh out of school, Shaun Goulet is learning the ropes of being a practicing veterinarian. Even before he began his career, though, Shaun knew effective mental health support and mentorship were non-negotiable when it came to choosing an employer. He tells us why VCA is his ideal match.

I graduated from Michigan State’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2022 and moved to Denver to begin my career.

Unfortunately, the first hospital I worked at couldn’t offer me the mentorship I was hoping for. One of my classmates was working for VCA in Michigan and she told me VCA offered a lot of support, resources and a community that could guide me and mold me into a better veterinarian. So, I made the move to VCA in March of this year.

The mentorship has been great – in fact, it kind of surprised me how much VCA values it.
We have three other doctors at my hospital who supervise my cases, but they don’t overstep too much or interfere with my ability to practice. They’re good at knowing when to be hands on and hands off. If I’m not sure what to do on a case, they’ll challenge me about why I’m unsure and ask if there might be a better solution to use.

One of the things they teach you at school is how to develop the skills you need to handle the case load when you join a hospital.
You might have two cases a day in school. But when you join a hospital, you might jump into back-to-back 30-minute appointments some days. VCA has done a really good job of easing me into appointments. I started off observing and then began to take on more cases day by day.

Imposter syndrome is very real and very prevalent in our industry, especially when you’re young in your career.
So, you have to build the confidence to trust yourself and your intuition. My mentors at VCA have been really helpful with that. They push me out of my comfort zone and help me trust my skills without overwhelming me.

Mental health is incredibly important to me.
I was one of the more active voices for it in school and I’ve worked with therapists for about 15 years. I have borderline personality disorder and I’ve gone through specific therapy for it. So, as someone with a condition who is more predisposed to struggling with mental health, to have a team that cares about my well-being really means a lot to me.

One of the resources VCA offers is Lyra Health, which is a mental health benefit. All VCA Associates get 12 sessions a year to connect with a therapist and work through my personal mental health struggles and those that come with being a vet.

VCA truly puts their Associates and clients above profit.
Obviously, finances are important. But what I was really surprised about was when I was struggling to keep up with the workload, they had no problem pumping the brakes to lighten my load, whereas my previous hospital kept piling on the work. It got to the point where I wasn’t feeling valued as a person or a veterinarian. But at VCA, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that I’ve been able to find a balance that helps me grow.

Speaking of that, VCA Academy, our mentorship program, has WOOF University, a virtual learning platform which has been a really great resource for refreshing my skills.
We have a lot of good continuing education programs. If I want to improve my skills in a specific area, they’re very supportive of that. I told my leadership team that my five-year plan is to begin seeing exotic animals and they’ve been great about helping me try to get where I want to be, both in my career and my personal life. With the support and growth opportunities, you can really have a lifelong career at VCA.