The Secret Life of Vets: Embracing the Human-Animal Bond

By: Zenithson Ng DVM MS DABVP (Canine/Feline)

Description: Veterinarians are arguably the professionals who are most attuned to the human-animal bond and all that it has to offer. If the universally touted benefits of human-animal interactions hold true, then why do veterinarians who interact with animals everyday, suffer from mental health conditions that even the human-animal bond cannot cure? Practical strategies and future research directions for utilizing the human-animal bond to improve the lives and welfare of both veterinarians and animals alike will be explored.

By the end of the session, attendees will be able to:

1. To examine he current statistics on the mental health and wellbeing of veterinarians.
2. To describe he difference in perspectives and benefits of the human animal bond between veterinarians and the general population.
3. To identify effective tools and resources leveraging the human-animal bond to yield
   benefits for veterinarians.

Speaker Info: Zenithson Ng is a clinical associate professor of small animal primary care at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and associate director of human-animal interaction research for the Center for Veterinary Social Work. He received his DVM from Cornell University; then completed an internship at the ASPCA, and an ABVP canine/feline residency combined with a master’s degree in human-animal bond studies at Virginia Tech. His clinical interests include behavior, dentistry, preventive medicine, and management of chronic disease. His research and teaching interests span all aspects of the human-animal bond, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and stress reduction in both veterinary and animal-assisted intervention settings.