The veterinary profession is built on a foundation of deep compassion, but this same empathy can also lead to significant emotional challenges. Students, faculty, and staff at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) often encounter animal suffering, complex client relationships, and grief, which can take a toll on their Mental Health.
Enter Johanna Holm, the first manager of mental health and wellness at UCVM. Appointed approximately a year and a half ago, Holm’s role is to support the individuals carrying this emotional weight and to help reshape the environments in which they learn and work. Her approach is unique, focusing on both individual support and structural change.
Building a Supportive Community
Holm’s role is not just about providing a listening ear; it’s about creating a supportive community. She identifies recurring concerns, reduces barriers, and helps embed well-being into UCVM’s programs, processes, and culture. This holistic approach ensures that everyone, from students to faculty and staff, feels supported and valued.
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association has identified mental health and burnout as a national workforce concern. With a significant shortage of veterinarians, addressing these issues is crucial. Holm’s role is designed to support the interconnected community of UCVM, recognizing that the well-being of one affects the entire team.
Listening and Learning
Holm brought extensive experience in health-professions education to UCVM, but she did not assume that a model developed in medicine could simply be transferred to veterinary medicine. Instead, she began by listening to students, faculty, and staff, learning about the faculty’s distinct culture. This approach helped her identify the effects of cumulative emotional stress, such as the impact of euthanasia and animal loss on teams.
Rather than waiting for individual members to reach burnout, Holm helped arrange therapist-led team debriefs. These sessions created a shared space to acknowledge the emotional realities of the work, reminding people that acknowledging emotional impact is not a sign of weakness but part of being human.
Initiatives for Well-being
Holm has led several initiatives to promote well-being, including Mental Health Awareness Week, Pause for Paws, Forum on Failure, and therapist-led workshops. These initiatives provide opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to step away from demanding work, connect with one another, and discuss setbacks openly. By making these conversations more visible, Holm aims to reduce stigma and build a culture where vulnerability, learning, and mutual support are accepted parts of professional education.
Pause for Paws, for example, creates an informal opportunity for the UCVM community to spend time with animals and connect with one another. This initiative is about giving people permission to pause during a demanding week, recognizing the importance of self-care in a high-stress environment.
Forum on Failure creates space for community members to speak openly about setbacks and recognize that struggle is not something they experience alone. By bringing these conversations into the open, Holm helps reduce stigma and build a culture where vulnerability, learning, and mutual support are part of professional education.
Holm’s work puts several principles of UCalgary’s Community Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy into practice within the context of veterinary medicine. Her role gives the UCVM community a person who can listen, help, and connect, while also working to ensure that well-being is woven into how the faculty learns, works, and supports one another every day.
As Dr. Jennifer Thannhauser, PhD’12, academic director of the CMHWS, notes, ‘No single interaction transforms a culture. Together, however, they help create a faculty where people know that support is available, feel more comfortable asking for it, and recognize that caring for one another is part of the work.’
