Dr Alex Harrison doesn’t want the next generation of vets to face discrimination for their differences. As the first profoundly deaf veterinarian to join Australia’s vet sector, he’s been through his fair share of microaggressions around his disability.
But it has served to motivate him to do something to change the profession he loves, and the senior veterinarian at Eastside Veterinary Clinic in South Australia is forcing the profession to have some tough conversations about inclusion and accessibility.
“We have a mental health crisis in the profession, and the suicide rate is about four times that of the general population. I’ve spent time trying to raise awareness that our unrealistic expectations of what we can do might be contributing to that, especially if 38 per cent of the profession has disability or chronic illness or neurodivergence,” he said.
“We’re very good at looking after the animal, but sometimes we’re very tough on ourselves and on each other. I’d like to change that.”
That’s where projects like The Veterinary Kaleidoscope come in. It runs an annual summit and speaks with professional bodies about how to create a more supportive profession for vets – including by potentially removing mandatory reporting of disability or chronic illness on annual licence registrations, if deemed ‘detrimental’ to the ability to practice, as this can make people feel stigmatised.