New graduate veterinarians often enter practice carrying both excitement and overwhelming pressure to be "day one ready"—but what if that expectation has been misunderstood from the start?

Dr. Bethany Weinheimer discusses the origins of the phrase, explores the research behind imposter syndrome in veterinary medicine, and offers practical strategies to help new vet grads move from fear and perfectionism into confidence and curiosity. Through personal stories, evidence-based insights, and actionable tips, this episode reminds listeners that graduation isn't the finish line, it's the beginning of a lifelong practice of growth, learning, and self-compassion.

The Evolve Vets Membership is an online community designed specifically for women in veterinary medicine who are ready to move beyond survival mode and create a sustainable, fulfilling career. If you're a new graduate, Dr. Bethany is offering one month free to help you build resilience from the very beginning of your career. Simply use the promo code NEWGRAD2026 to experience the tools, guidance, and support that can help you thrive—not just survive—in veterinary medicine.

In This Episode You Will Learn

What "day one ready" was originally intended to mean—and how its message has been misunderstood

Why imposter syndrome and anxiety are so common among new veterinarians

Five practical strategies to build confidence, seek support, and navigate your first year in practice

How nervous system regulation and the Evolve Method can help create a sustainable veterinary career

Timestamps

• 00:00 Why "Day One Ready" Is a Starting Line, Not a Finish Line
• 01:15 The Question That Changed the Conversation Around New Graduates
• 04:20 Research on Imposter Syndrome and Why You're Not Alone
• 06:20 The Original Meaning Behind the "Day One Ready" Concept
• 09:20 Clinical Knowledge vs. Clinical Confidence
• 13:30 Reframing the Question: "Am I Ready for Day One?"
• 17:35 Dr. Bethany's New Grad Mistakes and Lessons Learned
• 21:35 Five Essential Tips for New Graduate Veterinarians
• 28:35 The Evolve Method and Nervous System Regulation
• 40:15 What Day One Should Actually Feel Like

Key Takeaways

Graduation doesn't mean you know everything—it means you've built the foundation to keep learning.

Mentorship, collaboration, and asking for help are signs of wisdom, not weakness.

Confidence develops through repetition, experience, and self-compassion.

Regulating your nervous system may be one of the most important investments you make in your veterinary longevity.

About Dr. Bethany Weinheimer

Dr. Bethany Weinheimer is a veterinary leader, coach, consultant, and host of The Evolved Vets Podcast. She specializes in burnout recovery, authentic leadership, emotional resilience, and alignment-based coaching for veterinarians and medical professionals. Through Code Blue Coaching and The Evolved Vets Community, she helps veterinarians navigate challenges from burnout to career growth, including areas like veterinary leadership, practice ownership, and long-term sustainability.

Resources Mentioned

• The Doctor Molly Says Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-molly-says-podcast/id1800302028
• Dr. Gary Marshall on The Doctor Molly Says Podcast: https://youtu.be/aFXqKz6OGhc
• Perfectionism in Vet Medicine Episode -https://youtu.be/-eyYOjtVWmw
• The Evolved Vets Membership: https://app-evolved-vets.mykajabi.com/membership

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💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bethany-weinheimer-a9047558

🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drbeththevet

Hello, and welcome to the Evolve Vets [00:00:25] podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Bethany Weinheimer[00:00:30]

This is your final year of vet school, [00:01:00] and if this is your final year of vet school or you're going into clinics, this is gonna be a great [00:01:05] lesson too, because for you, this is the beginning of what clinical practice looks like, [00:01:10] and we're excited to let you in on a few little secrets that we have here.

And I loved the question and thought it was so insightful because the truth is it might be adding a [00:01:40] little bit of pressure to those that are graduating from vet school either this week or next week, [00:01:45] um, or all across the summer really. Now, what does day one ready really mean, [00:01:50] and where did it come from?

The good news is you've done a lot. You've finished vet school, and that's [00:02:30] something less than 1% of the population can say that they've done. You've passed the NAVLE. [00:02:35] You've walked across the stage. Someone hooded you during graduation ceremony. [00:02:40] And somewhere between the graduation photos, the walk across the stage, you [00:02:45] had that first thought creep in that said, "Oh my gosh, now these pets are in my [00:02:50] hand, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Um, I've been out of school for about eight years now, and the truth [00:03:15] is we all have days where we feel like we're doing really well and days where we feel like we need a little bit of help, and [00:03:20] that doesn't make you not prepared. It doesn't make you day one ready. So [00:03:25] I'm going to give you a meditation practice so you can do in the bathroom between [00:03:30] appointments and actually give you tips and tricks to better understand what day one ready means, [00:03:35] as well as some new grad tips and tricks for all of you out there.

Now, you [00:04:00] guys know me, I'm a total nerd and love research-based medicine. So what does the research actually say? [00:04:05] What does this day one ready narrative come from? Let's put some numbers behind what these new grads might be [00:04:10] feeling, because if you feel like you're struggling, maybe there's a sense of anxiety that's [00:04:15] brewing, you're not the outlier.

Also, 68% of residents and interns also [00:04:45] screened positive for the imposter syndrome during their studying period and their first [00:04:50] few years out of school, compared to the academic facility where [00:04:55] 38% of education healthcare professionals also had [00:05:00] this feeling of imposter syndrome. And what this tells me is that it may [00:05:05] not necessarily be bad that you feel like you have a lot to learn or that you have a lot to [00:05:10] achieve, because even me, as someone who's been out for eight years, sometimes there are still [00:05:15] moments where I feel like I have more to learn and more to grow, and I just lean into the [00:05:20] component of what can I learn today to make myself just a little bit better, 1% better [00:05:25] today for the pets that are around me.

And it's not necessarily something that people aren't allowed to [00:06:00] talk about or whisper about behind the scenes anymore. It's an open and public conversation [00:06:05] that is really capturing the attention of people like me who really deeply care [00:06:10] about this profession and wanna make sure that you have a long, sustainable career in veterinary [00:06:15] medicine.

Right? So what are the base competencies that a school should provide [00:06:40] to the veterinary students going through the skill itself? The concept was really [00:06:45] engineered around this idea of could it be a curriculum design tool? [00:06:50] The goal was to make sure that training had more hands-on skills that were applied to [00:06:55] veterinary schools, so that way when you walked out, you were more Day One Ready.

And somewhere along the way, it got translated into a [00:07:35] slogan, and now it's kind of turned into an emotional expectation that new [00:07:40] grads carry into their first job. There's a massive difference [00:07:45] between you hold a foundational set of competencies and skills [00:07:50] to make you ready for day one, more so than previous classes with different [00:07:55] curriculums, and you should be able to walk into a busy GP or [00:08:00] maybe even an ER setting on day one and perform at all levels of your [00:08:05] supervising DVM.

So the question becomes, are [00:08:35] we setting poor expectations? Should we rebrand the concept of being day [00:08:40] one ready? And let's think a little bit about how. So today, vet schools [00:08:45] market day one ready as a finished product. We tell this to vet students when they're [00:08:50] applying. Makes them excited for their entry into vet school.

That is not the goal. The goal is that we have an [00:09:20] increase in clinical knowledge, and that doesn't necessarily come with clinical confidence. [00:09:25] Maybe our clinical confidence is still a little bit low. Day one ready is not an end, [00:09:30] an end goal. It is a starting line. It's saying you have the basic skills to [00:09:35] be able to show up and move forward throughout your clinical practice.

Of course, a little bit nerve-wracking, but really we don't talk about how the nervous system [00:10:10] comes online with this flight or fight and really this perfectionism and [00:10:15] self-judgment instead of grace around this idea of being and practicing as a veterinarian. [00:10:20] Competence isn't just a thought. It's a physiological state, and you can't just think [00:10:25] your way into a regulated nervous system.

[00:11:05] The truth is, there probably is a fundamental gap between where you're starting on day [00:11:10] one and where you're gonna be, you know, five years out of school, where you're gonna be eight years out of school, 10 [00:11:15] years out of school. There is going to naturally be a developmental gap, and that's [00:11:20] intentional.

Maybe it's just an anxiety that [00:11:40] surrounds this idea of what should I be. And the truth is, if you find a [00:11:45] great employer that really honors you in the place that you're at and provides you that mentorship, [00:11:50] they're gonna continue growing your skills over time. It's not gonna be expected [00:11:55] something that you have on day one of being a veterinarian.

But maybe [00:12:25] we don't actually feel ready when we start practicing as a veterinarian. Maybe [00:12:30] that's where we start to rely on the mentorship, our peers, those group chats. I can remember [00:12:35] when I graduated from vet school, the first time I saw a pig, I was probably a year out of vet school, [00:12:40] and I had never seen a pig before, and I remember texting my little group of girlfriends from vet [00:12:45] school, there was 10 of them, and just messaging and being like, "What do I do?"

So the next time you feel That thought [00:13:15] of, "I'm not really day one ready, and I feel nervous. I feel anxious." Let yourself [00:13:20] know it's okay to feel that way. That's a completely normal feeling, and that you're capable [00:13:25] of learning. So my friend Dr. Gary Marshall, vice president of the AVMA, [00:13:30] actually said, "What if we took this question of I...

And if you can say yes to that question and lean on [00:14:00] the mentorship, then graduation isn't a finish line. It's just a step [00:14:05] on your journey to becoming a new, excited veterinarian who [00:14:10] is fulfilled by the clinical practice. And fun fact, that's why [00:14:15] we call it practice. Veterinary medicine isn't nec- ... We call it the [00:14:20] art of medicine, and the art of medicine is that it's gonna constantly change, and we're gonna [00:14:25] constantly be learning and growing.

It's just a starting point for where you can go next. But instead of [00:14:50] putting the extra pressure on ourselves of saying, "Okay, am I day one [00:14:55] ready? Am I ready today for all of the things that could possibly walk through the door?" Maybe the [00:15:00] answer is, "I don't know, but I am ready to start day one, and I'm [00:15:05] ready to do it with curiosity, with an open mind, and a depth to help [00:15:10] people and pets when they really need it most."

And the truth about [00:15:35] medicine is we practice it We rehearse, we refine, we get it wrong [00:15:40] sometimes. But the more we get it right, the more we keep going, the more we learn, [00:15:45] the better we get. Let me speak directly to the woman who feels like she's barely [00:15:50] holding it all together. You are still competent. You are [00:15:55] still high functioning.

This is about reclaiming yourself inside of vet med instead of giving up on it. [00:16:30] Over six months, I partner with you and hold your hand as we identify [00:16:35] patterns keeping you in survival mode. We rewire the perfectionism loop that [00:16:40] constantly happens, rebuild your self-trust and your self-worth, create [00:16:45] boundaries you can actually hold, and you have your accountability from yours truly.[00:16:50]

[00:17:15] Make that extra moment to prioritize you so that way you can sustain your career in vet [00:17:20] med. Now, if this calls to you or you're curious, go to evolvevets.com [00:17:25] where you can learn more and book a alignment call with me, so that way we can better [00:17:30] discuss if this is the right next step for you. I hope to see you in there, and that we can stop this code blue [00:17:35] moment.

I read the prognosis. I read the treatment. I knew [00:18:10] exactly what to recommend, exactly what to do. And so I walked in that room, my little white coat [00:18:15] on and my stethoscope around my neck, and I said, "Your dog's been diagnosed with pancreatitis." And I [00:18:20] literally almost, like, memorized the words, so I was reading out loud, like, what needed to [00:18:25] happen for each phase of the dog.

Like, I think I'm a doctor, but I'm really not [00:18:50] sure." And I, like, read him everything that the book said, so where's the disconnect? But [00:18:55] the truth is my clinical skill, my ability to diagnose the [00:19:00] pancreatitis was there, but my confidence was not there. I couldn't relay treatment and [00:19:05] the reason that someone should pursue hospitalization for pancreatitis in a confident way.

I just like [00:19:40] went to, you know, over a decade of school, and I have all this extra professional [00:19:45] training, and, you know, here I am showing up my best for your pet, and [00:19:50] then I get questions like that that say like, "You look young. You look 12." [00:19:55] And there's so many hurdles that you have to learn to overcome as a new grad.

So now I wanna send each of you who just graduated [00:20:35] a huge welcome to the profession. I'm so excited that you're here, and I wanna give you [00:20:40] tips for the new grads out there. So if you just graduated from veterinary school or really any form of [00:20:45] medical school, I'm sure all of these will apply. But I wanna send you off with so much [00:20:50] love and a few tips and tricks that hopefully will help build that confidence to change [00:20:55] the question from, "Am I really day one ready?"

And so here's a few items to go from that force energy of stress, [00:21:25] anxiety, high pressure into a flow state where you're openly curious, and you're [00:21:30] learning, and you're receiving from the people around you, and you're prioritizing the pets and the customer experience when they walk through [00:21:35] the door. So my first tip is lower the freaking bar.

It's to be safe, to be [00:22:05] honest, and to be curious. You can't set the bar at I wanna be a, a [00:22:10] senior clinician level your very first year out. You'll fail. You'll fail, and you'll have so [00:22:15] much pressure, and that force energy, that anxiety will tighten around you, and you won't have that open [00:22:20] mind to stay curious and to learn, to give yourself the space to make mistakes.

Tip two, say, "I don't know." [00:22:45] It is a complete sentence. Practice it out loud in your car, maybe on your way to work, maybe in the [00:22:50] mirror. Just say, "I don't know. Let me check." "I don't know. I'd like to consult with my colleague." [00:22:55] Or just, "I don't know." Um, you can say things like, "I'm gonna look that up and [00:23:00] come right back to you."

[00:23:25] They're gonna know so many things. Like, I would not be where I'm at today without my veterinary technicians, my [00:23:30] veterinary nurses and assistants, CEC, helping guide me along my path. Ask your colleagues, [00:23:35] your peers, your veterinarians. Ask your boss. Like, they hired you for a reason, and they want you to be [00:23:40] successful.

This is not the same as in [00:24:00] clinics or, you know, when your resident n- is asking you an answer and you need to have it off the top of your head. [00:24:05] Your client is gonna be fine if you take the five minutes to look it up and come back with a clear answer and a [00:24:10] plan for what they wanna do next. Tip three, find at least one other safe person.

It's okay to say, "Hey, I just euthanized [00:24:35] my third pet today, and I'm really struggling." I remember my first year out of school, I [00:24:40] euthanized 14 patients on Christmas Eve, and it was one of the hardest days. And [00:24:45] luckily, my friend group was so supportive and just, like, comforting me and giving me love and [00:24:50] support.

All right, now tip number four, track your wins, literally. Guess what? Your [00:25:15] brain is going to remember the bad outcomes. It will happen. It's natural. It takes [00:25:20] about seven good comments for every one bad comment. So in order to keep yourself out [00:25:25] of the spiral of the bad comments, keep a note in your phone. I used to save all [00:25:30] my emails from employees and leaders that I led, as well as clients that really left [00:25:35] a special mark on my heart in my inbox.

And so if you find yourself in a tough situation and you are spiraling, [00:26:00] please, please, please reach out to me. Um, within our membership, we have a meditation that [00:26:05] you can actually go back to and listen, and it actually teaches you how to break [00:26:10] this idea of spiraling on a single thought and going down the drain.

"I got the bladder stone." "I did three spays in one day." Or, "I [00:26:40] did my first dental." Like, "I made kids laugh while their cat got vaccines," [00:26:45] or maybe it's, "I made a kid feel special by giving them a stuffed animal after [00:26:50] performing a euthanasia." All right, tip five, take care of yourself please. It's so easy to [00:26:55] want to hustle, to want to perform, to have these incredibly high standards for yourself, [00:27:00] and then you teach yourself not to hear your body when it says, "Hey, I'm hungry and I need to [00:27:05] eat."

Really lean into your flow. Say, "Can I take five minutes today to eat and just sit in [00:27:30] the silence?" That's like my lifesaver in the middle of a 12-hour shift. Can I sit in silence [00:27:35] and eat my warm meal with no distractions? That's the goal. And it's hard to show up your [00:27:40] best self if you're dehydrated, you have low blood sugar.

What are you doing?" And she'll run and grab me a cheese stick and like a, [00:28:05] a soda or something to get my blood sugar up. But she's like, "You have to eat." And that was one of the nurses that [00:28:10] saved my career in veterinary medicine, 'cause I would not have been able to keep showing up, and I [00:28:15] was not aware enough of my body because I was so focused on pushing through, um, [00:28:20] and taking care of the pets in front of me that I didn't take time to say, "Bethany, what do you need to [00:28:25] show up best for the pets around you?"

Learn how to regulate your nervous system. It could be something small [00:28:50] like listening to a meditation while you ride in your car. It could be, sure, laying on a couch or crossing your [00:28:55] legs, or listening to it while you're on a walk outside. But meditation isn't [00:29:00] definite or defined by only doing it one way.

If you love this podcast, you find yourself nodding [00:29:35] along thinking, "This is exactly how I feel at work, and [00:29:40] sometimes even outside of work," then I wanna invite you to something even bigger. Come [00:29:45] with me to the Evolve vets membership. It's my online home and community for [00:29:50] women in veterinary medicine who are done surviving and ready to start [00:29:55] evolving.

It's your choice [00:30:20] to move from self-abandonment to self-devotion, and the truth is, you don't have to [00:30:25] do it alone, my friend. Come evolve with us. So let's talk through the three [00:30:30] phases that we do in the Evolve vets method and how it can be helpful for you as a new grad. [00:30:35] One is going to be meditation. So define a limiting belief [00:30:40] And if you're asking yourself the question, "Am I really day one ready?"

I am worthy of being here. I worked really [00:31:05] hard. I am allowed to make mistakes. I'm allowed to learn with curiosity and [00:31:10] to grow from the times that I do something wrong. I am smart, and I do deserve a [00:31:15] place in this profession, right? So what's the antidote? And then the third is going to be integration.

Your prefrontal cortex is [00:31:40] offline, your amygdala is splashing and responding, and you're reacting [00:31:45] instead of choosing to respond. And when we're in a focused place where our nervous [00:31:50] system can really rest, we have autonomy to say, "This is the next best treatment," or [00:31:55] "Hey, I know this client is really upset right now, but I wanna handle this with a different perspective."

[00:32:20] Um, so new grads use the code NEWGRAD2026, [00:32:25] and I would love for you all to join the EvolveVets method and try it out for [00:32:30] yourself. My goal is that everyone stays in the profession as long as they possibly can, [00:32:35] and to find ways to regulate their nervous system and really just live a life that's more [00:32:40] aligned instead of overwhelmed.

So try it for a [00:33:10] week. Tell me if your day doesn't feel different. It takes a while to get used to the meditations. [00:33:15] Do it in a way that works for you. Go on that walk. Do it while you're cooking dinner. Put your headphones [00:33:20] in when you're, you know, brushing your teeth and putting your makeup on for the day.

Maybe it's just [00:33:50] acknowledging an emotion that you have. But taking those small pauses for yourself throughout [00:33:55] the day by saying in the bathroom, "Hey, I'm gonna listen to this five-minute meditation," or, "I'm [00:34:00] gonna go into my lunch break and do a, a, a body check. I'm [00:34:05] gonna see how my body's feeling." And maybe you put one hand on your chest, maybe you put one [00:34:10] hand on your belly, and you breathe slowly.[00:34:15]

And then I would open the door. And the other thing that I would do, which is a [00:34:35] huge tip, is I would actually tell myself, "Bethany, this dog's name is [00:34:40] Buddha, and it's a boy." Right? So tell yourself things like that so when you go in, you don't mess [00:34:45] up. But it's just practicing awareness and giving yourself a mental break.

Is there an area [00:35:10] that's tight and tense and anxious, or maybe there's an area that's feeling really good [00:35:15] and buzzing, and can you use the different parts of your body to really connect with [00:35:20] yourself and, and get back to a place of stability so that one area isn't super [00:35:25] tight and the other is, is super stressed?

Uh, maybe there's a customer telling you that you're only in it for the money, and you really [00:35:55] just don't know what to do next. Just silently tell yourself, [00:36:00] "Okay, I'm feeling nervous. I'm feeling angry. I'm feeling [00:36:05] a little bit mad and a little bit sad. There's a tightness in [00:36:10] my chest and my shoulders are kind of pinching together, and I can feel that there [00:36:15] is a heat coming across my face.

There's a wonderful TED Talk video that I deeply love and I [00:36:50] recommend to every new grad, so go and listen to it if you would like. It is called Making [00:36:55] Stress Your Friend, and it teaches you all about the physiological [00:37:00] changes that happen in your body. So think about it. When we get stressed, our adrenaline [00:37:05] rises, cortisol rises, and our heart rate picks up a little bit more.

And so for me, this was a huge part of my journey through ER. I remember being [00:37:35] six months out of school and starting to work overnights by myself. And there was these moments where [00:37:40] these periods of stress or overwhelm would come on. And I would tell myself, "Okay, Bethany, [00:37:45] I love this. I love being in the ER.

But I will say that that was some, a skill, but I will [00:38:10] say that was a skill I had to teach my brain throughout the years, teaching myself how to love [00:38:15] the stress, how to teach myself that this is my body preparing myself for the challenge that [00:38:20] I'm about to take on, and that I'm ready and I'm confident and I can use myself, my resources, [00:38:25] and the people around me to make sure this is a successful case.

Where did, where was I devoted to myself? And maybe where are the areas that I [00:38:50] self-abandoned or I was a little bit too hard on myself this week?" And I write it out. I journal [00:38:55] about it. And it's the arc of bringing self-awareness and creating a [00:39:00] transition from self-abandonment into self-devotion Self-abandon might look [00:39:05] like skipping lunch, holding out on the euthanasia to see the next drop-off, [00:39:10] saying yes to an overnight when your body was saying no, picking up an extra shift when [00:39:15] your energy level was at 20%.

Just be aware and take [00:39:40] note. So if you're going into clinics and you're learning, and you're out in real life starting to [00:39:45] get your hands on your white coat, starting to get your hands on pets in a new and innovative way, [00:39:50] kn- please know that walking across the graduation stage doesn't mean you're gonna be day one [00:39:55] ready.

What if instead we said, [00:40:15] "Day one, I want to feel safe. I wanna know when to ask for help. I wanna know what [00:40:20] resources I can use. I wanna know when to call Pet Poison Helpline." Maybe I want day [00:40:25] one to feel honest, honest with myself, honest with my clients, honest with when I need a break. I [00:40:30] want day one to feel curious.

Day one, focusing on [00:40:55] regulating my nervous system. Practice starting practicing meditation now instead of waiting [00:41:00] until I actually hit the job. So vet students and new grads start this now. It's gonna [00:41:05] be one of the best decisions you can make for your career and your future [00:41:10] veterinary self will thank you because you're gonna have sustainability much, much longer than people [00:41:15] who choose to walk away.

I'm eight years out of [00:41:40] school, and I continue to get better at veterinary medicine every day. I continue to use my nursing team, my [00:41:45] technician team, my veterinary team, my leaders alongside me to [00:41:50] help make me great. Think about it. Surgeons do residencies. Lawyers have clerks. [00:41:55] It's not just veterinary medicine that relies on others to make sure we're performing at our [00:42:00] best.

And can I take it case [00:42:20] by case, breath by breath, and constantly being open to learning and [00:42:25] growing? So again, if you're a new grad and you wanna try the Evolved Vets [00:42:30] meditations and our frameworks to help make you better prepared, please go [00:42:35] to evolvedvets.com and type in new grad 2026, and I'll [00:42:40] get to know you a little bit more from there.

Beth the Vet. You are honestly so [00:43:05] incredible to be here. You're less than one percent of the population. Your knowledge [00:43:10] base is unique and special. Every single one of us deserve to have a seat in veterinary [00:43:15] medicine, and thank you so much for being here today. It always lights my soul up when new grads are so fun and [00:43:20] so exciting.

Let's evolve together