Suicide risk, burnout, retention and student debt—these are just some of the serious issues many in the veterinary profession are working on now in their noble and impactful pursuits. No one would argue the absolute need to address these concerns. However, are we missing something else to elevate the profession?
Before we begin, let’s consider something. How might we compare two, broad contrasting concepts? In positive psychology, we often use this tool: the Red Cape and the Green Cape thought exercise. Now we get to chance for cosplay of the mind, if you will. Viewed through the lens of vet med, this
exercise offers us a choice of superpowers symbolized by the color of our cape. If we pick the Red Cape, we can cure all of vet med’s ills. Debt, mental illness, and burnout all become part of history. If the Green Cape is our choice, we take all the very best, rewarding and honorable parts of the profession and the people in it to the max. Like Morpheus in “The Matrix”, I lay the choices before you. Now, which cape would you choose to help veterinary medicine?
The Red Cape: All The Problems Disappear
Donning the Red Cape means tackling all the profession’s problems head-on. Similar to what many of us do in our day-today work, we find effective treatments and administer them. But instead of curing our patients, we cure the ills of our profession. This may encompass addressing mental health, eliminating the gender pay gap, fighting burnout, eradicating overwhelming student debt, and restoring social justice. Red Cape veterinary professionals are relieving suffering, correcting injustices, and restoring balance to veterinary medicine 24/7.
Red Cape advocates may argue that focusing on reducing suffering is both a moral imperative and pragmatic. This stance is difficult to refute in a profession where so many are impacted. Yet, like every choice, it also has its shortcomings. It primarily focuses on ameliorating the negative. At its core, it only brings us back to neutral, without creating an environment in which to be fulfilled and to flourish.
The Green Cape: Maximizing Joy, Understanding, Fulfillment, and Prosperity
Wearing the Green Cape means devoting oneself to infinitely increasing the good. This approach involves advancing education, maximizing healthy compassion and meaningful relationships, promoting well being, pushing the frontiers of technology and innovation, and elevating human consciousness,
among other things. Green Cape advocates believe that by amplifying all that is good in the world, we indirectly make the list of issues in veterinary medicine less potent. Wearing the Green Cape leads to employing empathy to understand others’ unique perspectives and situations, seeing the daily impact we make on patients’ and clients’ lives—thus promoting an environment of acceptance and respect. This perspective enables us to connect deeply with others, fostering a shared sense of community, meaning, purpose, and belonging.
So… who is right?
“If we spend more resources enhancing positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, achievement, and enlightening minds—while simultaneously promoting mattering, belonging and growth—these advocates believe that negative aspects like languishing and conflict will naturally diminish. Critics of the Green Cape approach argue that this path overlooks dire situations in the moment.”
Working Toward Harmony
According to the World Health Organization, health is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The spirit of this statement holds true when talking about our thought exercise for veterinary medicine. Solving all the issues
within the field will not create utopia. It’s not enough on its own. Both Red Cape and Green Cape perspectives hold merit and value. It’s not a matter of choosing one over the other but integrating both. The profession needs a multifaceted approach. Compassion and practicality must intertwine with realistic
optimism and intention to create a positive work environment.
The Red Cape’s focus on healing the profession aligns with our innate compassion as healers, intuitively moving us to help those who are suffering. Simultaneously, the Green Cape’s approach to infinitely enriching all touched by veterinary medicine resonates with our desire for meaning, purpose, and the power of positivity. The Red Cape kind of feels like we’re fixing stuff, and the Green Cape seems more like we’re reaching for the stars, right? Both are crucial for our journey toward better veterinary medicine. What if we could create a profession where our resources are effectively channeled to alleviate pain and suffering while also nurturing growth, prosperity, and well-being?
Bottom line, the two capes aren’t rivals, nor are they binary choices. We need to prevent harm and promote flourishing in veterinary medicine; we need both capes.
TWO CAPES, One Profession
This Red Cape, Green Cape thought exercise is more than a philosophical predicament—it’s a roadmap to the profession we envision for the future. Our path forward as a profession lies in understanding that alleviating suffering is as crucial as maximizing the good. Only when we embrace both red and
green can we become a profession filled with compassion and
prosperity, where we all thrive.
I’d like to leave you with this: Every action begins with a question. What we ask determines what we find. Asking the right question is the essential start to our journey forward. In the future, instead of asking, “What’s wrong with my coworkers, my workplace, my profession?”, what if we ask a question that honors both red and green capes? Something like, “How do we create an experience at work where we walk out the door feeling better than when we arrived?”
About the Author
Dr. Philip Richmond, DVM, CAPP, CPHSA, CCFP
Dr. Richmond is a practicing veterinarian and the Founding CEO of Flourishing Phoenix Veterinary Consultants, LLC. He advocates for positive culture and psychological health, safety, and well-being in veterinary workplaces. Dr. Richmond leads and is involved in state, national, and international projects for advancing workplace well-being and culture in veterinary medicine.
He has served as Chief Medical Officer for Veterinary United. He is also a member/advisor for several national committees and boards for workplace suicide prevention, psychological health & safety, and veterinary well-being, including those sponsored by the CDC/NIOSH, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Veterinary Visionaries, MentorVet, and Appalachian State University. Dr. Richmond is a speaker and published writer, including having co-authored the recent “Psychological Health and Safety Guidelines” from Veterinary Visionaries. He is a frequent veterinary podcast guest and holds multiple certifications in applied positive psychology, appreciative inquiry, workplace well-being, psychological health & safety, trauma-informed workplaces, resilience training, behavior change, and suicide prevention. He was awarded the FVMA Gold Star for service in 2019, FVMA Veterinarian of the Year in 2021, the Uncharted Veterinary Community Founder’s Award in 2023, and a finalist for the 2024 US Bright Minds Veterinary Wellness Champion Award.