College Connection Fall 2025 | страница 6

College Connection | Fall 2025

NEW PODCAST

Cultural humility and your practice

For veterinarians, the ability to provide effective care relies not only on medical expertise, but also on understanding and respecting the cultural backgrounds of clients, colleagues and team members.

Cultural humility invites you to adopt a mindset of continuous learning and self-reflection in interactions with diverse cultures.

In a new podcast, Emily Ewles, the College’ s Principal for Quality Assurance and Improvement, and Krithika Jeyaraman, the College’ s Community Engagement Strategist, welcome veterinarians Dr. Lynn Henderson and Dr. Jennifer Ogeer, who provide guidance on cultural humility in veterinary medicine.

The discussion includes:

• impact of cultural humility on overall care and trust with clients working with diverse and marginalized populations

• avoiding assumptions about animal care and welfare in remote communities

• ensuring veterinary care is accessible and inclusive for all communities

• influence of cultural humility during sensitive times

• tips for veterinary colleagues to embrace cultural humility

Tune in at: cvo. org / podcast

Building trust across cultures

In today’ s increasingly diverse world, cultural competency is an integral part of veterinary medicine. When working with animals, you are also interacting with people whose backgrounds, identities, belief systems, lived experiences, and even communication style may be different from your own. Learning how to approach differences can create a welcoming environment based on trust and mutual respect.

Don’ t assume norms

What feels‘ normal’,‘ practical’,‘ professional’, and‘ respectful’ to you might feel cold, rude, dismissive, or in some cases discriminatory to someone who has different cultural norms and practices. Cultural norms shape how people communicate, interpret behaviours, and how they express feelings and concerns for their animals.

Common mistakes:

• Assuming clients equate directness to honesty

• Interpreting avoidance of eye contact as a sign of untrustworthiness

• Expecting decision-making to follow a particular process

What to do:

• Listen and ask clarifying questions

• Ask open-ended questions & don’ t assume preferences, concerns

Listen deeply

Trust is the foundation of all relationships, including veterinary medicine. When clients feel seen, understood, valued, and heard, they’ re more likely to support and comply with a care plan. To continue growing a trusting relationship, approach the client’ s lived experience with care.

Common mistakes:

• Assuming everyone has the same relationship with animals

• Listening to respond, not to understand

What to do:

• Leave space for silence, emotions

• Don’ t rush to respond

Use inclusive language

Words matter and they shape experiences. Language that feels like the norm to you may feel isolating, dismissive, or judgmental to someone who has a different background or lived experience than you. Using inclusive language demonstrates that you care about people.

Common mistakes:

• Utilizing terms that promote stereotypes

• Assuming intelligence or understanding based on accent

• Assuming gender or sexuality

What to do:

• Ask for pronouns and the pronunciation of names

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