College Connection | Summer 2026
Bias in Practice – A key aspect of cultural humility
College Connection | Summer 2026
Bias in Practice – A key aspect of cultural humility
Most veterinary professionals have likely experienced a moment like this: a busy afternoon, a packed waiting room, and a client comes in late looking stressed. Before the conversation even begins, your mind may start filling in the blanks— about their priorities, their preparedness, or what the appointment might be like. These quick impressions are automatic and human. Our brains constantly process information and look for patterns to help us navigate busy environments and make decisions efficiently. While these mental shortcuts can be helpful, they are also an example of how bias can shape your understanding of situations and interactions with people – often without even realizing it.
Recognizing how bias works is an important part of cultural humility. It can strengthen our relationships with clients, improve collaboration among teams, and support more safe, inclusive, and effective veterinary care.
Understanding Bias
Bias is a range of attitudes, assumptions, or preferences that influence how we perceive information and respond to people and situations. Some biases are‘ explicit’, meaning we are aware of them. Other biases are‘ implicit’, meaning they occur automatically and often outside our awareness. Explicit or implicit, biases can affect how we interpret information, the options we present, and how people experience our services and workplaces.
In veterinary practice, these assumptions may relate to a client’ s financial situation, level of knowledge, communication preferences, or willingness to follow treatment recommendations. They may also impact how we perceive team members based on their background, age, accent, education, role, or experience.
A Way Forward
Cultural humility is the lifelong practice of continuous learning and selfreflection to understand personal and systemic biases, and to develop respectful relationships based on mutual trust. Rather than striving for perfection or trying to eliminate bias, cultural humility encourages us to acknowledge we all have biases and to identify these patterns so we can approach each situation with openness and curiosity.
Recognizing bias may feel uncomfortable at times, but practising cultural humility can help reframe this discomfort as an opportunity to ask: What assumptions am I making? What information might I be missing? How can I better understand this person’ s perspective?
Putting Cultural Humility into Practice
For veterinary teams, practising cultural humility can mean:
• Asking open-ended questions and seeking information that challenges our initial impressions.
• Taking the time to understand a client’ s concerns, priorities, and cultural perspectives related to veterinary care.
• Explaining care options clearly and in plain, accessible language, so clients feel informed and supported.
• Inviting team perspectives, especially when colleagues may see or experience things differently.
• Review systems such as intake forms, communications, recruitment practices, scheduling tools, etc. to identify and address unintended barriers.
• Reflecting on situations that felt challenging and considering what role bias may have played and what you learned.
Continuing the Journey
Bias is something we all carry— but by recognizing it and approaching each interaction with humility, curiosity, and openness, we strengthen the trust that is central to providing veterinary care. Like cultural humility itself, recognizing and addressing bias is an ongoing practice rather than a destination.
As a simple place to start, choose one interaction with a client or team member this week and reflect on what assumptions may have shaped it. What might have looked differently when you approached the conversation with curiosity instead?
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