2018 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program: Seattle, Washington, June 14 - 15, 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of client complaints on small animal veterinary internist's welfare, their job satisfaction, as well as the way they practice veterinary medicine. A web-based anonymous questionnaire was made available through the American College Veterinary Internal Medicine sub-specialty Small Animal Internal Medicine E-mail List Serve between January 1 st and March 31 st 2017. 92 surveys were obtained and available for review. 64% of respondents had received a client complaint within the preceding 6 months with the cost of care the most common reason. The majority of respondents (96%) worried to varying degrees about a client complaint being made against them. More concerning, almost 35% reported being verbally assaulted by a client within the preceding six months and 27% reported being threatened with litigation. A majority reported that they have changed the way they practice veterinary medicine to avoid a complaint being made against them and 43% said they had considered changing their career because of client complaints.