Letter from the Board President, Dr. Brian Bourquin

I am honored to accept the position of Board President of Not One More Vet (NOMV). I want to thank
the Board of Directors for their support now and in the journey to come.

On behalf of the Board, staff, and volunteers, I want to congratulate Dr. Carrie Jurney for her leadership as Board President since NOMV’s inception. She has sheparded NOMV from a kitchen-table intention, that “not one more” veterinary professional should suffer in silence to the leading organization addressing mental health and wellbeing to a global veterinary audience. It is Dr. Jurney’s seemingly boundless energy and passion that drew the current Board and the staff together. Dr. Jurney will remain on the NOMV Board of Directors and on the Executive Committee and continue to, figuratively and literally, write the book on veterinary mental health.

It was almost five years ago when I first heard about NOMV at a conference and a presentation on the state of mental health in the veterinary industry. It wasn’t a good story. At the time, I had been an associate veterinarian in Boston for over 10 years and was celebrating the fifth birthday of the independent clinic I had started. I had experienced many of the challenges, witnessed others who struggled day-to-day, and read all too often of those who succumbed to the hopelessness these challenges can evoke. We all have. But now, NOMV was created to bring a simple truth to light, that you are not alone. The resources we have are ourselves – peer support. I was captivated by the mission and the potential to save lives. After that first conference, Dr. Carrie Jurney and I became fast friends – we both talk very fast, dance to our own music and believe strongly that our calling as veterinarians came with responsibility to the profession. One year later, at that same conference, I agreed to join the Board.

Our work together since that day has been transformational, always rising to where our profession needed us to be. Today, NOMV is positioned to provide these needed resources, whether in response to a crisis or in the work to prevent one. I am proud to contribute to the success of NOMV, grateful for the opportunity to lead it and hopeful that our mission to transform the mental health of the veterinary profession will be realized.

Dr. Brian Bourquin