Our Mission: To provide support beyond medicine at every career stage so no one feels alone or burnout in Veterinary Medicine
ABOUT DVM ASCENT
Meet DVM Ascent Founder
Dr. Angie Henninger is a Veterinarian, founder, and multi-location practice owner at Vet Partners Pet Hospitals, entrepreneur, and founder of DVM Ascent. With over a decade of leadership experience in private practice, she has built and scaled veterinary hospitals grounded in operational excellence, financial discipline, and intentional culture.
She is currently completing her MBA, deepening her expertise in finance, leadership, and organizational strategy — bringing that knowledge directly to the Veterinarians she mentors.
Featured in Forbes Magazine
Veterinarians often struggle with emotionally charged client conversations, a key driver of high burnout rates, yet traditional training overlooks this. Dr. Angela Henninger's DVM Ascent addresses this gap, equipping early-career vets with vital communication, confidence, and practice management skills. She asserts that effective communication is a clinical skill, crucial for treatment acceptance and client trust. The article explains how emotional responses hinder clear thinking, advocating for "lowering the temperature" before problem-solving. Henninger's "Compassionate Curiosity" framework guides clinicians to acknowledge emotions, ask open questions, and engage in joint problem-solving, fostering client partnership. This practical training is vital for the profession's future, improving retention and new graduate confidence by treating difficult conversations as a teachable skill.
DVM Ascent is supported by secondary and tertiary research showing that the veterinary profession faces significant challenges in burnout, retention, early-career preparedness, and workforce sustainability. Industry sources such as AVMA, AAHA, Merck Animal Health, BLS, and AAVMC show that veterinary employment is growing, but many professionals experience burnout, turnover, and gaps in real-world practice readiness. Existing mentorship programs such as MentorVet and VIN’s Veterinary Mentorship Academy also demonstrate that mentorship and professional support are recognized market needs. DVM Ascent provides a practical, integrated support platform that combines mentorship, peer community, communication training, leadership development, clinical confidence tools, and compliance resources for veterinarians and practices, in real-time, when you need it most.