“Unburdened–Student edition” content.

Psychological distress is elevated in the field of veterinary medicine. Recent evidence demonstrates that stress and burnout in veterinary workers can be reduced through an Acceptance and Commitment Training intervention targeting “burden transfer,” or reactivity to challenging interactions with veterinary clients (“Unburdened”). Exposing students to Unburdened could optimize mental health outcomes as they transition into the veterinary workforce. Unburdened will be adapted for student use in a self-guided digital format and embedded into 5 veterinary medical or technology programs. Participants will be 200 advanced students recruited into a parallel-arms design: assessment-only Control versus Intervention (Study registration: The trial to evaluate Unburdened’s potential impact on mental health is considered observational, as the involved educational institutions chose to implement the program for its educational value. Details can be found in NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/FhAMx6slrEautC8YKesk0Q/project-details/10980628. This study is registered with the Open Science Framework, where data will ultimately be made available: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/QEAKM.