About the Author
Discharge Notes columnist Dr. Andy Roark is a practicing veterinarian, international speaker and author. He founded the Uncharted Veterinary Conference. His Facebook page, podcast, website and YouTube show reach millions of people every month. Dr. Roark is a three-time winner of the NAVC Practice Management Speaker of the Year Award. Learn more at drandyroark.com
Written By This Author

Personal/Professional Development
The Trouble With Pattern Recognition
Certainty in a world full of randomness is rarely possible.
Personal/Professional Development
Hopepunk Rebellion
Let’s cultivate a counterculture of hope and optimism.
Personal Wellness
Measuring Sticks
Regardless of the rulers you apply to your life, be sure they make sense.
Personal/Professional Development
Our Profession’s Growth Spurt
Unstoppable tectonic forces are driving innovation and forcing us to rethink access to veterinary care.
Personal/Professional Development
The Art of Kindness in an Imperfect World
Let’s be intentional about how we define success for ourselves.

Personal Wellness
Strategic Stress
Recognizing we can’t control other people, the past or the future is a huge step toward eyes-wide-open acceptance of our situations.

Personal Wellness
Times Have Changed
Graduations symbolize and make real the transition from one state of our lives to another.

Personal/Professional Development
Reality Check
Is someone a “real vet” when they step back from the clinic? I’m just contributing to my field in a different way.
Human Resources
How to Fare Well When Good Staff Leave
Our job as leaders is to grow people, regardless of whether they stay or eventually depart.
Personal Wellness
Trying to Keep Everything in Balance
Don’t be so focused on showing up for your job that you forget to show up for the rest of your life.
Personal Wellness
How We See Ourselves Matters
Choosing how we see ourselves is within our power, even as we simultaneously work to overcome external challenges.
Personal Wellness
Rekindling the Love of Work
We’ve been on a quest to capture the dragon so long that we don’t know what the dragon is anymore.
Practice Management
Our Complicated Relationships
Part of setting healthy boundaries is being willing to walk away from the relationship if those boundaries aren’t respected.
Personal/Professional Development
The Upside of Letting Go
When goals and deadlines are treated as inflexible absolutes, they can lead people to behave in ways that don’t make sense.
Human Resources
Save a life
A “four eyes” approach to drug security and a well-publicized employee assistance program are two crucial steps your practice can take today to help prevent suicide in veterinary medicine.