Community

Two emerging campaigns – the Veterinary Nurse Initiative and hospital unionization – could radically change the industry.

2018 marks the year when two vastly different efforts are emerging to address the status, professionalization and health care outcomes involving veterinary staff in animal hospitals throughout the United States. The National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America, the national organization for credentialed veterinary technicians, launched the Veterinary Nurse Initiative in Ohio and Tennessee and […]

When a difficult situation arises, you can change it, remove yourself or accept it.

Difficult or unwanted situations invariably arise almost daily as busy professionals seek to balance work, family, friends and other passions. So, the question naturally arises: How should we navigate our more challenging moments? While we don’t want to pretend to be psychologists or psychiatrists, we have observed some approaches that are useful for dealing with […]

How can we combine what independent veterinarians yearn for with the best of the corporate world?

Independent practices — mom and pops — have been the backbone of our profession for generations. They’re our industry’s baseball and apple pie. While we all know independent owners to be passionate, engaged in the community and superb health care providers, they also are notorious for being less-than-optimal business managers. Corporate practices have sought to […]

The new political action committee will lobby on behalf of veterinary professionals, industry and pet owners.

The Veterinary Innovation Council kicked off VMX 2018 with the launch of an exciting new platform serving veterinary professionals, industry and pet owners alike — one that gives them a say in legislative efforts and policymaking around the country. The mere mention of “politics” sends many scurrying for cover. But the fact is political decisions […]

With minimal effort, you can act affirmatively to increase diversity in your applicant pool.

I attend many meetings on diversity throughout the year. Most often, the meetings focus on sociological concepts, critical race theory and cultural trends. This information is critical to understanding larger diversity issues, but sometimes it misses the mark in terms of what people really need to know on the ground about how to “do” diversity. […]

The United States will need millions of additional dogs a year to keep pace with the growing number of households.

It is an extraordinary day when The Washington Post places a story about pets, in this case the shortage of dogs, on its front page. Well, it happened a year ago with the headline “Does America Have Enough Dogs for All the People Who Want One?” I can already hear readers guffawing: “No way The […]

An unwavering commitment to your job can leave little time to take stock of what's missing from your life.

I ran this sentiment by several colleagues: “Vets before pets.” No surprise that each person’s first impression was less than favorable. It somehow sounded bad, uncomfortable, flat-out wrong. Perhaps it is. But nevertheless, allow me to explain. Our profession is wonderful; the value we add to society is unmatched. We are truly a double-
bottom-line profession. […]

With presence of mind, you can notice more, let go 
and use everything at any moment and in any context.

We imagine that many of you, like us, are fans of improvisational comedy. We can’t help but be amazed when Wayne Brady, one of the stars of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” fabricates complete song lyrics in real time using a musical genre, melody and theme that’s given to him only moments before he goes […]

If we are not mindful and deliberate, privilege and rankism can result in toxic work environments.

The term “privilege” has become one of the hottest buzz words in the diversity and inclusion lexicon. The word is often considered provocative in discussions due to a fairly abstract notion of who has it and why. I’d like to break down the concept of privilege and how it might be seen in and around […]

Only a lawyer could figure out a veterinarian’s reporting duties when animal abuse is suspected.

The virtue or vice of a federalist system of government — where the states retain powers to legislate — is the wide disparity in how laws affect the same category of persons or businesses. Nowhere is this truer than with each state’s approach to a veterinarian’s duties to report animal abuse by a client. Veterinary […]