by KELSEY BETH CARPENTER, RVT   As veterinary professionals, we walk a tricky tightrope: Caring for patients while still caring for our team. Sometimes, those things happen to be mutually exclusive. How do you choose sides when it comes down to that?   I’ve worked at many hospitals that have allowed clients to abuse and take advantage of their staff. Is this because they were terrible hospitals? Absolutely not! Quite the contrary, actually! When I see …

by Dr. Jackie Parr BScH, DVM, MSc, Dip ACVN   Dr. Jackie Parr, aka The Kibble Queen, is a board-certified veterinary clinical nutritionist that is passionate about veterinary team members “finding and wearing their own crown.” She created this talk to not only share the life and career lessons she has learned in a humorous way, but to encourage others to keep looking until they are “wearing a crown that truly fits.” She focuses on …

By Cyndie Courtney, DVM   It isn’t okay to be hurtful just because we are hurting, and yet too often we do just that. This talk details my difficult path to realizing that bad behavior doesn’t define who we are, that we CAN get better, and how we can help each other along the way.     The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the …

By Mike Falconer   I have always been fascinated by leaders and managers; the visionaries that change our world. I have also been fascinated by weaknesses and propensity for implosion in those same leaders and managers.   When I started to see some of those same traits in myself as a manager, I wanted to dig deeper and figure out what was happening to me and what it had happened to others.     The views and …

By Lindsay Gallagher, VMD   I have seen a wide range of mentorship in my short veterinary career. Some mentors can be damn near traumatic, and potentially do more harm than good. Other mentors have good intentions and do a good job. They help you get by, but they are good, not great. But there are some phenomenal mentors who stand head and shoulders above the rest. These truly great mentors not only help you gain …

By Carol Hurst, LVT, CVPM, CVJ   There are many problems in veterinary medicine today. I believe that our Uncharted group has the solution to a lot of those problems. I feel very strongly that as highly skilled professionals, we have an obligation to give back to our profession any way that we can. This service can take many forms: mentorship, starting or joining a local manager group, joining your local VMA, volunteering your time …

by Lauren B. Smith, DVM After going through an unexplained illness last year, I realized just how powerless it can make you feel to not know what’s going on with your own body.  Pets are an extension of us and our families, so it really made me stop and think about what our clients go through when their pets are sick and they need our help. That’s why I decided to speak on power dynamics in …

by Saye Clement, DVM I’m a passionate supporter of the arts in my spare time. I got to thinking about why, and came to the realization that artists possess traits that I admire; traits that I want my veterinary team members to have as well! And thus, on a page of a random notebook, this talk was born! (You’ll have to watch to understand that reference!)   The views and opinions expressed in this article …

by Bruce Francke, DVM   It took me several years to finally admit that I was having a hearing problem. I think it’s human nature to deny your shortcomings as long as possible, but communication is critical in my job! As a medical professional, it’s what I do all day long, every day. It took some honest talk from my team members to convince me that I needed to address my hearing problems.   When …

by Dana Meske, Chief Administrative Officer   Six thousand nine hundred and thirty five days, is how long I have been a part of the veterinary world. When I look at the facts that is half of my life and my entire professional career.   As an “elder” (still south of forty) in my workplace one of the things I am asked on a consistent basis, is in relation to client relations. What is the …