Dr. Odie Marcovici graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College and has experience in almost every conceivable small-animal practice type. He has opened, managed and operated multiple hospitals including emergency, single, multi-doctor practices, a specialty hospital and an adoption center. Ten years ago he developed the Recruiting & Professional Relations Director role for VCA and since then has been recruiting every type of veterinary professional.
Having interviewed thousands of candidates at schools and at hospitals, he has tried to affect positive change in the profession one hire at a time. He is passionate about finding that perfect long-term hire and reducing the risk of hiring the wrong person.
He coaches, trains and leads communication workshops across the US and Canada and having personally experienced the changes in the profession he can speak both retrospectively and prospectively about the future of recruiting.
Dr. Dave Nicol is a graduate of Glasgow University Veterinary School. His initial plan was to become a surgeon, but almost immediately he was drawn into general practice by the interaction with pet owners and the problem solving opportunities that cropped up each day. At first this meant finding and fixing animal problems, but quickly it became clear that there were plenty of problems with how veterinary practices operated as well.
Inevitably, this meant Dave was almost constant pain in his boss’s backside and eventually, probably because they got sick of his nagging, he was given the opportunity to mentor his first junior vets. After his initial attempts fell someway short of expectations, he realized that raw enthusiasm alone was not going to be enough. So he began a journey to educate himself on how to be a better leader, coach and manager.
Fast-forward more than fifteen years and Dave has undertaken a huge amount of training and research; building a reputation as a successful leader within the veterinary profession. He has been head vet with a large group practice in London, worked as a clinical performance coach for a 50 vet group in the UK and has owned, managed and successfully sold his two veterinary hospitals in Australia.
Prior to relocating back to the UK, he worked as the Chief Veterinary Officer for a corporate group where his principle responsibilities were maintaining the standard of clinical care and leading the clinical teams.
In 2011 he made a “pay it forward” commitment to hire a new graduate in every hospital he owns and give them a great start in veterinary practice and subsequently set up the first Australian graduate training internship in general practice. This program is now available in his UK practice too. He is also the creative brain behind and program director of VetX™, an online education, support and mentoring community for new and recent graduates who wish to rapidly accelerate their careers under his guidance.
Dave has just published his third book “So You’re A Vet, Now What?” a title to help new graduate vets settle into their new careers. He is a columnist for the Veterinary Business Journal and DVM360, writes the weekly Hamster Wheel Blog and produces the Blunt Dissection Podcast where he explores the anatomy of veterinary success by profiling top class performers from all walks of veterinary life.
It is his personal mission is to help pets and their people live happy, healthy lives by exploring the daily challenges we face in veterinary medicine, creating solutions and helping those around him to grow.
Jamie Holms is a licensed RVT with an extensive background in veterinary emergency and critical care. She is passionate about mental health and suicide prevention in the veterinary community and is a firm believer that education reduces stigma and increases survival. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid responder, QPR gatekeeper and certified gatekeeper instructor. Jamie is an administrative rockstar, organizational aficionado, tea geek, and workaholic – not necessarily in that order.
Jamie Holms, RVT
UVC Speaker
For some, there is a light that appears at the toughest moments of being a doctor. Dr. Dani McVety found that light early in her career, and it sparked an idea that has become one of the most unique and fastest growing businesses in the veterinary space. Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice, a service that has visited the homes of over 50,000 families, is now a nationwide network of over 100 passionate doctors and a full time interdisciplinary support staff dedicated to making the end of life experience for pets, and the people that love them, as dignified and peaceful as possible.
Dr. McVety is Founder and CEO of Lap of Love and co-host of PetCareTV. She frequently writes and speaks for professional and lay audiences around the country and internationally, empowering both parties to seek the highest standards of care and communication. Her talks have quickly garnered the reputation of being “fantastically hilarious,” “bringing humor where it’s needed most,” “incredibly inspiring,” and “refreshingly authentic.”
In her talks, Dr. McVety shares her struggles through veterinary school, how she found her passion in the emergency room, why she felt a calling in the toughest moments of medicine, and how her and her business partner have grown an internationally recognized business.
Additionally, as a certified body language instructor, one of her favorite topics is communication. “Communication is the heart of all that we do; it is lifeblood of all our interactions.” Dr. McVety and Lap of Love have been featured on numerous local, national, and professional media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, and many more. She proudly graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and is the youngest recipient of both the college’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award (2013) and the Florida Veterinary Medical Association’s President’s Award (2014). She was honored to also receive the Pet Industry Woman of the Year award for 2017!
Denise Tumblin, owner of WTA Veterinary Consultants, provides management, valuation, and transition services to independently-owned veterinary practices across the U.S. Her company co-authors the Well-Managed Practice ® Benchmarks Study, and Denise is the co-founder and facilitator of the WellMP ® Management Groups.
Denise speaks regularly at national and regional meetings on valuation and management issues and has authored numerous veterinary management articles.
Dr. Mary Ann Vande Linde is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. In addition to private practice experience, her career background includes teaching at various veterinary schools and colleges, technician schools, and veterinary conferences, consulting on practice management issues, developing, mentoring and coaching retreats for women practice owners as well as developing, mentoring and coaching associate training programs for exam room and professional success. She has had the honor of working with the management teams at such corporations as Hill’s Pet Nutrition, IDEXX Laboratories, Pet Health Network, Novartis Animal Health US, Elanco Animal Health, Merial Animal Health, Zoetis and Virbac. She is currently serving on the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) board and as a Blue Buffalo Veterinary Advisor.
Dr. Vande Linde is nationally recognized as a leader in the field of veterinary communications. She is widely respected for her ability to inspire others through her guidance in interactive training programs, strategic planning, problem solving, leadership and marketing programs and services. Her concentration on excellent preventative care through compassionate and consistent communication between pet parent and their doctor and veterinary team are contributing factors to her growing reputation as a voice for total pet wellness and quality of life.
In 2008, Dr. Vande Linde founded Vande Linde & Associates to focus on all aspects of exam room communication excellence to transform the veterinary experience. She shares her time with Mr. Darcy, an energetic border terrier who enjoys beach walks and bike rides.
Mary Ann Vande Linde, DVM
UVC Speaker
Andy Roark, DVM
Founder of Uncharted Veterinary Conference
Dr. Andy Roark is a practicing veterinarian, international speaker, author, and media personality. He is the founder of the Uncharted Veterinary Conference and DrAndyRoark.com. He has been an award-winning columnist for DVM360 and his popular Facebook page, website, and YouTube show reach millions of people every month.
UVC 2019
Dr. Cody Creelman is a managing partner of Veterinary Agri-Health Services, a beef cattle only veterinary practice located in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada. He is passionate about the use of mobile technology in the veterinary field. Dr. Creelman consults and speaks on veterinary application design projects, social media use in practice, and actively leveraging various social media platforms to market veterinary services. His professional interests include pathology, large animal surgery, cow/calf and feedlot production medicine.
Cody Creelman, DVM
UVC Speaker