In one month, my oldest daughter, Jacquelyn, will move out of our house and go to college four states away. Regular readers here will know that I have, to put it lightly, struggled with this upcoming change. My daughters and I are very close, and it’s been hard for me to get my head around… Read More
A Cry For Help From the Pathology Department
Dr. Eric Fish, DVM, DACVP, joins Dr. Andy Roark to tackle a tough question: Why does being a veterinary clinical pathologist feel darker right now, and what happens if AI turns “nice to have” diagnostics into “don’t need to have”? They unpack burnout and pay compression (including pathologists earning less than new grad GPs), consolidation… Read More
Beyond Trazodone: When the “Chill Protocol” Isn’t Chilling
Dr. Chris Pachel, DVM, DACVB, joins Dr. Andy Roark to tackle a problem every clinic knows too well, stressed pets, stressed owners, and appointments that start going sideways before the car even leaves the driveway. They dig into pre-visit pharmaceuticals beyond the usual gabapentin and trazodone, including when to increase doses, when sedation is masking… Read More
Why You Can’t Let Yourself Relax
My father is a retired surgeon, and he recently told me that he could never fully relax until he retired. “You’re always asking yourself if you could have been a little bit better. You wonder if you could have said something differently to put the person’s mind at ease, if you could have anticipated a… Read More
The Best Email Reply of All Time
I was recently asked to review a book chapter by someone I both like and respect. My immediate instinct was to say “of course! I’d be happy to help,” but I could also hear my wife’s voice in the back of my mind saying “You’re not allowed to complain that you’re too busy and also… Read More
The Dangers of Dutch
Dr. Andy Roark hosts Dr. Matt Salois, an economist, VMG president, and adjunct faculty at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, to discuss his Today’s Veterinary Business article on the “dangers of Dutch Pets veterinary telemedicine,” using a Trojan horse metaphor. They argue that when a “no strings attached” solution promises cheaper, easier access by reducing… Read More