Halloween is getting more productive, efficient… and sad (and I don’t want that to happen to veterinary medicine). We don’t get a ton of trick-or-treaters at my house, but this year we had a noticeable downturn. My daughter went out with her friends and reported back that the streets were basically empty except for kids… Read More
Blog
Last Appointment at the Malice House
This post is fictitious. Any resemblance to pets, people, or practices is purely coincidental. If stories of fictional bad behavior, pet illness, violence, and magic make you uncomfortable, please consider skipping this story. Alternatively, if you like scary vet stories, you might enjoy previous years’ posts: I Should Not Have Written This and The Disturbing Case of… Read More
The Future of Our Profession
My friend, a practice owner, just lost a veterinary technician. The technician gave her 2-week notice late Friday night by email, so when I spoke to my friend over the weekend, it was still unclear about why she was departing. I see lots of discussion about the problems vet medicine has keeping support staff, and… Read More
The Most Important Question I Have for Vet Practice Owners
Many years ago, my wife and I decided to put our kids on the swim team. We wanted them to do something athletic, and I was frankly a little concerned that my oldest daughter seemed deeply opposed to doing anything remotely competitive. She would routinely let people tag her on the playground because “everyone should… Read More
Being Human is Really Hard
I’m sitting in an airport right now with a very high heart rate, because I just missed my connecting flight. It wasn’t my fault (my first flight was delayed, which made the second one impossible), but that doesn’t do much for the knot in my chest. I’m stressed, I’m thinking about the worst possible outcome… Read More
When Getting Things Done Holds Us Back
Last night, after a 2-year break, I went back to improv comedy. The team I’m joining had a planning meeting, which seems odd given it’s an improvisational team, but I was all about it. Planning meetings, after all, are how we get stuff done. At the meeting, I was reconnected with people I’ve worked with… Read More