Happy Scare-The-Crap-Out-Of-Your-Dog Day! There are three kinds of people in America: those who want fireworks on the 4th of July, those who want light-up drone displays, and those who want to go to sleep. I am a card-carrying member of the latter group. When I was growing up, I had a friend whose mother said… Read More
Blog
Three Areas Every New Vet Should Be Looking At
It’s that time of year when veterinary students become doctors, and our profession gets an infusion of fresh blood, perspectives, and calls to just come stand in the surgery suite. It’s the time when us old hands feel an urge to tell the young folks everything they should watch out for, when we should instead… Read More
The Greatest Victory No One Cares About (But Me)
Nothing can be small anymore. When I look online, I don’t see work-in-progress gardens like the one I toil in. I don’t see affordable but healthy food like I cook, reliable but unsexy cars like my family drives, or competent but amateur art work like my friends make. In a hyperconnected, algorithm-driven world, it feels… Read More
Specialists Are Not the Future (and That’s a Good Thing)
Writing I’ve done recently about how we need more bold general practice veterinarians has gotten a lot of attention. One of the criticisms I’ve heard on the piece is that we can just look at human medicine to see that advanced procedures (like surgeries beyond castrations) are going to increasingly go to specialists, and thus… Read More
Sometimes We Do a Very Good Job, and Things Go Badly
Sometimes we do a very good job, and things go badly. It’s important to realize outcomes are not as directly connected to our decisions as we tend to believe. Good decisions are a probability game. If you make excellent decisions in managing cases, talking with clients, spending time with loved ones, or fitting your hobbies… Read More
There’s Nothing Inherently Wrong With Production Pay
In veterinary medicine, it’s common to pay veterinarians a base salary, and then give them a bonus depending on the work they do. Their “work” is generally estimated using the money the vet brings into the clinic because this accounts for both the number of cases they see and how much they do with each… Read More