Dr. Andy Roark welcomes Dr. Isaac Bott, an Utah practice owner and theriogenologist who works with reindeer, to discuss his run for AVMA president (election July 2027) and the profession’s sustainability challenges. They explore how rising cost of care intersects with the need to pay living wages and retain veterinarians, technicians, and support staff, arguing… Read More
Podcast
Is It Bad Medicine or Just a Bad Outcome?
Dr. Chad R. Brown, DVM (Purdue), executive director of the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center at Iowa State University, joins Dr. Andy Roark to tackle a gut-punch truth in veterinary medicine: good decisions do not always equal good outcomes, and outcome-based judgment can be brutal on clinicians. They unpack how hindsight bias and outcome bias trick… Read More
Vet Medicine as Dark Comedy
Dr. Steve Deels, a New Zealand emergency veterinarian and career coach, joins Dr. Andy Roark to tackle a familiar gut punch: “you can save a life at 2:00 a.m. and still get a one-star review because the wait was too long.” They dig into dark humor as a healthy coping tool, the unrealistic expectations placed… Read More
What if the Whole Vet Team Got Production Pay?
Dr. Ivan Zak, DVM, entrepreneur and former CEO of SmartFlow and Galaxy Vets, joins Dr. Andy Roark to dig into one of the spiciest topics in vet med, whether production pay is actually “bad,” and what happens when salary-only pay gets weaponized as burnout prevention. They unpack Ivan’s experience switching Galaxy Vets to straight salary,… Read More
Post-Op Pain and Enrichment: Are We Sedating Instead of Treating?
Tabitha Kucera, a veterinary technician boarded in behavior and founder of Chirrups and Chatter (and creator of Small Paws Education), joins Dr. Andy Roark to tackle a common post-op problem: telling clients to “keep them quiet” without explaining what that actually means. They discuss post-surgical enrichment as a way to support comfort, reduce stress, and… Read More
High Quality, High Volume Surgery & the Future of Shelter Medicine
Dr. Roberta Westbrook, DVM, takes us inside the world of shelter medicine and challenges what many of us think we know about high quality, high volume surgery, access to care, and animal welfare. From the evolution of modern shelters to the realities of pet homelessness, community responsibility, and the future of keeping pets with the… Read More