I’ve been talking a lot over the last year about how my daughter was leaving for college and the effect that’s been having on me. I’ve been stressing a bit and thinking about what the departure of my child would mean for me. After all, If I’m not the dad of two little girls, then… Read More
Perspective
Making Veterinary Medicine Work for the People Who Do It
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
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
Why Vets Don’t Trust New Research (And Parenting is a Terrible Trap)
Today I want to write to you about something very important: the fact that my car is loaded to drive my oldest daughter to college in about 4 hours, she’s upstairs saying goodbye to her sister who has to go to school today, and it feels like a small piece of my heart is shriveling… 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
Unpopular Opinion: Vet Medicine Gets Better With Time
Everyday there are barrels of virtual ink being spilled on the ills and hardships of veterinary medicine. A lot of this ink is well deserved, and some of it comes directly from me. Veterinary medicine is a difficult, complicated, and rapidly changing profession that can take a toll on those who practice. At the same… Read More