Dr. Jason Szumski, DVM, joins Dr. Andy Roark to tackle a problem every hospital feels, new grads want to do great medicine, but they are often scared of mistakes, lawsuits, and being “on their own” before they are ready. They dig into why mentorship is the top priority for vet students, what strong onboarding actually… Read More
Team Culture
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
A New Vet Guide to Working with Senior Paraprofessionals
Vicky Ograin, RVT, VTS (Nutrition), MBA tackles a challenge every new veterinarian faces: how do you earn trust, build confidence, and collaborate effectively when the technicians around you have far more real-world experience than you do? Dr. Andy Roark and Vicky share practical advice for creating strong doctor-technician partnerships, giving and receiving feedback, and building… Read More
Three Super-Judgy Things Vets Should Stop Saying (Maybe)
Dr. Kate Boatwright joins Dr. Andy Roark for a thoughtful (and surprisingly spicy) conversation about phrases veterinarians say all the time: “If you can’t afford the vet, don’t get the pet,” and “You can’t care more than the client does.” Together, they explore judgment in veterinary medicine, spectrum of care, financial realities, and what compassionate… Read More
Should Business Leaders Have Mandatory Clinic Time?
Dr. Josh Rosen (known online as D-O-G-T-O-R Josh) joins host Dr. Andy Roark to debate a provocative question: should veterinary operations leaders who come from outside medicine be required to complete a clinic-based onboarding before leading teams? They explore the tension between “medicine people” focused on individual patients and “operations people” focused on scale, and… Read More
State of the Veterinary Front Desk
Dr. Andy Roark welcomes Caitlin Palmer (aka “the desk wench”), a veterinary receptionist at Southern Vet Clinic and a member of the President’s Advisory Board for the North American Association of Veterinary Receptionists (NAVR), to talk about the state of the front desk. They discuss how changing communication preferences and tools like AI may increase… Read More