We're about one month away from colleges and universities turning new grads loose on the world, a day of joy and, if I recall correctly, complete, abject fear. 2014 is a rough year to graduate vet school. In my day (cue Dana Carvey Grumpy old man voice), back in the middle of the dotcom boom and a perceived 'veterinary shortage', the world was at our fingertips, a lush green forest ripe for the plucking. Now new grads are being forced upon a Dune-like landscape filled with such ominous ... Read more »
advice
My Name Is and the 3 Things all PR people should know
This is an open letter to anyone who writes a pet blog, and there are a lot of you out there. I get asked for advice about blogging a lot, and the number one thing I will tell you is this: Your blog and your time have value. It's ok to remind people of that when they ask you to work for free. I've seen plenty in the almost four years in the blogosphere. To stick it out this long requires a clear understanding of why we're doing this and what we're about (neither of which, incidentally, have ... Read more »
Two Words for the Newbie Vets
Ah, it's that time of the year: department stores filled with tacky ruffled prom dresses, florists hawking overpriced leis, parents secretly rubbing their palms in glee at the idea of their kid finally being out of the house come September. It's graduation, a rite of passage as old as time, a celebration of - hmmm, I wouldn't say "knowledge" so much as "managed to pass everything", but what do I know. I do know that the more advanced your education, the scarier graduation becomes. ... Read more »
Old Dogs New Tricks
Like most medical professionals, a veterinarian's education is far from over the moment they graduate. Indeed, it's just beginning. Not only do we need to continue to learn and refine the skills we've already acquired, the continuous and exponential increase in knowledge requires us to practice in a perpetual state of evolution. I graduated from veterinary school in 2002. I still feel like a new grad sometimes, but in the grand scheme of things I might as well be a dinosaur. Some of the ... Read more »
Top 5 Things to Not Say To Your Vet
Not if you want to have a decent working relationship with them, that is. 1. If you cared about animals, you'd do this for free. Vets hear this, on average, once a day. Many vets, like myself, are employees of a facility with no more ability to negotiate the cost than any other employee. That would akin to asking the ER doc for a discount on the OR fees at the hospital- even if I wanted to, I can't give my employer's services away. Expressing concern about the costs of a service is one ... Read more »
Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Veterinarians
(And that, my friends, is probably the first and last time you will ever see a country song referenced in this blog.) Last weekend, I had the honor of going to a fundraiser dinner for a local rehabilitation center at the invitation of my father-in-law, an active Rotarian and an example of the kind of person I want to grow up to be like someday. ;) Anyway, there was another Rotarian there whose daughter wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, and he asked if I would mind talking to ... Read more »
We’re all humans here
Part of being a professional is the expectation that we are to act, well, professionally. They don't teach a course on professionalism in vet school- it's one of those absorbed-by-osmosis things, I think. As far as I can tell, the best way to be a good professional is to pretend you are a Vulcan at all times. If anyone has a better trick please let me know. I'm at a loss for a better definition. It means not getting into fistfights in the parking lot. It means not wearing platform flip ... Read more »
Are you a stud or a dud?
Oh, no. I have all sorts of wonderful new people popping over thanks to the Bloggies and what do I do? Write a post about vomit. I can't help it. That is what we are all about here, folks. Dogs, cats, Barbies, and vomit. We like to keep it classy over here. But I'll make it up to you! I've been looking at the questionnaire we give to our new clients, which asks things like number of pets, the food you feed, health history, etc. I think this could be improved upon. In honor of Valentine's Day ... Read more »
Not quite the response I was hoping for
I have a little story I like to tell to people who are reluctant to get their dogs spayed. The story varies from person to person, depending on what I think will have the most impact. Sometimes it's the cautionary tale of Sue, the boxer who accidentally got pregnant by her brother, had two puppies die in utero, needed an emergency c-section, then finished the month out with eclampsia. Other times it's Myrtle, the dachshund with a life-threatening pyometra that required a $3000 emergency surgery. ... Read more »
