Associates

"Man, I just totally don't get it," Dr. Tad Klewless grumbled as he picked at the mustard stain on his scrub top. "Old Rex really needed a culture to clear up that gnarly ear problem I've been messing with for the past six months. And, jeez, those teeth! But, every time I bring up the procedures he needs, his owner just stares at me, totally blank, like she can't understand English. Man, what's up with her?"

The toughest professional decisions are made with compromise for practice owner Dr. Abby Snyder. She generally reduces the pile of medical charts on her desk by half before going home to her husband and daughter.

On average, veterinarians say they would prefer to devote more time to personal activities than work.

How much am I expected to contribute to my associates' retirement plans? Does this count as part of the compensation my associate earned based on production?

You're a dedicated doctor. You spent eight years preparing for and enduring veterinary medical school. For the past six years as an associate, you've lived your dream.

You're a dedicated doctor. You spent eight years preparing for and enduring veterinary medical school. For the past six years as an associate, you've lived your dream.

Owners in Well-Managed Practices look for the same talents and competencies in a long-term associate as those they seek in an associate who will become an owner. The difference lies in the focus of those talents and competencies.

You're a dedicated doctor. You spent eight years preparing for and enduring veterinary medical school. For the past six years as an associate, you've lived your dream.

The trite phrase, "personality conflicts," allows key issues to be ignored or defined out of existence in daily operations. The term could mean the practice did not hire for "team fit," or they did not establish a "safe-haven" environment when establishing behavior expectations.

The hard truth: You've been your own worst enemies when it comes to vaccinations. (And the only reason we can say that is that we lived those days in practice, too.) In the 1970s and '80s many veterinarians derived a substantial percent of their total incomes from vaccinating dogs and cats. They marked vaccinations up tremendously over their costs and, at the same time, didn't charge clients a separate exam or office call fee. Practices told clients that the exam or office call was "included in the cost of the vaccines."

Several years ago I attended a seminar entitled "Employee Discipline and Performance Mistakes." Afterwards, I wrote up a simple, step-by-step plan for dealing with common employee discipline problems, like tardiness, not following the dress code or standards of conduct, failing to compete tasks or checklists.

As a management consultant, Dr. Karen Felsted is no stranger to controversy. Yet, even she was surprised by the emotion owners and associates showed during a discussion about the role associates should play in attracting clients. Dr. Felsted, CPA, MS, CVPM, was one of four moderators for the session, which took place during the Central Veterinary Conference last August.

Looking to get more out of your veterinary practice experience? I know I once dreamed of becoming board certified in surgery, internal medicine, or another specialty. But somehow my plans changed when I entered the real world. Happily, I learned that the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP) rewards committed practitioners who wish to attain a new level of patient care and professional satisfaction by giving them an avenue to attain board certification that doesn't involve the traditional residency programs.

The conflict over who should develop an associate's client base runs deep. To find a solution, you'll need to discuss the issues openly, clarify your expectations, and find the middle ground.

When you know what goals you really want to accomplish, the path to your dreams becomes clear. Here's how to harness the power of goal setting for your practice.

Your top priority is to give pets the care they need, right? So one of the first questions to ask yourself is, does your record-keeping system reflect your practice's standards of care?

For more than a decade, I've practiced emergency medicine in small metropolitan emergency clinics. According to several colleagues, I practice good medicine and am a competent surgeon. Although I haven't reached a point in my career where I feel like I am an excellent veterinarian, I'm usually competent. Despite all this, I messed up. But, under the same circumstances, I believe this episode could have happened to almost anyone. Here's how my story unfolded:

Seven years ago my mother and I saddled our horses for a relaxing trail ride. But as I swung my leg up to mount, something spooked my horse. He reared, threw me, flipped backwards, and crashed on top of me. My horse got up, but I didn't. My pelvis was broken in five places, I had ruptured blood vessels in my leg, and I would later sustain a life-threatening blood clot. In just an instant my life changed; doctor became patient.

Some of your clients see their pets as children. Citizens in some areas have pushed for a legal change that retracts pet ownership in favor of pet guardianship. And other people say, "It's just a dog." Yet when conflict arises over the suffering or death of a pet, our court system has to stick to one set of rules that defines the relationship between people and animals. What's the right definition?

The first year in practice can feel like a mountain climb at 70 miles per hour to a recent graduate who suddenly needs to deal with all manner of practice chaos and the patient that presents with lameness or disease. An associate who joins the practice in mid-career still likely feels that the highway runs uphill as he or she adapts to the new team. But with more experience under the belt, he or she faces fewer unexpected twists and turns. For both doctors, the road eventually levels out, their careers kick into fourth gear, and practice life begins to roll smoothly toward the horizon.

Several years ago, some colleagues and I began a support group for veterinarians. We met for almost two years and discussed a broad range of topics. I soon noticed that the solutions to almost all of the problems raised included setting limits with other people. For example, we brainstormed the best way to handle an unreasonably demanding client, how to approach recurrent staff problems, and why staff members honor some policies and violate others.

There is a line from a song in "The King and I" that goes, "For if you become a teacher, by your students you'll be taught!"