Roles

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.

Teaching proper dental care is part of the program at Pet Crossing Animal Hospital and Dental Clinic in Bloomington, Minn. And they aren't just teaching their staff members. Co-owners Drs. Katherine Knutson and Stephen Barghusen are using a dental lecture series to help practices statewide improve their standard of dental care and improve client compliance.

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.

Vaccine Use in Practice: Considering the Science

Surveys show that staff members want you to say thank you more often, delegate more, and offer more benefits. Here's why you should.

If surgery is your game, this may be the year to ante up some cash and go shopping. High-tech advancements for the veterinary profession have merged opportunistically with favorable tax law changes.

Annual vaccination and wellness exams have dramatically reduced the levels of infectious diseases in dogs and cats in the United States. Since annual vaccination is considered to be the gold standard, many veterinarians are puzzled and confused by the recent suggested changes for vaccinating dogs and cats.

Product Focus: Dietary Supplements

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Of course, the answer to this rhetorical question that has been, and is, asked primarily by academicians in various forums during the past several years is supposed to be "yes," otherwise the respondent is considered uninformed, conservative, or worse, simply a greedy capitalist with his or her clients and patients comprising the victimized proletariat.

In the March/April issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), an Executive Summary of the 2003 Canine Vaccine Guidelines was published. A full text of the guidelines, recommendations, and supporting literature is available to AAHA members on the organization's Web site (www.aahanet.org).

Ms. Sue Schmidt provides you with the tools to build a stronger compliance ratio for your practice.

University of Pennsylvania ranks first in research contributions to top journals, college dean claims

To show staff members how much they earn each year--not just in salary, but in benefits, too--give them a total compensation statement. (PDF)

Handling stress is difficult for anyone. But as veterinary students or recent graduates, the mounting demands of disgesting and understanding volumes of medical facts, finding a job or internship, managing finances and keeping viable relatioinships, are enough to make anyone boil over once in awhile.

Equine wound care has often been based upon the premise of keeping the wound clean and dry, requiring frequent bandage changes

Washington - Of the nation's 114 licensed veterinary laboratories, only two house anthrax cultures and both microbes are harmless, federal officials report. In the wake of the Florida anthrax-induced death, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mandated that all laboratories provide an inventory of their anthrax cultures. USDA officials add the sources of anthrax that have infected people in Florida, New York and Washington could not have been from the labs.

When Craig Carter, DVM, contracted brucellosis through occupational exposure, and doctors failed to help, he flipped the switch on his computer.