How veterinary teams can effectively implement client education in the practice

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Client education, both in and out of the exam room, is an essential component of providing comprehensive veterinary medicine. Providing pet owners with accurate and accessible information not only elevates the quality of care for patients but also fosters strong partnerships between the veterinary team and the client. By educating your clients, you are empowering them to take an active role in their pet’s care, creating compliance and buy in to treatment plans, along with advocating for their pets’ health and their needs as well.

However, incorporating robust client education into an already demanding clinical workflow can be challenging. Developing educational material and ensuring consistent communication may feel like an added burden for busy teams. The following strategies can help integrate client education seamlessly into daily operations with the goal of keeping pet owners informed and engaged while supporting, rather than overwhelming, your team.

Remember why client education matters

Prioritizing education, while safeguarding the wellbeing and bandwidth of your team, creates meaningful benefits for both clients and patients.

Benefits for your clients

If you don’t provide it, they will find it. Pet owners increasingly seek credible, accessible information that empowers them to keep their pets healthy and thriving. The time you are investing now saves time in the future when difficult or challenging conditions occur. Well-designed educational materials can help clients:

• Understand the value of preventative and proactive care including vaccine protocols, nutrition, and behavioral health. Clients might not fully understand the value of preventative medicine, but they seek to understand daily scenarios they see every day, like whether their pet should be eating kibble, or understanding why their dog is chasing their own tail.
• Recognize early signs of illness and facilitate timely veterinary intervention. Better informed clients are more likely to invest in annual examinations and to trust your care first when they see conditions they don’t understand.
• Improve the ongoing management of chronic conditions through consistent monitoring and adherence to treatment plans.

Supplementing in-clinic discussions with at-home resources reinforces key messages, improves the retention of information, and encourages proactive engagement in their pet’s healthcare. Client education fosters trust, confidence, and provides peace of mind to pet owners who know they are making informed decisions in partnership with their veterinary team.

Example in Action:

Client: Ms Smith
Patient: “Buddy,” a 7-year-old Golden Retriever
Reason for Visit: Annual wellness exam

• In-clinic education:
   Dr Martinez has completed team training on effective client communication, including how to explain chronic conditions in plain, relatable terms. During Buddy’s exam, she notices early signs of arthritis and gently walks Ms Smith through what arthritis means for dogs, using a visual joint diagram available in the exam room.
• Educational materials provided:
  Before Ms Smith leaves, Dr Martinez hands her a printed arthritis care handout (kept stocked in-clinic) that covers symptoms, treatment options, and home comfort tips.
• Digital reinforcement:
  In Buddy’s discharge notes, Dr Martinez includes direct links to reputable online resources like a PetMD article on arthritis and a short video on at-home exercises for senior dogs.
• Outcome:
  Ms Smith leaves the clinic feeling informed and empowered. She starts Buddy on a recommended joint supplement immediately and schedules a follow-up in 3 months. This proactive approach reduces repeated questions, improves patient care, and strengthens Ms Smith’s trust in Dr Martinez.

Benefits for your veterinary team

While client education directly supports the pet owner’s confidence and the health of their pet, it can also deliver measurable advantages for your veterinary team. Providing effective client education material can help with:

• Team mental health. Educated clients are more likely to trust your recommendations, follow through with treatment plans, and arrive prepared for their pet’s appointment. When clients have access to accurate information in advance, it can encourage collaboration and reduce their skepticism and some repetitive questions. This ultimately supports a healthier work environment for the veterinary team by decreasing the frequency of emotionally taxing visits.
• Team productivity. Establishing a standardized process for delivering accurate pet healthcare information, before, during, and after appointments can streamline communication across channels. By providing vetted resources, you can minimize the back-and-forth phone calls, emails, and free up time for direct patient care and other essential tasks.
• Patient care. Education strengthens the veterinary-client relationship through shared understanding and transparency. Trust built in the exam room drives client loyalty leading to long-term relationships that benefit both the patient, veterinary team, and practice.
• Client relationships: Many veterinary professionals enjoy the opportunity to share their knowledge with clients. This allows them to have fulfillment in their roles and encourages positive relationships with their clients.

Holding space for client education

Streamlined workflows, stronger client relationships, and a happier team are compelling goals, but dedicating time to education can be challenging when resources are already stretched. Although not every practice has the capacity to create accurate, engaging, and accessible materials from scratch, there are effective solutions that exist.

However, before rolling out client-facing educational materials, it’s essential to ensure the team itself is prepared and confident in using them. Simply handing staff a packet or link isn’t enough. Consider that the way these resources are introduced, explained, and reinforced directly impacts client understanding and trust.

Start with baseline behavioral and communication training:

• Make sure every team member understands the “why” behind each resource.
• Provide role-playing or guided practice for introducing materials to clients in a clear, empathetic way.
• Reinforce active listening skills and strategies for addressing common follow-up questions.
• This initial training builds a foundation of confidence so staff can focus on the client’s needs rather than worrying about what to say or how to say it. Once those fundamentals are in place, the practice can layer in in-clinic educational materials in the form of handouts, videos, and visual aids to encompass a consistent, proactive education plan.

The most effective approach pairs:

• Strong foundational skills: baseline behaviors, communication confidence
• Ongoing learning interventions: refreshers, team discussions, peer feedback
• Client-facing materials that support conversations and reinforce the guidance provided during the appointment

When team readiness and educational tools work together, the result is a smoother workflow, better-informed clients, and fewer post-visit calls, thus creating a cycle of trust and efficiency that benefits everyone.

Make a list to identify essential content

Begin by outlining the foundational content your clients need the most. Time estimates set clients’ expectations, make the resources feel approachable and helps you frame them as a small investment now that saves time later.

Frequently asked questions are the questions that are quick to answer individually, but highly repetitive across appointments. Providing clear, consistent resources can save time and ensure accuracy. Examples include:

• Nutrition basics (5-10 minutes to review): Recommended diets for life stages (puppy/kitten, adult, senior), feeding guidelines, and portion control.
• Behavioral concerns (10-15 minutes to review): House training, excessive barking or meowing, scratching, chewing, and socialization strategies for pets of all ages.
• Parasite prevention basics (5 minutes to review): How and when to administer flea, tick, and heartworm preventives.
• Routine visit expectations (5 minutes to review): Why annual or biannual exams are important, even for seemingly healthy pets.

Common conditions are topics that frequently arise during visits and can be supported with supplemental educational materials to reinforce at-home care. Examples include:

• Skin issues: Allergies, hot spots, seasonal skin irritation, and proper bathing routines.
• Gastrointestinal concerns: Vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and dietary changes.
• Ear infections: Cleaning techniques, how to recognize signs of infection, and understanding recurrence risks.
• Arthritis and mobility issues: Recognizing early symptoms, pain management strategies, and safe exercise recommendations.

Preventive care topics help clients understand the value of proactive health management, which can reduce the risk of serious illness. Examples include:

• New pet checklists: Core vaccinations, parasite prevention, microchipping, and spay/neuter guidelines.
• Vaccine schedules: Core vs. non-core vaccines, timing, and the importance of boosting vaccinations.
• Weight management: Monitoring body condition scores, appropriate exercise routines, and feeding plans.
• Wellness screening: The role of annual bloodwork, urinalysis, and dental exams in early disease detection.
• Socialization and behavioral education: Proactive behavioral education around creating feline-friendly spaces, canine socialization, and leashing walking.

Process explanations are particularly important for first-time clients or those unfamiliar with veterinary protocols. These resources can reduce anxiety and improve compliance. Examples include:

• What to expect at a veterinary visit: Check-in procedures, examination steps, and how diagnostic tests are performed.
• Insurance guidance: How to choose a pet insurance plan, what is typically covered, and how to file claims.
• Emergency resources: When to call for help, what constitutes a veterinary emergency, how tele-triage works, and a list of trusted local emergency clinicians.
• Post-procedure care: What to expect after surgery or sedation, pain management, and follow-up instructions.

Underdiscussed topics are areas that often have significant impact on health but are commonly overlooked or underemphasized during appointments due to time constraints. Examples include:

• Dental health: The link between oral health and systemic disease, signs of dental pain, and proper home dental care (brushing, dental chews, rinses).
• Year-round parasite prevention: Why prevention is important even in colder climates, risks of heartworm and tick-borne diseases, and the importance of consistent dosing.
• Behavioral enrichment: Mental stimulation, safe toys, training games, and environmental modifications to reduce stress.
• Senior pet care: Special dietary needs, mobility support, cognitive health, and routine screening for age-related diseases.

Meet your clients where they are

Maximize client engagement with educational materials you provide and offer resources in a variety of formats.

• In-practice materials: Use printed articles, care sheets or illustrations during appointments to support explaining complex conditions or treatment plans.
• At-home materials: Ensure information discussed during the visit is available after the appointment by providing printed handouts or digital follow-ups via email, patient portals, or apps.
• Online resources: Clients will inevitably search online for educational materials. Reduce the spread of misinformation by linking clients to reputable veterinary-reviewed educational content on your website or social media channels.

Make it a team effort

Client education is most effective when the entire team is equipped to participate.

• Train your team. Ensure every team member understands the educational tools available and knows how to share them with clients.
• Engage with your clients. Ask clients what topics they want to learn more about. Ask questions when the client arrives, use short post-visit surveys or in-person conversations to guide educational content priorities.

Utilize existing tools to streamline the work

The veterinary team’s priority is patient care, not necessarily content creation. Leveraging professionally developed resources can ensure accuracy without adding to your workload.

Platforms like PetMD offer a wide range of veterinary-written and reviewed educational materials, including:

• Medical illustrations and care sheets to use in the exam room.
• Articles across a variety of species and conditions that are ready to be printed or shared digitally.
• A symptom checker for dogs and cats.

By using trusted, vetted resources, the team can deliver consistent, reliable information while focusing on patient outcomes and building client relationships.

Final Thoughts

With the right systems in place, client education becomes a seamless part of the practice workflow by enhancing efficiency, strengthening trust, and most importantly, improving patient outcomes.

1. Ensure accessibility to educational resources in both the clinic and at home, reducing reliance on unverified online sources.
2. Leverage vetted external tools to provide high-quality, veterinary-reviewed resources without requiring your team to develop materials from scratch.¹
3. Empower pet owners with knowledge to be proactive partners in their pet’s healthcare. Ultimately, well-informed clients lead to healthier pets as well as a more sustainable and satisfying practice environment for veterinary teams.

Sara Bledsoe, DVM, CVA, CHPV, is the learning & development manager for Chewy Vet Care, leading content creation and professional development. Bledsoe brings years of small-animal practice experience and advanced certifications as a certified hospice and palliative care veterinarian and in veterinary acupuncture. Previously, she supported the development of Connect with a Vet, Chewy’s tele-triage platform, and has a special interest in effective communication and client experience. A 2012 graduate of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine with a clinical year at Auburn University, Bledsoe earned the Gentle Doctor Award for outstanding patient care and client communication. She lives in Florida with her sweet cats, Ottley and Saba.

The views and recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of dvm360®. References to external resources are provided for educational purposes only, and dvm360 does not endorse any specific companies or services.

Reference

1. Veterinary-reviewed articles and pet health resources. PetMD. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.petmd.com/