“Let’s find your story. That’s the important part. Find your story. And, you know, the lesson for all of us, is that we all have a story. Everybody has a story.” Our guest today is Dr. Morgan McArthur. Dr. McArthur was one of the keynote speakers for the 2022 Veterinary Leadership Conference. We chat about the importance of finding and owning your story and how the stories we tell ourselves can really impact your outlook on the day! It’s a fun, inspiring and insightful conversation. We are so ex...
Mar 24, 2022•48 min
“And I think if we take that sort of, more of a collaborative approach, I think it’s, you know, as long as we feel good and we feel comfortable with that, I think it’s a great approach to try and take even in GP or in emergency. I, you know like I said, I don’t like eyes. So for years on emergency, if that was the next triage o that was the next case, I’d be like, I will do anything for you. I’d look at the other vets there. I will suture up wounds. I will go calculate 10 CRI’s that you need to ...
Mar 17, 2022•38 min
Our guest today is Dr. Anna Reddish. Many of you may know Dr. Reddish as one of the original co-hosts of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We chat today about new opportunities and what it is like to take a leap to try something new. She shares the importance of self-reflection and really being honest about what your goals are for both your personal and professional life. It’s a fun conversation full of great advice and we cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! ...
Mar 10, 2022•30 min
“I had to choose and make that, change that trauma and that sadness that was so deep and make it into something that gave me motivation to go into veterinary medicine and be somebody who can bring people together and who can bring out the empathy in those moments.” Our guest today is Hidayah Martinez-Jaka. Hidayah is completing her fourth you of veterinary school. This would already be a full plate, but she also is the current SAVMA President AND was part of the incredible Keynote Experience at ...
Mar 03, 2022•31 min
“My biggest thing was, I said I’m a veterinarian and how that one word created so much conversation. And that’s how I ended it to the quietest of people. Because you have reserved youth, reserved children, and by just saying that. And that’s what I feel like as veterinarians we need to remember.” Our guest today is Dr. Stephanie Jones. Dr. Jones was one of our early guests on My Veterinary Life Podcast and she joins us today to discuss the story she shared during the 2022 Veterinary Leadership K...
Feb 24, 2022•20 min
Our guest today is Dr. Jen Brandt. Dr. Brandt is the Director for Member Wellbeing Initiatives at the AVMA. She joins us for a quick conversation on some timely topics in wellbeing. Dr. Brandt offers some highlights from the most recent Merck Wellbeing Study and what we can do with this information. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share it with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You c...
Feb 17, 2022•11 min
“Find your North Star. What’s your North Star? I have a necklace that has a pendant on it and people are always asking, ‘What does that mean?’ It’s a reminder to find my North Star. If everything disappeared and I could not be a veterinary technician, and I didn’t work for the organization that I work for and I’m involved in the activities, at the end of the day, what’s my North Star?” Our guest today is Garnetta Santiago. Garnetta is a registered veterinary technician and has had an incredible ...
Feb 10, 2022•29 min
“You know veterinary medicine has provided me a great life over the last years. And I keep emphasizing that because I don’t think we hear it enough. I don’t think we hear enough that, you know, that veterinary medicine can be a great life. It’s very rewarding. I mean it has its challenges but everything has its challenges.” Our guest today is Dr. Vernard Hodges. Dr. Hodges was one of the keynote speakers at the 2022 Veterinary Leadership Conference. You may also recognize him from the hit TV Sho...
Feb 03, 2022•37 min
“And I think that was the first instance of you have to be able to pivot. You are going to be put in positions or situations that you probably never thought you would and so you have to make the most of it. And so, I did a lot of quick learning on my feet, like, ‘you’re the only doctor right now, you’re fresh out, you have to call in reinforcements.’” Our guest today is Dr. Lauren Rowe. Dr. Rowe is the newest member of the AVMA’s Student Initiatives team. We learn what her road to veterinary med...
Jan 27, 2022•28 min
“It really hit me that, you know, this could be something oncologists could use. There really is a huge gap also with just access to oncology. I think it was the National Cancer Institute came out and said about 6 million dogs a year get cancer and if you look, there is actually less than 450 boarded veterinary oncologists in the US and Canada.” Our guest today is Rachael Venable. Dr. Venable is a board-certified oncologist and founder of Pet Cancer Care Consulting. We talk about becoming board ...
Jan 20, 2022•36 min
“Looking back I feel really blessed that I had two choices, I could either go down the path of being an artist or possibly being a scientist and I thought, ‘ok if I could be a veterinarian, this is going to be exactly what I’m meant to do.’ I feel lucky that I had that vision as a child and that’s what I wanted to do. So yeah, it was an easy choice, growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian.” Our guest today is Dr. Joanne Maki. Dr. Maki is the Technical Director for North America Veterinary Publ...
Jan 13, 2022•50 min
“My stepdad, who I adore, and I quote him all the time. One of the things he always told me, ‘Never run away from something, always run to something’. So, if you don’t like your job, that’s not a reason, really to go looking, that’s not a reason to take something else.” Our guest today is Dr. Lisa Fortier. She recently joined the staff of AVMA as the Editor in Chief for publications and we loved having this opportunity to get to know more about her. We talk about how mentors played a pivotal rol...
Jan 06, 2022•47 min
“You know I really look back and things that I found myself doing that I may not have chosen to do really gave me a wealth of experience and helped me bring a completely different set of skills to this position.” Our guest today is Dr. Sharon Wappel. Dr. Wappel currently works for Zoetis as an Associate Director of Global Biologics and a Small Animal Clinician. We talk about all the turns her career has taken and some of the challenges she has faced and how she overcame them. It is an incredible...
Dec 30, 2021•57 min
“What I learned was, it’s just about building relationships and seeing how you can fit in the puzzle, just education. A lot of it was letting them know what there was available and what could be done.” Our guest today is Misty Tobyne. Misty is a veterinary technician who works for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. We talk about her road to veterinary medicine and how she jumped straight into an role in industry thanks to one of her professors. She shares what she has loved about her career path and how her ...
Dec 23, 2021•35 min
“The thing that I would say to anybody listening, is that you are doing great. It’s a hard time to be in the veterinary field. You know, I know so many people are overwhelmed and just remember that you know, that what you are doing is enough and that if you need help, to reach out to somebody and that you are definitely not alone in the struggle right now.” Our guest today is Dr. Yvette Huizar. Dr. Huizar joins us to continue our discussion on diversity, inclusion and belonging in veterinary med...
Dec 16, 2021•38 min
“And I’ll say one thing about mission statements, is that they constantly change. I don’t think that I had this, well I know I didn’t have this mission statement a year and a half ago.” Our guest today is Dr. Sumeet Gupta. Dr. Gupta joins us to continue our discussion on diversity, inclusion and belonging in veterinary medicine. He shares an incredible list of resources that you will want to go and check out! We also chat a little about his career and how different experiences have helped shape ...
Dec 09, 2021•50 min
“What we sort of know deep down is that changing the way our community looks is a long term goal. And it’s not something that we are going to solve as quickly as needing a task force overnight. And so not, sort of, the real work begins.” Our guest today is Dr. Evelyn Galban. Dr. Galban is an associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Penn Vet. She is also the founder of the Native American Veterinary Association. We talk about her journey through veterinary medicine and dig into why di...
Dec 02, 2021•41 min
“And I remind myself you know, ‘Who are you going to be today, Mia are you going to be the best version of yourself? Are you going to be part of the solution? Or are you not?’ And so, that’s how I chose it.” Our guest today is Dr. Mia Cary. This is the third time Dr. Cary has joined us on the show, so be sure to check out her previous episodes. Today she helps us kick off our 4-part miniseries focused on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. We also talk a lot about Radical Candor and how ...
Nov 25, 2021•39 min
“It took time for me to stop and get my phone and take a picture and get on our app and text it to the owner. But it was such a valuable moment, that made that experience better for them and made my day better. So, trying to find those ‘golden snitch’ moments and putting in that little extra effort, certainly pays off.” Our guest today is Dr. Michael Miller. Dr. Miller was previously on the show and we want to encourage you to check out that episode. Today’s episode is broken into two parts. In ...
Nov 18, 2021•54 min
“If you go to a conference and sit in the audience, you’re just in the audience, and you may learn some things. But if you are on the platform, you’ll get some visibility and every single practitioner, and every single veterinarian has something to offer.” Our guest today is Dr. Gary Vroegindewey. Dr. Vroegindewey has had an amazing career and experienced so many different areas of veterinary medicine. He spent time as a practice owner, then had some incredible opportunities through the US Army ...
Nov 11, 2021•52 min
“Making sure that you’re managing your own emotions. You can’t manage someone else’s emotions. You can’t control someone else’s emotions. At best you can remain present for them. But you can manage your own emotional reaction to their emotional reaction.” Our guest today is Kim Scott. Kim is the New York Times Best Selling author of the book Radical Candor. She was also a keynote speaker at the 2021 Business and Economic Forum. We have a great conversation with her about how we can communicate m...
Nov 04, 2021•1 hr 1 min
“Your pets that you’re caring for have parents. And those are your clients who see face to face and so, you know, it may be more difficult to say this to someone, ‘Hey, I’m raising costs on you.’ So, that’s very difficult but certainly in this environment where a lot of the input costs are rising.” Our guest today is Dana Peterson. Dana is the chief economist at The Conference Board. She was also a keynote speaker at the 2021 AVMA Business and Economic Forum. In this episode, we talk about why v...
Oct 28, 2021•30 min
“Making sure that I’m investing my time and resources into my own learning and development I think has been probably the biggest takeaway for me growing this thing.” Our guest today is Dr. Addie Reinhard. Dr. Reinhard is the founder of MentorVet a program established to help early career veterinarians learn important skills to help them succeed in the first years past graduation. We talk about her passion for veterinary medicine and why she believes leadership and mentorship are so critical to t...
Oct 21, 2021•41 min
“And I feel like the word stuck is a tip, is just a tip of the iceberg. And you have to figure out individually what that means for people. There’s a lot beneath the surface that ultimately makes you feel stuck.” Our guest today is Dr. Cassidy Rist. Dr. Rist shares how her career has taken her on some incredible adventures. This includes completing two internships, traveling internationally, time at the CDC, as well as time with USDA APHIS. This all led up to her current role at Virginia Marylan...
Oct 14, 2021•38 min
“It’s going to be up to you. What is your rich life and now how are you designing your finances in a way that is going to help you get there.” Our guest today is Dr. Grace Kim. Dr. Kim is both a DVM and an AFC. Not familiar with AFC? It stands for Accredited Financial Counselor. We learn about her journey to veterinary medicine and then how she became interested in finances- something that surprised herself! It’s a great conversation full of lots of information and insights. We are so excited to...
Oct 07, 2021•38 min
“They told me in my days of self-reflection to just sit down and make a list of things that I want in a career and things that I don’t want. And it was not specific things like, I want to work in nutrition, or I want to do this kind of medicine. It was thinking about things I enjoyed and things I didn’t. I enjoy teaching. I enjoyed having time to sit and think and actual process what I was trying to do and I did not like having to juggle 13 different cases at once and make decisions within the c...
Sep 30, 2021•44 min
“You know, I think that...I’ve said it several times, is believe you can, say yes and the other thing that I realized more recently is you never know who you are influencing on any day and it could be a podcast but it could be at the grocery store, it could be a client. I have heard so many…I guess you get to a certain age you start hearing from people you never knew you were influencing and their lives have changed because of something you did or said, just being you. So be you. The world needs...
Sep 23, 2021•41 min
“But just know that as a student, the doors are endless and wide open and no matter how many of them you want to walk through in the long run is completely fine.” Our guest today is Legend Thurman. Legend is a veterinary student at the Royal Veterinary College and at the time of the recording was completing and externship with the AVMA Membership and Field Services Team. She shares what the vet school application process was like for her and we even learn her favorite question asked on an applic...
Sep 16, 2021•36 min
“You know for the most part, veterinarians tend to be very caring people that want to reach out and help when they can. The problem with disaster response is that we need trained, caring veterinarians to reach out. And by trained, I don’t mean, they are trained as a veterinarian, I mean that you are trained as a first responder.” Our guest today is Dr. Warren Hess. Dr. Hess has had an incredible career that could probably fill many episodes on its own. Today, however, we are focused on the role ...
Sep 09, 2021•48 min
“Fixing animals and being a voice for them when they don’t have one and feeling like I make a difference in an animal’s life is more rewarding to me than anything else in the world. And that’s why I really got interested the most in veterinary medicine.” Our guest today is Patrick Douglas. Patrick is a certified veterinary technician. After a few years in private practice, he decided to relocate to Arkansas. He’d always wanted to work at a zoo, and saw they had an opening at the Little Rock Zoo....
Sep 02, 2021•45 min
