Open letters to recent grads and rising vet cliniciansNovember 22, 2016Twenty-one years ago today(-ish) I was trudging through the pervasive travesty commonly referred to as trial by fire. While working in my first months post-graduation as a full-fledged clinician—sans internship, residency or onsite mentor—I made hundreds of mistakes, at least one of which proved fatal.
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How to handle time off requests during the holiday seasonNovember 22, 2016 A veterinary practice owner writes: For the first time since purchasing my practice, I am having problems with requests for time off during the holiday season. We are a relatively small team and have a simple "first come, first served" policy, and this has worked very well until this year. The first person to request time off during the Christmas and New Year period has traditionally been approved for annual leave. However, one particular veterinarian has become really pushy about getting her leave approved. Of the three doctors in the practice, she is the only one with young children and I feel like she is using this an excuse, saying she has to be at home during school holidays. She had Christmas and Easter off last year, and she has requested to have Christmas this year off, too. She made the request in January, and about a month ago the other veterinarians started to complain that they can't get any days off around Christmas this year. How do I approach this and what can I do? There is not much you can do — not this year, anyway. …
How do I deal with a negative employee?November 11, 2016I have a negative employee in my practice. She is a good vet tech, but she is very critical of everything in the practice, from equipment, to the condition of the building, to some clients and our processes.
My practice manager lied on her resumeNovember 2, 2016I had a fantastic practice manager working with me for many years. She went on maternity leave and decided to stay at home with her kids for longer than anticipated, so I had to replace her.
The no. 1 way to lose clients? DisrespectNovember 1, 2016Veterinary practices strive to stay busy. We’re driven by the need to help more patients. In order to keep on seeing more patients, we have to pay overhead costs, provide attractive staff salaries and earn a profit.
How to work out conflicts in the vet practice with mediationOctober 31, 2016Find someone who has known and loved her pets, and someone who was a top breeder and exhibitor of dogs — in her case Irish setters and longhaired dachshunds. Find someone who has knowledge of the law.
The latest, greatest resource on veterinarian communicationOctober 31, 2016I had the pleasure of meeting authors Cindy Adams and Suzanne Kurtz several years ago when I presented a workshop at the International Conference on Communication in Veterinary Medicine (ICCVM), which they founded and organized to advance training in communication, particularly in veterinary schools.
How to drive cat owners to your vet practiceOctober 31, 2016If you’re a cat owner, you probably have seen Andrew Lloyd Webber’s delightful musical, “Cats,” or identify with T. S. Eliot’s line, “I must remind you that a dog’s a dog – a cat’s a cat.”
How do I make sure the work I delegate gets done?October 29, 2016I’ve been a practice manager for a couple of years, and during that time my areas of responsibility have progressively increased. That’s not really a problem because I enjoy learning new things and being challenged.
How to fire someone ethically and legallyOctober 21, 2016In a business setting, the saying essentially means that employees who are the loudest (i.e., complain the most) get the most attention. Since nobody likes a squeaky wheel, we tend to dedicate resources to fix the problem.
