VPN Plus+ ExclusiveSurviving a pandemic as a veterinary professionalJune 24, 2020By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAIf you're a veterinary professional and you feel like you're being squeezed from every direction, welcome to my pandemic-warped world. It's gotten so bad that sometimes I feel like a Cuban sandwich, all thin slices of ham, cheese, baby pork, and pickles smushed between two halves of buttered baguette, which is then compressed by an industrial press so powerful the edges of the bread burn and the cheese sizzles while the bread soaks up the excess. Further indulge my Miami metaphor by envisioning our suppliers as the bottom half and elite specialty providers as toppers. We, the tender baby pig (arguably the least equipped to tolerate the pressures), are becoming but a smear of protein. To be sure, it's delicious in the end. Nevertheless, it's still kind of sad the bread ends up with more than its share of all the butter. Culinary fantasies notwithstanding, it's clear things are getting tougher for the average veterinary practice. Increased ER income is keeping specialty services humming, while as many as a third of the practices in my area have temporarily shuttered, possibly never to reopen. This rearranged game board has given an edge to the larger, more established practices, along with …
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VPN Plus+ ExclusiveFrom the trenches: Veterinary musings from a pandemic-rattled brainMay 5, 2020By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAIt's difficult to explain how I feel, but I'm fairly certain you can relate. It's like I'm being asked to perform all my normal functions as a veterinarian, practice owner, mother, and parental caretaker from beneath a thick layer of practical wariness while wrapped in a smothering blanket of fear. It's all so different––so suddenly––that I haven't had a proper chance to process it. I awake every day to find the game has changed, variables have been added, and assumptions altered. It's like playing a game where all the pieces get continually rearranged and the rules are always changing. It wouldn't be so bad except the stakes keep getting bigger by the day. At the top of my list is my family. My son refuses to come home from college and my elderly father is constitutionally incapable of "sheltering in place," which reduces my poor mother to apoplectic handwringing episodes interspersed with marathon rosary sessions. Then there's my own health, impacted by the fact I have little choice but to work with a variably compliant public among mostly young, "invincible" team members whose movements I have no control over once they exit the building. Moreover, as I revealed in a …
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveFrom the trenches: How life has changed since COVID-19 came into our livesApril 23, 2020By Brennen McKenzie, MA, MSc, VMD, cVMAThe hospital is quiet as I walk in at the start of my shift. The usual bustle of clients, staff, and animals has been replaced by empty hallways and only a few masked doctors and nurses going about their work quietly, careful to keep their distance from each other. I stop at the screening table and start my day by taking my temperature. It is under 100.4 F, and I have no cough or other respiratory symptoms, which means I can work today. I set down my belongings at my desk and go to change my clothes. I wear scrubs every day now, and I have a pair of dedicated work shoes that stay at the hospital. I also have a collection of beautiful cloth face masks sewn by one of our employees—I wear a clean one every day. At the end of my shift, all of my work clothes go into the laundry. When I get home, everything I took to work stays in the garage. I pass quickly through the house and take a shower before I greet my family. I am especially mindful to keep my distance from my elderly mother, who lives with us, and …
