From antioxidants to vitamins, many supplements lack official testingJuly 22, 2021By Brennen McKenzie, MA, MSc, VMD, cVMASkipping steps in the scientific process wastes time and resources, and it ultimately hurts patients. Those who may choose an insufficiently tested supplement over a proven therapy because they believe it to be safer or more effective based on low-quality evidence can be harmed by the supplement or by delaying truly effective treatment
Under-utilizing veterinary techniciansJuly 1, 2021By Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (nutrition)Under-utilizing credentialed/licensed veterinary technicians continues to be a hurdle many practices have yet to overcome. Here are areas for improvements.
Current lifespan patterns in dogsJune 3, 2021By Brennen McKenzie, MA, MSc, VMD, cVMAResearch efforts are ongoing, and rapidly expanding, to aid our understanding of how aging happens to develop preventative and therapeutic interventions to delay age-associated disease, disability, and death.
Tech Talk: Veterinary technician credentialing – a call for real changeApril 22, 2021By Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (nutrition)NAVTA president Ed Carlson believes a major contributing factor for technician dissatisfaction is related to the inconsistency in credentialing requirements, which may be a root cause of the shortage the profession is experiencing today.
How to build or buy a vet practice even when you don’t want to be a practice ownerApril 15, 2021By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAFinancially savvy new grads often share homes, apartments, and even cars. Why not band together to build or buy a practice? This arrangement isn’t as common as it once was, and yet it’s more necessary than ever. This model can work for veterinarians in different stages of their careers, as well.
Stem cell therapies – leaping before looking?March 31, 2021By Brennen McKenzie, MA, MSc, VMD, cVMAAs often happens, preliminary research in laboratory animals and in human medicine led to relatively rapid commercialization and clinical use of stem cell treatments in veterinary medicine well before robust clinical trial evidence in companion animals with natural disease had been developed. Fortunately, as better evidence has been slowly accumulated, it is looking more and more like we may have “guessed right” in this case: the risks to our patients are minimal (though not negligible) and there may well be meaningful benefits.
Why does no one want to be a practice owner anymore?March 18, 2021By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBABeing a practice owner is hard. But being a veterinarian is way harder than being a practice owner. Which makes me wonder why so many people willing to put in tireless hours to crown themselves animal doctor are subsequently unwilling to take this extra step?
Tech Talk: Is there really a veterinary technician shortage? A profession in crisisFebruary 19, 2021By Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (nutrition)Unfortunately, no statistics are provided for the number of veterinary assistants employed or other individuals working in a veterinary technician capacity. Given these numbers are of individuals self-reporting as veterinary technicians, it is doubtful it represents only credentialed veterinary technicians. So, does this make a difference?
