VPN Plus+ Exclusive10 lessons veterinary medicine can learn from human healthcare's biggest challengesMarch 27, 2025By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAHuman healthcare has a lot to teach us, especially since its challenges tend to precede ours. The industry serves as a reliable sentinel for up-and-coming concerns we are likely to confront in the near future, which is what this post is all about. Although these scary prospects don’t yet keep us up all night, they are well worth contemplating as we head into the second half of the decade.
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VPN Plus+ ExclusiveThe fight between generalists vs. specialistsFebruary 12, 2025By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAWho does the heavy lifting in veterinary medicine? I argue it’s the generalists vs. specialists who do the bulk of the work and make the biggest difference in the lives of animals. They treat more than just the tippy top of the iceberg of patients who enjoy the great luck of belonging to those who can fork over $10,000 for a TPLO or $20,000 for spinal surgery.
10 'old vet' tips for fledgling veterinariansFebruary 6, 2025This month, Dr. Patty Khuly offers guidance to help new vets navigate the transition from life as a student to that of a doctor.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveA comparative education doesn't mean all species are understood equally—or should beDecember 27, 2024By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAWe ingest a comparative education with an eye toward a more profound knowledge of our patients and their care when we eventually apply it in practice. It does not mean we pretend to know how to manage the care of invertebrates, for example. Nor does it mean we expect, after four years of basic education, to manage the care of fish, ferrets, tigers, and terrapins with equivalent success.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveNeed better work-life balance? Get a hobby!November 8, 2024By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBABefore you know it, the only meaningful, nonveterinary skills you possess get relegated to those you might accumulate via YouTube osmosis and Discovery Channel pseudoscience. None of us wants that. So, in the hopes of improving the collective veterinary psyche, I offer you this list of vet-adjacent hobbies as my veterinary public service for the month.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveKhuly sold to a corporation!September 5, 2024By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAI’m still getting used to this strange bedfellow of ours. What’s more, I’m not quite sure what to make of the fact I can’t manage to despise it yet. Never in a million years would I have predicted the relative equanimity I’ve experienced throughout this process. After all, as anyone who has caught any part of my decades-long writing career can attest, I’ve carefully nurtured a poisonous aversion to corporate takeovers in veterinary medicine.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveSelling services without being a used car salespersonAugust 1, 2024By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAUsed car salespeople get a bad rap. We all know they are just trying to make a living, but that does not keep almost every young veterinarian from invoking this simile when faced with the prospect of proposing expensive pet care. They find it hard to shake the feeling price may determine whether a patient lives or dies—we all do.
Why do vets increasingly shun practice ownership?July 8, 2024There are so many powers in play (educational, generational, familial, and geographical factors, etc.), but columnist, Dr. Patty Khuly lists top four she considers as the most daunting stumbling blocks to practice ownership.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveSix practice models to reinvigorate independent small animal practicesApril 4, 2024By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBASince independent clinics are small, we are nimble. We just have to keep thinking outside that damned box. With that in mind, here are six ideas Dr. Patty Khuly has been pondering with an eye toward spicing up how we think about independent small animal practice.
What vet medicine can take out of a military playbookMarch 20, 2024Over the past decade or so I've witnessed the rising popularity of a practice style I've snarkily termed "frogmarched" vet care; To force (someone) to walk forward by holding and pinning their arms from behind. In its most effective manifestation, clients are shuttled through a scripted process involving rapid-fire assessments and minimal human interaction. The goal is to increase productivity and maximize profitability by minimizing time-consuming client-staff interactions. In this way, patients are attended more quickly, and clients' wait times are curtailed. Here is how it works in emergency care settings, where it is most often employed: Upon presentation, receptionists immediately convey basic client and patient details to triage technicians, who then assess the patient, confer with the attending veterinarian, devise a plan, present it to the client (via vet or tech), and provide an estimate (via reception or tech). Reception will collect payment or ensure a quick AMA kiss-off if the client is unable or unwilling to comply with the terms proposed. This way, clients are effectively vetted for financial enthusiasm and capacity up front with minimal in-person interaction, so the clinic avoids unduly expending limited space and personnel resources on less profitable cases. When deployed to perfection, this …
