VPN Plus+ ExclusiveWe don't like mutts, and I cannot lieJuly 10, 2025By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAYou know this is true: The purebred bias is our profession’s dirty little secret. We love our purebreds for lots of reasons, but if we are honest, we know it is because they make our profession what it is today—lucrative, for sure, but also challenging and exciting. Nothing satisfies my inner nerd like a Norwegian Forest cat from the Ukraine with all his IBD, cardiomyopathy, and LPLs.
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VPN Plus+ ExclusiveTop 10 life hacks for veterinarians courtesy of an AI botMay 29, 2025By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBANo tool has afforded me so many insta-hacks as ChatGPT. This and other AI bot-based tools are every industry’s most conspicuous work hacks, but they’re still undoubtedly under-leveraged—especially in red med. In fact, I can promise if you are not using it every day you are definitely missing out.
Alcoholism and addiction in vet med: 6 myths on substance abuse in veterinariansMay 21, 2025Dr. Patty Khuly offers some helpful info on the 'pervasive' problem of alcoholism and addiction in the industry, including a brief list of myths regarding the average drug- and alcohol-addicted veterinarian.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveBig vet energy, fading fastApril 24, 2025By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAThe only photo I have on my desk at work is one a classmate snapped during my field service rotation 30 years ago last month. Dinosaur that I am, it was one of those pictures you print at the drugstore photo lab in doubles to give away to your new colleagues at graduation. In it, I'm cradling a Pygmy goat kid…and I'm beaming. It exudes "big vet energy" in the best way possible. Everyone has a picture like that—one that captures their veterinary essence in peak bloom. It represents the moment you first recognized yourself as a real veterinarian. It says, "This is what I am. This is what I do. I was made for this." If your version of this picture isn't already on your desk, it probably should be. It will keep you grounded and inspired, humbled yet exultant. When things go wrong, it'll soothe you to recall why you made the choices you did. When everything's just as you think it should be, it will boost your mood all the more. Ironically, though, it is this photo that made me realize I was ready to end my career as I knew it. Sitting at my desk, crunching …
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.
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.
