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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A veterinary meditation: Sources of hope in the midst of an outbreakJune 17, 2020In uncertain times, a fundamental human tendency is to project into the future and foresee the adversity that lies ahead. Some of us go straight to catastrophe, while others experience a more nebulous dread.
Got allergies? Welcome to the club (of veterinary masochists)May 26, 2020Did you know that in a recent study conducted by UC Davis, almost 90 percent of veterinarians tested positive for allergies?
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 …
Loving animals: Our profession's secret weapon or its Achilles heel?April 27, 2020Unlike previous generations, today's veterinary students are entering the profession aware of its pitfalls, driven by a love for and desire to work with animals.
Off Leash: Stalking stigmaMarch 3, 2020Eighteen years ago, Patty Khuly realized she had a problem. Anxiety, depression, and a family history of mental illness conspired with the stress of divorce, debt, and single motherhood to feed a cycle of self-medication with alcohol and prescription drugs.
Associate autonomy: How to preserve your professional independenceJanuary 9, 2020While being an associate has its charms, what can you do to preserve your professional independence?
Stand out in a crowdJanuary 7, 2020It behooves us to always keep in mind our clients also have choices. They vote by walking in our door; it’s up to us to communicate why we deserve their business.
