My Veterinary Life

“What we sort of know deep down is that changing the way our community looks is a long term goal. And it’s not something that we are going to solve as quickly as needing a task force overnight. And so not, sort of, the real work begins.”Our guest today is Dr. Evelyn Galban. Dr. Galban is an associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Penn Vet. She is also the founder of the Native American Veterinary Association. We talk about her journey through veterinary medicine and dig into why diversity is so crucial in this profession. She shares so many great insights and stories. It’s a great conversation, you won’t want ot miss. We learned so much and are incredibly honored to share this conversation with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“And I remind myself you know, ‘Who are you going to be today, Mia are you going to be the best version of yourself? Are you going to be part of the solution? Or are you not?’ And so, that’s how I chose it.”Our guest today is Dr. Mia Cary. This is the third time Dr. Cary has joined us on the show, so be sure to check out her previous episodes. Today she helps us kick off our 4-part miniseries focused on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. We also talk a lot about Radical Candor and how those concepts can help us approach conversations that challenge us. We learned so much and are incredibly honored to share this conversation with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcastHere is a list of links referenced in today’s episode: https://pridevmc.org/gender-identity-bill-of-rights/ https://padlet.com

“It took time for me to stop and get my phone and take a picture and get on our app and text it to the owner. But it was such a valuable moment, that made that experience better for them and made my day better. So, trying to find those ‘golden snitch’ moments and putting in that little extra effort, certainly pays off.”Our guest today is Dr. Michael Miller. Dr. Miller was previously on the show and we want to encourage you to check out that episode. Today’s episode is broken into two parts. In the first part, we are focused on creating magic in your workplace. Dr. Miller shares examples of how he has implemented this at his practice and how he makes an effort to find ‘golden snitch’ moments every day. During the second part of the episode, we focus on the Veterinary Leadership Conference, where he will be speaking. We talk about how to get the most out of the conference and tips and tricks for navigating this space. We had a blast with Dr. Miller and can’t wait to share this journey with you. Remember we wan

“If you go to a conference and sit in the audience, you’re just in the audience, and you may learn some things. But if you are on the platform, you’ll get some visibility and every single practitioner, and every single veterinarian has something to offer.”Our guest today is Dr. Gary Vroegindewey. Dr. Vroegindewey has had an amazing career and experienced so many different areas of veterinary medicine. He spent time as a practice owner, then had some incredible opportunities through the US Army Veterinary Corps. He then had the chance to work for the Department of Defense, followed by more incredible stories from the US Army Veterinary Corps. He is now taking all these experiences and sharing them and teaching future veterinarians through his roles at Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine. We learned so much and are incredibly honored to share this journey with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and revi

“Making sure that you’re managing your own emotions. You can’t manage someone else’s emotions. You can’t control someone else’s emotions. At best you can remain present for them. But you can manage your own emotional reaction to their emotional reaction.”Our guest today is Kim Scott. Kim is the New York Times Best Selling author of the book Radical Candor. She was also a keynote speaker at the 2021 Business and Economic Forum. We have a great conversation with her about how we can communicate more clearly in every aspect of our lives and how this alone will solve a good portion of many of the issue we run into throughout our day-to-day activities. Kim is an incredible storyteller and is able to emphasize each of her points with personal stories and experiences. We learned so much and are incredibly honored to share this journey with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.or

“Your pets that you’re caring for have parents. And those are your clients who see face to face and so, you know, it may be more difficult to say this to someone, ‘Hey, I’m raising costs on you.’ So, that’s very difficult but certainly in this environment where a lot of the input costs are rising.”Our guest today is Dana Peterson. Dana is the chief economist at The Conference Board. She was also a keynote speaker at the 2021 AVMA Business and Economic Forum. In this episode, we talk about why veterinarian should care about economics and how it impacts the day to day workings of the profession. Dana does a great job of sharing small step veterinarians can take to learn a bit more about general economics as well as examples that practices could implement to improve their financial outlook. It’s a great conversation and we cannot wait to share this journey with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact

“Making sure that I’m investing my time and resources into my own learning and development I think has been probably the biggest takeaway for me growing this thing.”Our guest today is Dr. Addie Reinhard. Dr. Reinhard is the founder of MentorVet a program established to help early career veterinarians learn important skills to help them succeed in the first years past graduation. We talk about her passion for veterinary medicine and why she believes leadership and mentorship are so critical to the wellbeing of the profession. We also chat about the Veterinary Leadership Conference and learn about two different presentations she will be giving. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcastTo learn more about the Veterinary Leadership Conf

“And I feel like the word stuck is a tip, is just a tip of the iceberg. And you have to figure out individually what that means for people. There’s a lot beneath the surface that ultimately makes you feel stuck.”Our guest today is Dr. Cassidy Rist. Dr. Rist shares how her career has taken her on some incredible adventures. This includes completing two internships, traveling internationally, time at the CDC, as well as time with USDA APHIS. This all led up to her current role at Virginia Maryland’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where she is an Assistant Professor or Practice. It is a great conversation and we are so excited to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“It’s going to be up to you. What is your rich life and now how are you designing your finances in a way that is going to help you get there.”Our guest today is Dr. Grace Kim. Dr. Kim is both a DVM and an AFC. Not familiar with AFC? It stands for Accredited Financial Counselor. We learn about her journey to veterinary medicine and then how she became interested in finances- something that surprised herself! It’s a great conversation full of lots of information and insights. We are so excited to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcastIf you want to learn more about Dr. Kim, please visit her website: https://richerlifedvm.com/

“They told me in my days of self-reflection to just sit down and make a list of things that I want in a career and things that I don’t want. And it was not specific things like, I want to work in nutrition, or I want to do this kind of medicine. It was thinking about things I enjoyed and things I didn’t. I enjoy teaching. I enjoyed having time to sit and think and actual process what I was trying to do and I did not like having to juggle 13 different cases at once and make decisions within the course of five minutes like you might have to do in an ER setting.”Our guest today is Dr. Dr. Matt Hull. Dr. Hull is the Digital Education Specialists for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. We talk about how his path to veterinary medicine has taken many unexpected twists and turns and how mentors have played a critical role in helping him evaluate what matters to him the most in a career. This episode is full of amazing advice and insights. We are thrilled to share this journey with you!. Remember we want to hear from you! Please b

“You know, I think that...I’ve said it several times, is believe you can, say yes and the other thing that I realized more recently is you never know who you are influencing on any day and it could be a podcast but it could be at the grocery store, it could be a client. I have heard so many…I guess you get to a certain age you start hearing from people you never knew you were influencing and their lives have changed because of something you did or said, just being you. So be you. The world needs you. And know you are making a difference.”Our guest today is Dr. Apryl Steele. Dr. Steele is the CEO of the Dumb Friends League located in Colorado. While this is not how she saw her career going, she shares her incredible journey and the impact she continues to have on the profession. We also discuss the impact COVID had on her organization and how they are continuing to respond to all animals in need. It’s a truly inspiring story and we cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you!

“But just know that as a student, the doors are endless and wide open and no matter how many of them you want to walk through in the long run is completely fine.”Our guest today is Legend Thurman. Legend is a veterinary student at the Royal Veterinary College and at the time of the recording was completing and externship with the AVMA Membership and Field Services Team. She shares what the vet school application process was like for her and we even learn her favorite question asked on an application! We also chat about what going to school in the UK is like and why that was the right choice for her. Legend also shares what drew her to the AVMA externship and what she has been working on during her time with us. We cannot wait to share this journey with you!Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“You know for the most part, veterinarians tend to be very caring people that want to reach out and help when they can. The problem with disaster response is that we need trained, caring veterinarians to reach out. And by trained, I don’t mean, they are trained as a veterinarian, I mean that you are trained as a first responder.”Our guest today is Dr. Warren Hess. Dr. Hess has had an incredible career that could probably fill many episodes on its own. Today, however, we are focused on the role he has played in assisting with natural disasters. We discuss how he became interested in this area of veterinary medicine and what impact veterinarians can have in times of crisis. He emphasizes the importance of education in disaster preparedness and shares the opportunities AVMA has for certificate programs that will help start that learning process. It’s a great conversation and we cannot wait to share this journey with you!Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts

“Fixing animals and being a voice for them when they don’t have one and feeling like I make a difference in an animal’s life is more rewarding to me than anything else in the world. And that’s why I really got interested the most in veterinary medicine.”Our guest today is Patrick Douglas. Patrick is a certified veterinary technician. After a few years in private practice, he decided to relocate to Arkansas. He’d always wanted to work at a zoo, and saw they had an opening at the Little Rock Zoo. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to put his name out there and applied. After several interviews, the job of his dreams was his! We learn what his day to day activities look like, what has surprised him the most and just how awesome his job really is! We cannot wait to share this journey with you!Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVet

“Shelter medicine is a lot of surgery. Which is also why I was like, yeah, I could definitely do shelter medicine, because, it’s everything. It’s just like the melting pot of the vet med field I feel like.”Our guest today is Dr. Rachael Wooten. After graduating from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee University, Dr. Wooten pursued a shelter medicine internship at the University of Illinois. From here, she’s worked at several different types of shelters and shares what she loves and learns from all those experiences. It’s a great conversation and we cannot wait to share her journey with you!Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“It reflects, I think, the spectrum of pet ownership and just how different cultures care for pets and love pets. You know we didn’t really know what to do with this dog but we learned over time and we were so grateful for people who helped us. But it really convey that loving and owning a pet comes in a variety of ways.” Our guest today is Dr. Chumkee Aziz. Dr. Aziz is a graduate Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. After veterinary school, she completed a small animal rotating internship with ASPCA in New York, then a shelter medicine residency at UC Davis. She shares that her path to veterinary medicine was not a straight shot and it all changed with one special dog. This career has led her to some amazing places and experience as well as opportunities. She currently serves as the president of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. We learn so much about the importance of mentorship and following your passion as well as the impact you can have on your community. It’s such a fun a

“And then just be prepared to be adventurous, compassionate, and enthusiastic every day because the craziness will come your way and if you meet it with positivity you will really, really enjoy this type of career.” Our guest today is Dr. Traci Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert is a graduate from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. After graduation she was in small animal private practice until she learned of an opening for a veterinarian at a local animal shelter. She jumped at the opportunity and has built and incredible career from there. She shares a lot of great insights about working in shelter medicine and what her day ‘typically’ looks like and also how to keep a positive perspective on things. We are so excited to share this journey with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“I got to a point in my career, and I’m sure other people can relate to this, where I had to balance what was comfortable against the desire to do more, to stretch my wings, to learn more, to add more to the organization that I was working for, Hill’s, but to do that in a different way." Our guest today is Joann Fuller. Joann is the Brand Engagement Manager at Hill’s Pet Nutrition and she joins us to talk about some of the incredible programs she is involved in that focus on working with Animal Shelters. Before we jump into that part of her career, we start at the beginning and learn how she joined the Hill’s Pet Nutrition Team and moved throughout the company. This episode is full of passion and lots of great information on the role we can play in helping animal shelters. We are so excited to share this journey with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also fo

“We call them insureds-veterinarians that have professional liability insurance and are insured by the company can call anytime. So, we take a lot of insured phone calls to answer questions or they are in a tough situation and need some advice. I really love reviewing the claims and it’s really like I’m back at school. My textbooks are all dusted off. We do a lot of research, particularly I think my small animal surgery book gets the biggest workout, finding research or support for certain claims or situations. My textbooks have really come out of the closet and getting a workout again. So that was my biggest surprise, is that I’m kind of back at school.’” Our guest today is Dr. Kara Escutia. She wraps up our series meeting AVMA Trust Veterinarians. Dr. Escutia is a 2011 graduate of University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. We chat about her career and how it has taken her from feline only medicine to small animal medicine from private to corporate and now to insurance. We also have fun disc

“When we talk to clients, we can completely put ourselves in that situation and our heart breaks for everyone that we speak to. And so, believe me, there is absolutely no judgement.’” Our guest today is Dr. Jennifer Frey. We have an incredible conversation that not only includes a thorough look at how insurance claims are handled, but also touches on her passion for the profession…. Diversity. We learn what her experience was like joining the profession and some ideas she has for helping to bring more diversity to veterinary medicine. We also talk about how she learned about the role at AVMA PLIT and why she thinks it is so important. It’s an informative and insightful conversation and we cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast