Surgical Lasers Aren’t Just For Teaching HospitalsMarch 22, 2012 Fourteen years ago, when cell phones resembled barbells and personal computers were still an option, Kenneth Bartels was hunkered down in the heart of Oklahoma State University’s veterinary teaching hospital, becoming an expert on an extraordinary technology that now literally is veterinary surgery’s cutting edge: carbon dioxide and diode lasers. “Laser surgery is noted for an ability to minimize hemorrhage and seal nerves and lymphatics through photothermal activity,” said Bartels, DVM, director of the Surgical Laser Laboratory at OSU’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. “This implies there is decreased inflammation and less pain. The surgical laser is a tool that can be used to great advantage with the appropriate understanding and training.” And the education is out there: Dr. Bartels said laser theory is now incorporated into Oklahoma State University's veterinary clinical curriculum, along with wet labs for student chapters of the American Animal Hospital Association and American Association of Feline Practitioners. For small-animal surgery, carbon dioxide lasers are used in cat onychectomies, several phases of brachycephalic airway syndrome surgeries, spays and neuters, tumor removals and surface incisions. In equine medicine, the fiber-delivered diode laser is used with …
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Good Marriage...Good MedicineMarch 16, 2012 Kristen Lawmaster, DVM, never wanted to open her own clinic. So when she and her husband, Todd Lawmaster, also a DVM, acquired the Parkview Veterinary Hospital in Monterey, Calif., two years ago, she had no plans to actually work there. Not only did she not share her husband's entrepreneurial passion, she also assumed it would be a disaster. "Everyone warned against us working together," Dr. Lawmaster said. "I was still in my other job and I kept thinking to myself that there was no way I was going to work with him because everyone said how awful it is for spouses to work together." It wasn't long, however, before she changed her mind. "The draw became too much because he was getting all this brand new equipment and I was working in an old, decrepit hospital," she said. She now shares her husband's love of a more progressive, preventive form of veterinary medicine--if not his be-your-own-boss mentality--and has been working side-by-side with him ever since. They join a number of spouses who successfully manage a two-veterinarian household. "It's is a fairly common thing." said Amy Carr, DVM, Dipl. ACVECC. "About 10 percent of my …
Short Sales And Finding Future FinancingMarch 6, 2012 One of the lasting effects of the real estate bubble and Great Recession is the growing number of professionals caught in the real estate devaluation of residential properties. In the past, home appreciation seemed to make any home mortgage safe for both the bank and owner, but the last few years have led to instances where the borrower can find herself 50 percent underwater on her home loan. In some instances, this has led a borrower to decide that the best option is to a sell the home, with the bank’s permission, for less than what is owed. The amount of loan left after the sale is commonly known as a “deficiency balance,” which may or may not be forgiven by the bank. A Look at Short Sales To understand how a short sale is perceived by a bank, a borrower must first understand that a typical bank considers a mortgage loan a contractual commitment by the borrower to repay the debt borrowed, regardless of what the house is worth. Even if circumstances make this nearly impossible for the borrower, the first reaction of a banker is to look upon a short sale as a …
Hey Boss, Listen Up!February 24, 2012 As I make my way across the country, I’m always asked by at least one person, “How do I get my boss to listen?” The “boss” could be any number of people: the veterinary practice owner, the attending veterinarian on staff, the supervisor or lead for your position, the practice manager, the board of directors—you name it. It’s hard to see all these wonderful support staffers come to my talks, only to feel that they can’t bring ideas back and make them a reality because of their bosses’ attitudes. “How do I get my boss to listen?” they’ll ask. Let’s take a look at this. When you have a new idea, a solution to a problem, or a new product that you believe will help the practice, you are excited and that makes sense! But it doesn’t take any more than a stern glance from the boss to dash your hopes and snuff out your enthusiasm. So take a step back, and take a look at why you are excited about the idea. Will it help the patients? Will it help the clients? Will it help the support staff? Will it help grow revenue in the practice? …
From Tears To Happiness In One Phone CallFebruary 20, 2012 Dr. M was heartbroken. Possibly on the verge of tears. And she called me, of all people, to find some comfort… Ms. Greenback walked into Dr. M’s practice and interrupted a conversation she was having with a long-standing client. Ms. Greenback declared: “I’m looking for a new vet…” Since she had just opened her practice, Dr. M was excited about the opportunity to shine and impress a new potential client. That is, until Ms. Greenback finished her sentence: “I’m looking for a new vet to euthanize my sick dog.” This was against everything Dr. M believed in. She did not approve the concept of convenience euthanasia simply because a pet becomes, well, an inconvenience. So what followed was a desperate attempt at reasoning with the client. Why euthanize? “Why don’t we start with a physical exam, and maybe blood work, to find out if we can’t help your dog?” Maybe the dog’s problem was treatable. But the client didn’t want to hear it. “Look Doc, I just can’t afford all your fancy testing. If I paid for it, then I wouldn’t be able to feed all the other dogs I’ve rescued over the …
Negotiation FatigueFebruary 17, 2012 Anyone involved in presenting financial estimates, or treatment plans, to clients in the veterinary practice has been exposed to “negotiation fatigue.” You’ll recognize the circumstances—you develop an estimate of the charges involved in whatever the veterinarian feels needs to be done with that pet and walk in to explain the fees. The client winces, comments about how expensive veterinary care is, and proceeds to ask, “Well, do we have to do everything on that list?” You freeze, trying to figure out how to respond. A veterinary professional that I recently came across explained an interesting concept; to provide the best medicine the client seeks, not necessarily the best medicine that is recommended by the veterinarian. While I understand that this flies in the face of all the advice we’ve been given to offer only the best medicine, we all understand that in reality, we often have to come down a notch or two to also fit the client’s financial restrictions. We know that sometimes Plan A will be rejected, and we need to have a Plan B and Plan C readily available so that we can provide at least some medical care to that pet. You’ll figure …
From Drill Bits To Practice PhilosophyFebruary 13, 2012 Finding the right drill bit for a very special job was not an easy task. At first, I visited the usual suspects: Home Depot and Lowes. Nothing. Then I went to Sears. Here is how the experience went. Since I didn’t find the right size drill bit on my own, I spotted a Sears employee between the “paint” and the “tools” sections. Me: Hello, do you work in paint? Her: What? Me: Do you work in paint? Her: Yep. Me: So is your colleague the only one in Tools? Her: What? Me: Your colleague over there looks pretty busy, is he the only one in Tools? Her: I’m in Tools, too. Me: OK great. Could you please help me find a longer drill bit than this 3/32nd bit? After I showed her the size I needed—same diameter, just longer—she walked with the energy of a snail with myasthenia gravis over to the drill bit display and handed me a long 3/16th drill bit (i.e. much bigger). And she proudly declared: “There you go, that one’s longer!” I was speechless. What would you have told her? This …
What On Earth Are You Thinking?February 6, 2012 I have been listening to an audio-book called “Breakthrough Thinking,” in which the authors1 share some interesting concepts about the way people think. There are four main ways to think, which translate into four main ways to see the world. It may help you understand your clients and employees and colleagues (and friends and family members) It also may help you understand yourself better. What is your main thinking mode? 1. Victim Thinking Victim thinking is inactive thinking. “We are preoccupied with the past and the things we cannot control, our mind is filled with thoughts about what we coulda, shoulda, mighta, oughta done, not what we are planning to do in the future,” writes the authors. The thought process of the “victim” is that whatever happens, happens, and there is nothing I can do about it. Let’s take an example. Let’s say a veterinary clinic has hired a person solely dedicated to inventory and ordering. For years, that person has been known to be inefficient, disorganized and difficult to work with. Procrastination was a chronic and painful issue. As a consequence, the clinic routinely ran out of medications and supplies. The …
Don’t Sweat The Petty Stuff…February 6, 2012 My daughter, who is now 11, is at that age where the only reality is the present, the now, the minute she exists within. So no matter what the day held before or after, if something “bad” happens to her—a disagreement with a friend, a stern look from the teacher, an interruption to her favorite pastimes—she will exclaim “This is the worse day EVER!” It’s easy to chuckle and think, wow, is it really that bad? Did this one little moment in time make the whole day, the worse day EVER? We smile at her innocence, likely thinking, just wait, you’ve got a long way to go in life! But if you stop and think about it, we all take this attitude when we let something small, something otherwise petty, affect our mood for the rest of the day or our impression of the quality of that day. Although we may not say it, we are often feeling, “This is the worse day EVER” when relatively small happens in the course of the day. It’s easy to think my little girl is exaggerating, but we do it all the time! For example at work, we may …
Why We Need To Support New GradsJanuary 31, 2012 Somehow I’ve allowed my son to get the idea that somewhere within the realm of veterinary medicine lives the best job on earth. Never one to disabuse any hard-to-motivate adolescent of the notion that his career choice might not be all it’s cracked up to be, I might be inadvertently guilty of imparting a rosier impression than our profession deserves. And nowhere is this rose-colored glow more directed and less deserved than upon graduation from veterinary school. It’s the promise of a life after all that schooling that drives them so hard through its punishing process. Unfortunately, reaching what should be the end of the rainbow too often ends up feeling rather more like stepping through the looking glass. Not that our next generation is unrealistic enough to expect puppies, kittens and foals frolicking in a pot of gold. They’ve come to expect a hard time. From Day One in vet school they begin to receive layer upon layer of dire admonitions on the subject of their collective debt burden so that by the time they finally graduate, most students are as prepared as they possibly can be for that anvil that’ll sit on their …
