Human-animal bond the focus of National Pet WeekMay 6, 2019In honor of National Pet Week, the Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA) is reminding veterinarians to advise their clients to cherish the human-animal bond and to embrace responsible pet ownership. National Pet Week runs from May 6 to May 12 and this year's theme is a "Lifetime of Love—The basics: Seven days to a happier, healthier pet." Each day is dedicated to a specific pet-related topic: May 6 emphasizes the importance of selecting pets that mesh well with people's lifestyles and making a firm commitment to caring for pets May 7 encourages pet owners to socialize their companion animals early and prep them for various interactions with places, activities, animals, and people May 8 urges pet owners and their pets to engage in regular exercise May 9 recommends regular visits to the veterinarian May 10 celebrates the human-animal bond May 11 provides tips for developing emergency kits for unexpected incidents, such as natural disasters May 12 summarizes the week's advice TVMA says its goal for this week is to remind pet owners to give pets' a lifetime of love and improve their quality and length of life by taking them in for regular veterinary exams and by providing regular …
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Why a happy veterinary profession needs independent practicesJanuary 21, 2019Does it seem so unlikely we might suffer from an epidemic of unhappy veterinarians?
Owning a practice? You?December 27, 2018Some would argue practice ownership is only for the most ambitious—for those who love business. Like that classmate who always reads the Wall Street Journal or the one who knows she wants to be a specialist… of some sort… and all that entails. I mean, you know nothing about business. And the stress isn't worth it. The burden of your student loan probably makes practice ownership impossible, anyway. The excuses are endless. But so too are the reasons to own, even more so in this environment of corporate competition, continued consolidation, and rapid change. After all, where there is change—even chaos—there's also opportunity. What's more, practice ownership promises all the things you've always wanted from your profession. It buys you stability and flexibility, the two things that can make having a family more doable. It also means more money. And, paradoxically, those who have the least of it are those who stand to gain the most from practice ownership. I'm not saying it's easy. To be sure, it involves risk. But it's those who never contemplated ownership, those most beset and bedeviled by family-related inflexibility and financial burdens, who also have the most to gain and the least to lose. …
Are you leading or following your practice?December 11, 2018You rush from one intense exam to the next, going home exhausted at the end of the day. This firefighter approach to running your practice may have you following, rather than leading your business. As you begin a new year, reclaim the leadership role of your practice and take actions that move your business forward.
AVMA data shows pet ownership on the rise in the U.S.November 21, 2018Pet ownership is on the rise in the U.S., with dogs leading the way and large increases in the number of less traditional pets like poultry and lizards, according to recently released data from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
The case of the enforced noncompete clauseNovember 13, 2017The seller of a veterinary practice in Mount Pleasant, Pa., recently learned this the hard way. The case, Joseph v. O’Laughlin, illustrates the importance of noncompete agreements to buyers of veterinary practices—and the consequences of violating these pacts.
Dispelling myths about entrepreneurship and practice ownershipNovember 7, 2017I had the rare opportunity to speak with Michael Gerber, management guru and best-selling author of The E-Myth Revisited and the E-Myth book collection, who recently co-wrote The E-Myth Veterinarian with Peter Weinstein, DVM, MBA, executive director of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association.
Tips to buy a veterinary practiceJuly 13, 2016Veterinary medicine can be a satisfying career, but there is a distinct difference between the experience of working as an employee vet and as an employer vet. For those considering the latter, an important question for self-reflection is, “Why am I considering it?”
