With photos that look like slides from a cowboy movie, Shipping at the Basin Ranch is a modern day look at gathering and shipping cattle on the mountain ranch outside of Elk Mountain, Wyoming. The ranch is part of the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust. The group is dedicated to conserving Wyoming’s working family ranches and farms and the wide-open spaces, natural habitats and … [Read more...]
Be part of the AHD team
A special thank you goes out to our contributors listed on the AHD site. Their ongoing work help keeps you informed and our offerings fresh. You can contribute to our weekly email once or on an ongoing basis. If you want us to look for specific topics, please email us from the “contact us” section of the site. Better yet, write up a short summary of an article or other media … [Read more...]
AHD subscriptions arrive at no cost to you
Our industry provides millions of dollars in advertising and content development in the media from which we curate. Your feedback tells us that providing this service to animal health pros at no charge helps you do your jobs better. Sponsors receive consideration for their brands and activities when published content relates to their portfolios. Source: Animal Health Digest, … [Read more...]
AHD website tools make content easy to use
For animal health pros who need to find a post for any reason, the AHD website has several tools to help find it: BULLETIN Archive, keeps the last 20 BULLETINs easy to find and reference “Search the site” on the upper right, uses familiar key word search methods to find a topic Sponsor and Founder’s Circle logos all link to the respective company’s … [Read more...]
AHD Sponsor and Founder’s Circle support recognized
Two sponsors have helped AHD from early in its development. We are grateful for the financial support from: Ceva Animal Health U.S. Addison Biological Laboratory, Inc. Our Founder’s Circle cooperators are pivotal to help grow the readership and reach of AHD. Many thanks to: American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) FORAYS, Inc. Innovetive Pet Care RPR … [Read more...]
2000 posts in 2 years: AHD celebrates anniversary
The Animal Health Digest teams offers a sincere “thank you” for your readership and support the past two years. Our mission to “read for the animal health industry” remains in place. Each week, we scour more than 200 print and digital media sources for information relevant to animal health professionals at all levels. Our selections are delivered Thursday mornings via email … [Read more...]
6 things you need to recover from every day
Being busy and being productive are far from being the same thing. Most people try to do too much. The desire to keep up us doing more, living less and deceiving themselves into believing we’ve made progress. True growth and success is always sustainable. Unless you adequately recover, your life is a mess. You must properly recover from the following things daily: Work … [Read more...]
Study finds dairy has anti-inflammatory effect (includes video)
“Dairy products, particularly fermented dairy products, have anti-inflammatory properties in humans not suffering from allergies to milk,” said Bradley Bolling, citing research from University of Wisconsin during the World Dairy Expo. Source: Dairy Herd Management, October 5, 2017. A UW study involving 132 women over nine weeks, yogurt provided some anti-inflammatory … [Read more...]
AAHA NEWStat introduces guide to veterinary team wellness
NEWStat contains AAHA-generated content, sponsored content and articles of interest. This issue announces the launch of the Healthy Workplace Culture Initiative. The initiative will address wellbeing from an alternative perspective that utilizes a positive, proactive approach to help prevent or mitigate mental health issues in veterinary practice teams. Source: AAHA NEWStat, … [Read more...]
Should you believe that article you just read?
Nicole Palumbo, DVM, speaks out about internet articles, their sources and whether they are believable. Addressing pet owners, she cautions, “When it comes to social media, we all have to be careful with what we share and what we believe is to be true.” She offers some guidelines to influence you on what is appropriate to share about reporting on veterinary medicine. Source: … [Read more...]
Don’t avoid giving praise
Given how unpleasant giving critical feedback can be, it is no wonder providing feedback is one of the more difficult parts of a manager’s job. Yet, surprising findings show that people admitted that they avoided giving positive feedback. Apparently, leaders or managers vastly underestimate the power and necessity of positive reinforcement. Source: Harvard Business Review, … [Read more...]
Prevent prescription errors
We all need to do the best we can to improve communication between human pharmacies and veterinarians. During a session this year at the AVMA Convention 2017, Jennifer Buur, DVM, and Maureen Schanck, PharmD, shared common challenges and ways to better communicate prescriptive information to match the pharmacists’ training or lack thereof. Source: JAVMA News, October 1, … [Read more...]
McKinsey and Company; 3-Q-17 top ten
Animal health pros read at all levels. McKinsey shared its top 10 articles for third quarter for easily reviewing key subjects. You will find some of these worth considering. What’s missing in leadership development? Competing in a world of sectors without borders Untangling your organization’s decision making Source: McKinsey and Company, September 29, 2017. … [Read more...]
October is National Pork Month (slide gallery)
The designation of October as pork month marks a time of year when hogs were traditionally marketed. The United States is the third-largest pork-producing country, following China and the European Union. Pork is safe, efficient, environmentally friendly and a superior source of protein. Source: National Hog Farmer, October 1, 2017. According to an analysis by the USDA, pork … [Read more...]
Incivility is killing us
Employee engagement is being touted as one of the great differentiators between companies that are great and the also-rans. Nothing has a greater impact on employee engagement than disrespect in the workplace. It impacts your performance at work, your quality of life outside work and even your health and longevity. Source: Quartz, September 15, 2017. Forty-seven percent of … [Read more...]
Workplace rudeness is costly and takes toll on employees
Rudeness in the workplace can seem subtler than harassment or bullying. In fact, it may even seem routine. Mounting research, however, demonstrates that rudeness can harm employees’ well-being and work performance. If rudeness feels like a threat, it uses cognitive resources to focus attention on processing unpleasant interactions, according to Amir Erez, a management professor … [Read more...]
Lack of sleep is killing us
A catastrophic sleep-loss epidemic is causing a host of potentially fatal diseases, according to professor Matthew Walker, director of the Centre for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley. In a recent interview, he warns that sleep deprivation is not being taken seriously enough by employers and everyday people alike. According to his research, there is … [Read more...]
NAVTA bi-weekly updates
Cannabinoid research, new tests for tick-borne diseases and reminders about Micotil 300 safety are among the content offered in this issue from NAVTA. See what material is important from the vet tech/nurse groups’ perspectives. Source: NAVTA Animal Health Bi-Weekly, September 26, 2017. INSIGHTS: Micotil 300 was introduced in 1992, so there is a need to re-educate today’s … [Read more...]
Harvest season and safety on the roads
Here are 10 things a farmer hopes you will consider and act on when you are following equipment on the road. It’s a good reminder for sales representatives and veterinary teams that travel by automobile. Source: Beef, September 25, 2017. Warnings and reminders about equipment size, speed, visibility and watching for lights and signs on the farm implements are part of the … [Read more...]
A refreshed look at EQ
Mike Paul, DVM revisits the philosophy of emotional intelligence (EQ) from the mid-1990s and references its values in today’s settings. Psychologists define EQ as “the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.” Emotional intelligence indicates the ability to read and understand others in social contexts. EQ is commonly said to consist of four … [Read more...]
APGAR acronym helps see early warning signs of stress
Workload pressure, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility and lack of managerial support are main work factors employees say causes work-related stress. The APGAR scoring system is widely recognized as a protocol for rapidly taking stock of a newborn human’s overall medical condition. Reapplied to workplace challenges, the Stress-APGAR acronym recalls five key … [Read more...]
Mobile device impacts
Whether at work, in a meeting, at the dinner table or at the movie theater, mobile devices are an ever-present distraction. The world has been rewired. And, nobody wrote a user’s manual. The first article here shares study results from teens and parents in Japan and the U.S. The second addresses reasons we become addicted to phones which may be tapping into our basic … [Read more...]
Veterinary well-being initiatives move forward
Keeping industry professionals healthy is the focus of two announcements this month. AAHA just introduced the Healthy Workplace Culture Initiative. A major part of the initiative’s launch is the 20-page “AAHA’s Guide to Veterinary Team Wellbeing,” available at http://bit.ly/2jKCw5i. Additionally, The AVMA announced that Dr. Jen Brandt joined the staff as the association’s … [Read more...]
Manage anxious horses
The Horse staff talked to veterinarians, researchers and equine professionals about causes of anxious behavior in horses. They sought solutions to improve safety for horses, riders and bystanders. Here are possible causes the professionals shared: The horse's vision is compromised The horse is in pain The horse's tack doesn't fit The diet is out of whack The … [Read more...]
Dealing with snarky comments
Passive-aggressive comments that mask anger lurking beneath the surface constitute snark. It seems like the world is getting snarkier all the time. But that doesn’t mean you must let those jabs drag you down or stress you. Source: Forbes, September 8, 2017. Everyone has the ability to build bigger mental muscles so they can handle tough circumstances and snarky people in a … [Read more...]
The answer to why
All kinds of things make us happy at work: hitting a goal, getting a promotion, landing a new client, completing a project; the list goes on. But happiness is temporary. The feeling doesn’t last. Nobody walks around energized by the memory of a goal hit 12 months ago. That intensity passes with time. Instead of looking for happiness at work, consider what is fulfilling about … [Read more...]
Let science help you choose good passwords
Passwords are an annoying part of online life, but they aren’t going away. While the password policies of the past decade have caused more user pain than security gain, research is finding ways to create passwords that work for regular people. Source: The Conversation, August 30, 2017. Make your password at least 12 characters, and mix it up with at least two or three … [Read more...]
Personal branding must be your first focus
Many people find it hard to stand out. Personal branding is the key to giving yourself an advantage in your current job and when you search for a new one. Source: Entrepreneur, July 10, 2017. To become a respected intellectual in your field, you have to know what you’re talking about, offer genuine counsel and really mean what you say. Done well, personal branding can walk … [Read more...]
A game plan for the difficult conversation you have been putting off
Carrying an issue without resolution is like carrying debt. You’ll eventually have to pay the principal (by having the difficult conversation), but the longer you wait, the more interest you’ll pay in anxiety and dread. Source: Harvard Business Review, April 12, 2017. Life is full of difficult conversations, particularly if you’re invested in having a great team at work. … [Read more...]
Evaluate and simplify leadership
Ask 100 experts to define leadership and you will get 100 answers. Ask them what constitutes effective leadership you will get 100 answers with 100 different nuances. There is no question that effective leadership is a complex subject with multiple facets. Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best. Here are three steps to evaluate your leadership effectiveness. Source: … [Read more...]