Convention planners work hard to deliver great value from events that take you away from the clinic. This top 10 list from CVC sessions last year is interesting and informative. Source: Veterinary Medicine, April 28, 2017. The No. 1 CVC session was — Managing chronic otitis: Treating the difficult case and preventing recurrence (James Noxon, DVM, DACVIM) INSIGHTS: Sales … [Read more...]
Saturated fat does not clog the arteries
Unclogging pipes works wonders for a sink that doesn’t drain quickly. It’s next to useless in human medicine. So is the conventional wisdom that eating foods containing saturated fat and cholesterol inevitably lead to coronary heart disease. A meta-analysis of literature — such as the peer-reviewed journals Nature, the British Medical Journal and the American Journal of … [Read more...]
May is Mental Health Month
Animal health pros have seen a lot of information recently about mental health challenges, especially among veterinary practitioners. Throughout May, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and participants across the country are raising awareness of mental health. Each year, NAMI fights stigma, provides support, educates the public and advocates for equal care. Source: … [Read more...]
Stay positive. It helps!
Throughout history a litany of hucksters has been paid handsomely to deliver motivational messages that have half-lives measured in hours. Ups and downs are a natural part of life. But, when the downs start to dominate our lives, it negatively affects our performance and more importantly, our health. Here are some practical tips to keep you on an even keel. Best of all, they … [Read more...]
Rare red wolf pups born in North Carolina
Red wolf female #1858 gave birth to a litter of six pups April 28th. They are the first critically endangered red wolves born at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina, since 2002. While this is great news for an endangered species, the red wolf faces an existential threat far beyond the fact that its numbers have dwindled to around 300 individuals. Source: … [Read more...]
Back to the future; the case for slow-growth chickens
In a world that is changing at breakneck speed, chicken producers are being pushed to raise chickens that take longer to grow and will cost more at the meat counter. The paradoxical situation parallels the consumer-driven animal welfare platform that is pushing the transition toward free-range or cage-free eggs. Source: New York Times, May 1, 2017 (paywall). The Global … [Read more...]
Wisconsin sees shortage in large animal veterinarians (includes video)
A true veterinarian shortage in rural areas remains. Dr. Lisa Hansen shared perspectives in a video interview from her practice in Barron, Wisconsin. She hopes the Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Program can help students afford a veterinary degree and serve an area in need of their services. Source: WKOW, April 26, 2017. The United States Department of Agriculture is … [Read more...]
Companies use multiple approaches to set strategy
Researchers found a wide variation in strategy making approaches, even within similar industries and across organizations of similar sizes. They found four approaches to strategic decision making and discuss the differences in this article: unilateral, ad hoc, administrative and collaborative. Source: Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2017. Many senior executives struggle … [Read more...]
Balance empathy and authority
Effective communication skills are essential to achieve effective leadership results. Sending mixed signals creates confusion and often creates paralysis within the organization. Remember, words make up 10 percent of our in-person communication. Thus, it is important to ensure our voice and body language are in concert with the words we choose and that all three are appropriate … [Read more...]
How to work with non-team players
Carolyn O'Hara shares perspectives on the dynamics of a team member who acts as if they are not on the team. This isn’t simply frustrating. It can affect your entire group’s performance. Source: Harvard Business Review, April 21, 2017. Ignoring the issue often ends up only making it more acute. When working with the person and team here are some principles to … [Read more...]
Remake your commute time
The average American worker has a commute of 25 minutes each way. Psychology researchers recently explained the key to a pleasant commute isn’t just finding ways to fill the time. A better strategy is to change the way you think about the time. A commute can be something you have to endure, or it can be what the researchers call a “pocket of freedom.” Source: Science of Us, … [Read more...]
Rabbits, ferrets, sugar-gliders, hamsters and ? – oh my!
I often wonder how veterinarians serve animals considered in exotic. The relatively few encounters has to be a limiting factor. But, my eyes were opened by this article about preparing a practice specifically for the exotic companion mammal sub-group. The numbers of alternative pet types is growing and with it a new specialty from the Association of Exotic Mammal … [Read more...]
Don’t wait to be asked: Lead
Leadership skills are needed at all levels of interactions inside companies as well as with customer engagement. It is easy to point a finger at what is wrong or needs improvement. The real solutions to problems come when the finger-pointers start offering solutions. Professor Harry Kramer says leadership doesn’t require direct reports or a long tenure at an organization. You … [Read more...]
Carprofen: fast facts
The history of carprofen dates back to January 1997 when Pfizer Pharmaceuticals first introduced Rimadyl® (Carprofen) to veterinarians. The generic for Rimadyl, Carprofen, was marketed much later. Consider the number of veterinarians, vet technicians and staff persons in your location that graduated after 2007. Then share this information and your experiences with them at a … [Read more...]
Steaks and burgers make inexpensive grilling
Animal health pros and their customers who enjoy grilling beef will benefit from increased beef production this summer. This surge in output means the U.S. is headed for a meat bonanza. Steaks and burgers will likely rival prices of pork and chicken this summer. Source: AgWeb, April 17, 2017. Ground beef in grocery stores has dropped about 9 percent from a year ago, the … [Read more...]
10 inventory myths and mistakes
Phil Zeltman, DVM, tackles 10 myths and mistakes about inventory. Of his 10, these are true in almost every practice or inventory dependent business: Being reactive rather than proactive I know how much of each product we need Not having someone in charge Source: Veterinary Practice News, March 27, 2017. Having more inventory than needed costs your veterinary … [Read more...]
Stop apologizing for delayed email responses
“With email, we treat everything as if we’re in a hurry,” behavioral economist Dan Ariely explained. “There’s a huge difference between important and urgent.” Source: Science of US, April 18, 2017. How many people who email you are truly expecting an instant reply? Sometimes people make this clear, explicitly noting that they need an answer by the end of the day, or week, … [Read more...]
Timing euthanasia and hospice (includes videos)
Mary Gardner, DVM, discusses the educational needs for pet owners as pets reach the time for hospice or euthanasia. “You have to make sure you educate the owner about the disease the pet is facing and the progress that the disease is going to present to the family and to the pet,” she says. Source: Firstline, April 12, 2017. Remember clients are experiencing an emotional, … [Read more...]
Leaders also follow
The roles of leader and follower are interchangeable and depend entirely on the situation at hand. In most successful practices, the person closest to an issue at hand regularly provides the leadership when it falls into their area of expertise. In other situations, that same person is the follower. Effectiveness at both disciplines is one of the keys to a practice’s overall … [Read more...]
Update your LinkedIn profile
How to update your LinkedIn profile based on what you've done and where you want to go. Source: The Muse, March 2017. Figuring out what story to tell at different points in your career can be a challenge. But, you need more than keywords to impress on LinkedIn. Get creative as you update your profile and capture your “So what?” factor using elements that others tend to … [Read more...]
How mindful are you?
In our information-saturated workplaces, mindfulness is becoming as important as emotional intelligence and technical skills. Research shows that people spend almost 47 percent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing. This impairs their creativity, performance, and well-being. Source: Harvard Business Review, March 29, 2017. Take the … [Read more...]
Small talk can enhance the client-veterinary practice bond
Small talk plays an important role in everyday lives. In the veterinary practice, small talk is the first step toward building solid client–team relationships based on understanding and trust that result in improved patient-care outcomes. In subsequent meetings with the client, team members can refer back to what they learned from casual conversations about the client’s … [Read more...]
Live by Ancora Imparo
“In retrospect,” often begins a story about missed opportunities, augmented with regrets. The story ends with the admonition to “not make that mistake.” Occasionally, “in retrospect” will yield worthwhile advice that contains one real nugget. “6 Pieces of Advice Leaders Wish They Could Tell Their Younger Selves” is this kind of piece. Source: Forbes, September 19, … [Read more...]
Swine Science Online offers opportunity for students, current producers
Leading universities are collaborating to ensure the pork industry is led and managed by individuals who have broad educational and production experiences that prepare them for these roles. The effort, Swine Science Online, teaches scientific principles and management skills involved in pork production for an efficient and sustainable operation. Source: National Hog Farmer, … [Read more...]
5 essential questions in life
James Ryan, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, gave a 2016 commencement address that went viral. Lessons he presented are enjoying a resurgence of late. Ryan notes that if we regularly ask five questions, our chances for personal and professional success and happiness are higher than if we don’t ask them. The questions are: What? (seeks clarification) I … [Read more...]
Transitioning at work
With the acceptance of transgender people on the rise, more employers are adopting specific policies for workers who are transitioning. Julie Cook Ramirez shares one person’s story and discusses the trends in dealing with blurred gender-line realities. According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2017 Corporate Equality Index, 82 percent of all Fortune 500 companies … [Read more...]
Lead, Coach, Manage
In my experience, the most effective and successful practices have a clear leader and effective coaches. Together, they efficiently manage the entire operation. We have written about leadership and management before. Today’s focus is coaching. Source: LinkedIn Pulse, March 12, 2017. The great sales coaches that I have known see teaching and training as a continuous need for … [Read more...]
Improve your finance skills, even if you hate numbers
If you’re not a numbers person, finance is daunting. “If you can speak the language of money, you will be more successful,” says Richard Ruback, a professor at Harvard Business School. Source: Harvard Business Review, March 31, 2017. Finance and accounting are very simple. It’s mostly addition and subtraction and occasionally some multiplication and division. There’s no … [Read more...]
Reverse zoonosis is an important global issue
Food animals are transported widely and interact with wild species that they would never encountered naturally. With rapid growth in animal production and an increase in movement of animals and people, a human pathogen in an animal could potentially move thousands of miles in just 24 hours. On top of increasing animal trade, we have a growing pet industry. Understanding how … [Read more...]
Depression now the leading cause of illness and disability worldwide
Failure to adequately address depression can lead to financial loss for families, employers and governments, notes the World Health Organization. Worldwide depression rates increased 18 percent between 2005 and 2015. Source: Science of US, March 30, 2017. Depression now affects more than 300 million people globally, but a stigma associated with the condition still exists, … [Read more...]