Blunt Dissection: The Best Minds In Veterinary Medicine, Academia & Business Profiled So You Can Learn From Their Experience.

On today’s show, I am joined by Dr James Greenwood. James is a practising vet living and working in Bristol, England. Originally from the flat cap, whippet and ferret loving county of Yorkshire, James’ family has been farming the Pennines Hills in England for generations. Although his parents chose to leave farming, James inherited the family trait and devoted himself to a life spent in the company of animals. After graduating from Bristol Vet School in 2007, he began his career as an equine vet, but like many young vets quickly began to struggle with the complexities of life after graduation and slowly fell out of love with his career. What makes James a little different was his ability to find balance and rediscover a passion for veterinary medicine again by connecting with his more creative side. Throughout his life, James harboured a dual love, on one hand, science, but on the other art. Although originally trained to paint, James’ artistic creativity developed into a deep love for ceramics. And af

Today’s episode marks a very big mile stone on the Blunt Dissection pathway as we reach our two year and 24 episode-th birthday! (Apologies to the English language for that abuse). We needed a big episode and I am thrilled to say that my guest, Dr. Bree Montana, absolutely nailed it. Dr Montana, or Bree as I can now call her since we’re blunt dissection besties, gained her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Ohio State University. After graduation she worked in emergency hospitals before moving into general practice and eventually practice ownership where much of her real “learning” began. Safe to say the road was bumpy. Outside of her practice, Bree has served as a member of UC Davis’ College of Veterinary Medicine’s External Advisory and Admissions Boards, is a past Board member of the VIN Foundation. And, somehow, finds time to act as the Director of the VINFoundation’s Vets4Vets programs – a place where vets struggling with a range of physical, emotional and psychological problems receive much n

Today’s show is the 2018 end of year review. Normally it is my job to interview and tease apart the life of interesting people from around the world of veterinary medicine. But in this end of year review episode, I take the time to reflect on my favourite clips from my 2018 guests and this year I decided to wrap the clips up in a theme which this year is how to overcome fear. F.E.A.R. (or false evidence appearing real) stalks many of us in veterinary medicine and shows up to wreck our days in many ways if we let it. It influences us as students and can lead to burnout, it can prevent us from making good decisions that can change our lives for the better and it can harm the welfare of our patients. So in this episode, I put fear under the microscope and each guest shares their take on fear from a unique angle and offers their advice on how to be more fearless. Now, just before we jump into the episode, I just wanted to drop a quick word from today's show sponsor which is my brand new VetX:Leaders traini

On today’s show I am joined by Dutch Veterinary Royalty and Communication Master Dr Roeland Wessels. Roeland graduated from Utrecht University with a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1995 and entered the workplace in his native Holland. In 2001 he opened St Anna 404, his own small animal vet practice which he and his wife have operated successfully as an exemplar of veterinary business in Holland ever since. Away from his practice, Roeland is best known for his work as a veterinary business consultant and in particular a communications specialist. There are many skills needed by modern veterinarians, but as Roeland says veterinary schools don’t teach you the most important one: how to understand humans. (Hear, hear, say I). It is safe to say that he is on a mission to change the way communication between humans is taught to veterinarians at all levels of the profession. To this end, Roeland published his first book, The Veterinary Communication Handbook, in May 2013. It’s a great book that I encou

On today’s show, I am joined by Bash Halow. Bash, is one of the most entertaining speakers on the veterinary circuit, firstly because he is tear-inducingly funny when he hits his flow, highly eloquent and not afraid to say things that others might take offence to. In short, he possesses a raw authenticity that has endears him to many in his native North America and beyond, notably he recently addressed the Veterinary Management Association at the House of Lords in London. Based in New York Bash started out life as a technician and pursued his business interest to founding both the New Jersey Veterinary Hospital Manager’s Association, the Big Apple Veterinary Management group in NYC and served as an advisor for the Mercer County Community College’s Veterinary Assistant Program, the first of its kind in the area. Bash’s day to day work involves helping veterinary hospitals understand how to build stronger teams and responsibly and ethically grow their businesses. And he is a member of the American Animal

Normally on Blunt dissection it is my job to interview and get under the skin of the great and good of veterinary medicine, to get them to tell their story as you’ve never heard before and to learn as much about their journey in vet med as possible - in the hope we can all learn how to be better versions of us. This episode is a little different because in this episode, the students at the University of Queensland Vet School decided that it was time to turn the tables and put me under the spotlight. So aside from having the creeping feeling that this is an unhealthy exercise in narcissism, I encourage you to manage your expectations down! I make absolutely no claims to being one of the great and good in vet med, nor do I offer any assurance that you, my dear listeners, will receive the benefit of wisdom what so ever! Which of course is no reflection on the skills of my guest hosts Lianne (@vetmedkid), Mackenzie (@thevetintraining) and Amy (@chasingvetmed) who all did a fantastic job as first-time interviewe

On today’s show, I am joined by Nancy Slessenger. Nancy, I’m quite confident, most of you have never heard of before. But I’m also confident that you are going to learn more in this show that will help you work with your fellow human beings than any before. So let me tell you more about this incredible woman. Nancy is the author of over 20 publications including “How to Write Objectives that Work” with sales of over 250,000 copies and “Difficult People Made Easy”, a booklet of practical tips for dealing with difficult situations. In 1995 she started a management consultancy and went on to develop a recruitment process that now achieves a success rate of over 91% compared with the average of 25 – 30%. Her company, Vinehouse Hiring now specialises only in recruitment and hiring for small to medium sized owner-run businesses in the English-speaking world. Before starting her own company Nancy worked in the manufacturing industry, starting at Mars, and was director of an electronics company a few years later.

On today’s show, I am joined by Dr Cody Creelman Cow Vet. Cody, our second Canadian in a row, is cow vet “extraordinaire” growing up near Beaverlodge, Alberta on a commercial cattle operation and attended the University of Alberta where he received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with distinction in 2006. He followed this up with his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2011 from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. Soon after, Dr Creelman joined Veterinary Agri-Health Services as an associate veterinarian and is now a managing partner with professional interests including pathology, large animal surgery, feedlot medicine and the production of abscess and gore-spattered videos for youtube. These videos and his talent for crafting together the story of his everyday life with great images, and upbeat feel and great music; have elevated him to become a bona fide veterinary youtube star with farmers, vets and students alike. Cody has amassed an impressive 30,000 subscribers with over 6.5 million p

My guest on today’s show is cat vet extraordinaire, Dr Susan Little. Susan received her DVM from Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph and has been in feline practice since 1990, achieving board certification in Feline Practice in 1997. She is part owner of two feline speciality practices in Ottawa and is a board member/Past President (2015) of the American Assoc. of Feline Practitioners, Dr Little also serves on the board of the International Council for Veterinary Assessment (the dudes that set the NAVLE). Susan is undoubtedly one of the hardest working speakers on the veterinary circuit, her Airmiles collection is only outweighed by her risk of DVT, such is the time she spends travelling globally to educate us all. But all of her hard work has paid dividends in the form of huge recognition from her peers with accolades including from the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Small Animal Practitioner Award (2010), the NAVC Small Animal Speaker of the Year Award (2013), and the International Society of F

On today’s show, I’m delighted to welcome one of the most well-read, insanely qualified and awesome people in veterinary medicine you’ve most likely never heard of, Dr Sheilah Robertson. Sheilah grew up in Scotland and graduated from Glasgow University. Her career in veterinary medicine spans more than three decades and encompasses numerous roles and qualifications acquiring four diplomas and one PhD while teaching at schools in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Sheilah has held many prestigious positions including work with AVMA, she's a two-time member of the American Animal Hospital Association and American Association of Feline Practitioners Pain Management Taskforce. And has served as the president of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. That’s saying nothing of the massive list of publications she has written or contributed two including two books. It’s safe to say she’s a titan in the world of anaesthesia and pain management. In 2017, Sheilah joined Lap of

On today’s episode, it’s a pleasure to be joined by Dr Mia Cary. When I ask for guest recommendations from you guys, Mia’s is a name that comes up frequently, and here’s why. She has seen animal care from multiple different and interesting vantage points. And she’s excelled in them all. She began her career as a marine biologist before trading dolphins for dogs and completed her veterinary degree at the University of Florida. After graduation, she had a short spell in general practice before moving into her first industry role with Novartis where she spent many years rising to the level of national sales trainer and brand manager. She then moved to the snappily titled Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica where she held the roles of Marketing Manager for the Companion Animal Section and Director of Professional Services for the mid-Atlantic area. Her career then took a new direction when she traded a life in pharma for a role as the head of training and innovation for the North American Veterinary Community.

On today’s show, I am delighted to be joined by Squadron Leader Tim Davies, a qualified fast jet instructor for the Royal Air Force. Over his 20 year career, Tim has been a frontline Tornado GR4 low-level strike attack pilot, before becoming a fast jet flying instructor. He served all over the world and clocked up over 2,500 flight hours. As an instructor he flew the Hawk T2 in an advanced flying training role teaching students and instructors how to use the aircraft as a weapons system. If that doesn't mean a lot then think Jester or Viper in the film Top Gun. Tim has been responsible for training every frontline pilot in the RAF since 2007. At the last count that’s over 350 highly skilled operators. So, I hope you’re starting to get a sense of why I am so thrilled to have him on the podcast. Anyone who has successfully flown military aircraft for 20 years and says "I'm just into studying failure, that's kinda my thing” certainly gets my attention. Though at first glance war and healthcare seem unli

On today’s show, we welcome Dr Gerardo Poli, author of the minivet guide, Emergency Veterinarian and Director at Animal Emergency Service, a business with four hospitals based in Queensland, Australia. He completed his Vet Degree at the University of Queensland, Australia in 2008 - graduating with first class honours. He was awarded the Australian Veterinary Association Student Award and Gerardo was also selected as valedictorian of his year. Following graduation, he spent almost three years in a busy small animal general practice finding his feet but in 2010 discovered his passion in the high octane field of emergency and critical care. Gerardo achieved his Membership with the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in the field of Emergency and Critical Care in 2012. Completing his decade-long education binge with his Masters of Veterinary Studies through Murdoch University two years later in 2014. When he straps on his Superman outfit at work, Gerardo gets most excited about snatc

On the podcast today I’m joined by Dr Peter Weinstein. Peter has had a rich, varied and successful career based in Southern California. He is a graduate of Cornell University and got his veterinary degree from the University of Illinois. After graduation, he worked as an associate for three years before opening his own practice. While running his practice he, like many of us, learnt the hard way that it takes way more than just a love of animals to run a successful hospital and so undertook his MBA. This was a decision that made a major positive impact on his trajectory and his practice subsequently took off, resulting in its eventual sale to a corporate consolidator. At which point Peter "segway-ed" out of clinical practice and into the land of politics and business consulting. In part 2 of his career, he served as President and Executive Director of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association, President of the California Veterinary Medical Association and he is a Past-President for VetPartners

This month’s episode is a mash up from all ten of my guests from around the world in 2017. I’ve cut five of the most powerful minutes from each interview into one episode so you can distill a huge amount of value. Also if you’ve never listened in to the Blunt Dissection Podcast before then this episode is a great starting point. Ep 1: Diederik Gelderman: Leadership - What is it and why we are all leaders? Ep 2: Garret Turley discusses dealing with your inner trash talk and making decisions. Ep 3: RVC Graduates of 2017 talk about the things graduates want to see from their future employers - this is dynamite if you are looking to hire a millennial vet. Ep 4: Dr Sue Ettinger busts some pet cancer myths that abound in the industry. Ep 5: Dr Karen Bradley & Kim Therrian discuss their own unique angles on women in veterinary leadership. Ep 6: John Sheridan paints a picture of what Future Vet Clinic Inc might look like. Ep 7: Dr John Dooley & Dr Nadine Hamilton open their hearts and share their stories of

On today’s show I am joined by my good friend Dr Andy Roark. Andy is one of the hottest properties in veterinary medicine with good reason. He’s a tireless networker, innovator and one of the best presenters on the vet speaking circuit. His accolades to date include winning NAVC speaker of the year three times over, creating and presenting the “Cone of Shame" Youtube show and founding the Uncharted Vet Conference. Much of this being possible because he has built one of the largest personal brands in vet industry, amassing well over 200,000 fans on Facebook on the way to becoming a social media personality. A phenomenon that makes it truely a pain in the backside trying to have a quiet drink at the bar with him at any vet conference, such is the omni-present demand for selfies with Andy or “Roarkies” as I now decided to call them. We had a great chat and got stuck into some great topics including: 1. What inspired Dr Roark into becoming a vet. 2. Why networking is an essential part of having a great car

On today’s show I am joined by Dr Dani McVety. Dani is the CEO and co-founder of Lap of Love, a business that delivers end of life hospice care to pets across America. She started the business immediately after graduation with nothing more than a website and cellphone and over the ten years since, it has grown into a multimillion dollar business employing more then 100 vets across the US. Performance that has won multiple awards and marks her out as one of the best entrepreneurs in veterinary medicine. Dani is a quick thinker, great raconteur and is in possession of one of the sharpest minds in veterinary medicine. This was a conversation on rocket fuel and is rich in lessons on leadership, life and running a successful business. So sit back and enjoy my chat with Dr Dani McVety. 1. How failure as a student spurred her on to greater things. 2. How her parents were such a positive influence 3. Why she started Lap Of Love. 4. What hospice care and why it matters. 5. Some insights into how we might better e

Today’s podcast guest is one of the UK’s finest, Professor Stuart Carmichael. Stuart is one of the few people on earth to have headed up the clinical services team of not one, but two of the best Vet Schools here in Britain - the Royal Veterinary College in London and Glasgow Vet School in Scotland. During his tenure, both locations successfully underwent rapid business growth and transformational cultural change. Prof Carmichael also seems to have a masochistic streak having overseen three, that’s right, three large-scale construction hospital construction projects across the UK, the last of which was the Fitzpatrick Oncology and Soft Tissue Referral Hospital in 2016. Prof Carmichael, I call him Stuart since I've been annoying him since he taught me as an undergraduate, has a list of qualifications and publications that would take days to read out. I’m going to spare us all the sense of crushing disappointment that our careers didn't go like this by not doing that. What I will tell you is that the cherry

Normally on Blunt Dissection, I put a person under the spotlight. But in this episode, I decided to place a subject there instead. And since you can’t ask a subject questions I’ve invited two experts onto the show to share their stories.  The people are Dr. John Dooley & Dr. Nadine Hamilton and the subject is suicide in veterinary professionals.  John and Nadine have two contrasting perspectives on this morbid issue and together they share their personal and professional insight into the depressive state that leads to suicide. Plus they have some fantastic advice on what can be done to prevent veterinary professionals from falling into this overwhelming mental chasm. In today’s show we learn: The story of how one Aussie vet let past traumas in his life lie dormant for years until one day the emotions boiled up into his conscious and created “serpents in his mind” leading to a complete mental breakdown, depression and a very near miss with suicide.  How he managed to pull through and was able to build a m

Today’s guest is the global high priest of veterinary business John Sheridan. John, one of the profession's true trail blazers and his journey stretches back to a wartime education during The Blitz and early clinical experience in the Herriot Era of practice. He stood at ground zero for veterinary corporatisation in the UK when he set up Veterinary Practice Initiatives back in 1998. And he reaches into the future and remains on the cutting edge of thought leadership and content production publishing weekly on his blog and also the vet business video show - currently approaching episode 200. Now did I mention that in addition to his veterinary degree from the RVC, John was president of both the British Small Animal Veterinary Association and the Veterinary Practice Management Association? Plus he holds a diploma in practice management, the CVPM and just because he’s showing off, the CVPA. He jointly authored the 'Business of Veterinary Practice' Book and recently received a Pioneer Professional Member Awar