Partners in Practice Podcast

In this fascinating episode of Paws, Rewind and Play, we speak with Jocelyn Birch Baker, BVSc (Hons.) Jocelyn is a Founder, Practice Owner and Veterinarian. She has experienced many areas of the vet profession since graduation in 1983, from the cattle industry to small animal and mixed animal clinics. She has also held positions on National and State Boards; and Committees recently winning the Veterinary Business Thought Leader Award from the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) Group..

In episode 14, we take a look at the Cost of Living Crisis in the veterinary industry, “navigating the same sea with a different boat!” Words nicely put together by wonderful Gemma Barmby who is a Veterinary Business Consultant with a head for numbers and a love of PowerPoint.

For our 13th episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Ian Shapland who is an Approved Advisor with a focus on Marketing and Business Development. He is the Co-Founder of VetDigital in Australia and his expertise heralds from 30+ years working across the Veterinary, Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical industries consulting in traditional and online marketing.

In our 12th episode of Paws, Rewind and Play, we talk to Ellie Cavale who is co-founder of Vets on the Common, a start-up practice based in London, United Kingdom. She is an RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Surgery providing both first opinion and referral care to their patients. Their values are based on her and a colleague’s history of treating London’s stray dogs, cats, exotics and wildlife, where they transitioned to setting up their own practice and wanted to create a place with love, compassion, trust and expertise.

Will is the Managing Partner at VetsDigital and has over 14 years’ experience marketing in the veterinary industry. In this episode, we talk about the importance of a marketing strategy and the top tips on key marketing practices you can implement today.

In this episode, we speak with Carly Clark, our Product Manager for Covetrus Ascend, a cloud-based practice management system (PMS) designed for optimising vet clinics and facilitating team performance.

Anthony is the CEO of Alpha Vet International and is a veterinary dermatologist. In 2010, he started The Webinar Vet, which is the largest online provider of veterinary CPD in Europe. In this episode, we talk about Anthony’s journey, current aims, his thoughts on learning in a post-COVID-19 world and why sustainability should be at the top of your agenda.

Dr Nadine Hamilton helps veterinary and animal workers by using researched, evidence-based solutions to help them get in control of their wellbeing so they can enjoy life, become more resilient, feel healthy, and easily knock out stress and overwhelm. She is a psychologist, author and international speaker. A leading authority on veterinary wellbeing and founder of charity Love your Pet, Love your Vet (LYPLYV), Nadine joins us on episode 8 to talk about managing expectations and setting boundaries.

Dr Alex Hynes is a senior vet, Director and Chief Client Officer at Animal Emergency Services (AES). Her passion is helping animals in need in the emergency arena. Her work involves treating the sickest of pets and wildlife in Australia and for her, every day at the hospital is different.

Episode 6 takes us through his experiences and how vets can navigate their mental health issues, lean on VetLife for support and answer questions like – my colleague is in need of help, how can I address this? What can I do about making mistakes – how can I not feel bad or guilty when an animal’s life is in my hands.

Georgia Wraight leads technology and practice management strategy for Covetrus Global Technology Solutions. Previously, Georgia served as president and COO for Vets First Choice. In this episode, Georgia joins us to discuss veterinary leadership, how to foster creativity and innovation, the importance of technology, and some ways to address two of the biggest hurdles facing the veterinary industry: a global staffing shortage and mental health challenges. Overall, Georgia details how embracing purpose-driven technology can make practices more successful from a business perspective and help build a healthier environment for today’s often overwhelmed veterinary teams.

Kay Ritchie has a wealth of experience in the animal health industry. With 15 years as a registered veterinary nurse and seven years as an account manager for the largest global animal health company, Kay’s in-depth knowledge of both the veterinary and business sides of the industry has allowed her to provide key insights from a candidate side and employer angle. Her experience and transition is representative of what is happening now – burnout and fatigue. But she wanted to continue her connection to the veterinary industry. And hence is now at Noble Futures, a recruitment agency dedicated to servicing the global animal health industry.

We got to episode 3 of Paws, Rewind and Play! Chris The Vet joins us to talk about things like why ‘resilience’ is an overused word and not-very-helpful word when it comes to coping with burnout. His decade of experience, part time TV-exposure and recent accreditation in small animal medicine makes for a compelling chat from a senior vet, with advice on interpersonal skills, wellness plans and client communication and why things like continuity of care and wellness matters.

Elle invites into her world and intentions of The Positive Vet Nurse. Episode 2 takes a deeper dive into mental health, the stigma, its conversations in the veterinary world and we even talk about equality amongst men and women. Elle reminds us it is closely interlinked with mental health because despite the industry being predominantly female, women still need a louder voice in terms of pay and men perhaps need more support when it comes to emotional and mental health since it’s assumed they’re less likely to talk about it. Additionally, she talks about finding her groove.

Rory the Vet has been a vet for over six years. He has over 40,000 followers on Instagram, he’s featured on CBBC, Pet Factor and Blue Peter and has his own book- The Secret Life of a Vet. He describes himself as workaholic but is learning how to balance that and wishes to put his experience to good use for other veterinary professionals.