The Vet Vault: Veterinary Career, Clinical Skills & Wellbeing
Published by Dr. Hubert Hiemstra
Science
The Vet Vault is a veterinary podcast for vets and vet students covering career growth, clinical medicine, leadership, and mental health and wellbeing across the veterinary profession. Vet life can be tough, but it's also good - so how do we make it even better? Host Dr Hubert Hiemstra brings honest, curious, occasionally irreverent conversations with the people making vet med better. Clinical CPD, careers, wellbeing, and the tech changing how we practise. Come fall back in love with veterinary science. Find show notes, clinical CE and the newsletter at thevetvault.com.
Most conversations about how to survive a veterinary career is a conversation with the survivors. We interview the vets who are still standing. The vets and nurses who left? Nobody interviews them. In this episode you’ll hear why we should be listening to these voices. Dr Alex Harrison is a veterinarian, a former practice partner, and the founder of the inclusion consultancy Vetquity. He is also profoundly deaf, and in this conversation he shares about what it cost him to spend years desperately trying to compensate inside a system that was never designed for people like him. This is not a soft conversation about being nicer to each other. It is a practical lesson in workflow design, retention economics, and why we spend more time thinking about our next CT scanner than about the people who will operate it. You'll learn: Why the survivorship bias in our burnout conversations matters clinically and commercially - and what we systematically fail to see when we only study the people still in the job. How to tell the difference between ‘unavoidable bullets’ from friendly fire. Some parts of veterinary practice is genuinely hard. A lot of what exhausts you is avoidable system design that we have mislabelled as inevitable. "Solve for one, solve for all." Why the accommodation you make for one team member is usually just data about where the friction sits for everyone - and why "special treatment" resentment is mostly a myth. The hidden curriculum : the shadow syllabus that runs alongside anatomy and pharmacology, rewarding endurance, stoicism and self-sacrifice while suppressing help-seeking. Name it, tame it, reframe it. Why the resilience narrative lets us off the hook. What internalised ableism looks like in a high-achieving vet - and how it ends in burnout. The one thing Alex would tell every new graduate to look for in a job interview. Join us in the Italian Dolomites in January 2027 for our snow conference - world-class CE sandwiched between skiing, snowshoeing, thermal spas and very long mountain lunches: vetsontour.com Find show notes, clinical content and everything else at thevetvault.com , subscribe to the newsletter, and come and join the conversation in the Vet Vault Network. Resources and links mentioned Vetquity - Alex's consultancy: toolkits, advisory work and speaking on structural inclusion in veterinary workplaces 2025 AVA President's Award: Dr Alex Harrison The Anti-Ableist Manifesto by Tiffany Yu Stronger by Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM - the quadriplegic emergency doctor whose story reframes what "capable" means Dr Anna Dengate on reasonable residencies - our earlier episode on rethinking whether specialist training has to be full-time Dr Jocelyn Birch Baker - building a thriving regional practice staffed almost entirely by part-time parents ( Smooth Operating Vets ) Abraham Wald and survivorship bias - the statistician who worked out which parts of the bomber to armour Topics and Timestamps 0:00 Intro: The Planes That Never Came Home 3:02 Welcome & The Survivorship Bias Post 4:11 Why Inclusion Matters for the Profession 7:57 Avoidable vs Unavoidable Bullets 10:42 Solve for One, Solve for All 17:03 The Hidden Curriculum 22:35 The Problem with the Resilience Narrative 27:07 Fear and Co-Design in Practice 39:43 Alex's Burnout Story & Internalised Ableism 42:02 Defining Ableism 45:36 Vetquity & Where to Start 48:19 Rapid Fire & Closing
Think about the last thing you did at work and forgot to charge for. A nail clip. A blood test. A “quick” ultrasound that never made it onto the invoice. One missed charge feels insignificant. Across an entire clinic, it isn’t. (It’s estimated that the average veterinary clinic misses between 5% and 10% of its charges!) In this episode of our Tech for Vets series, Dr Patrik Holmboe from Nova Vet Family demonstrates SmartCapture, an AI tool that compares clinical notes with billed items to identify services that may have slipped through the cracks. But this isn’t about chasing clients for forgotten charges or blaming individual vets. It’s about finding patterns and fixing systems. Which charges are missed most often? Why are they being missed, and what can you change in your workflow to stop the same leak recurring? Patrik explains how SmartCapture learns the billing patterns of an individual clinic, and how clinic leaders can turn billing data into practical changes without simply telling the team to “charge better.” This episode includes a screen demonstration. You’ll still get the important ideas on audio, but you can watch the video version on Spotify to follow the walkthrough. Resources mentioned Learn more about Nova Vet Family’s SmartCapture AAHA: Maybe Money Does Grow on Trees Subscribe to The Vet Vault newsletter Vet Science Week 2026 Vets on Tour conferences ASAV Annual Conference with the Veterinary Business Group Greencross CONNECT26 Clinical Conference Topics and time stamps 02:46 Meet Dr Patrik Holmboe & Nova Vet Family04:11 How SmartCapture Works06:45 The Scale of Missed Billing16:16 Potential vs. Confirmed Missed Charges21:11 Why AI Scribes Improve Results23:21 Turning Data Into Action25:29 Top Missed Charges & Tactical Focus35:28 Workflow & PMS Integration52:04 Wrap-Up & Newsletter
Twelve years ago, Dr Janey Lowes went to Sri Lanka on a holiday, and never really came home. Today she runs WECare Worldwide, a hospital that treats the island’s three million street dogs to a standard that you’d like your pet treated - from the worst trauma cases you can image do a highly efficient desexing service. And then, a few times a year, she flies back to locum in clinics that look a lot like yours. This one's about what it's like to live on both sides of that line that separates the reason we became vets, and the job most of us ended up with. We get into: Do-or-die medicine in a place where you're the only option How being the last line changes your perspectives, and what that does to your goalposts when you go back to first-world practice The bits of ‘normal’ practice that Janey misses the most (no, it’s not the fancy equipment) Charity vetting as a viable career option, not just a gap year - the good and the bad Support WECare Worldwide: This work runs on donations, and Janey's currently raising for a new hospital by running six hundred kilometres, the length of Sri Lanka. (She’s not actually a runner…) Website and donations: https://wecareworldwide.org.uk The charity takes volunteers and offers longer-term work Volunteer and work with WECare: https://wecareworldwide.org.uk/volunteer/ WECare on Instagram: @wecare_srilanka Find Janey: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janeythevet YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@janeythevet Her book, Janey the Vet: Saving Sri Lanka's Street Dogs , is on Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith More from The Vet Vault: Everything we do lives at https://www.thevetvault.com , including our clinical CE podcasts and resources Come learn with us in person at Vets on Tour: https://vetsontour.com Topics and Time Stamps 03:20 Going Viral, and the Unexpected Backlash 08:24 The Love-Hate of Social Media 10:17 The Birth of WeCare 13:24 75% of Dogs Are Unowned 13:53 Courage or Naivety? 16:35 Mid-Roll Break 18:31 Regrets? & Life in Sri Lanka 21:30 Two Lives: Sri Lanka vs UK 36:15 Are We Too Quick to Euthanise? 39:55 What We Underestimate and Undervalue in ‘normal’ Vet Life 43:22 Volunteering at WeCare 49:03 Charity Vetting as a Career 55:10 Rapid Fire Questions 59:21 Advice for New Grads
You've been using your veterinary AI note taker for a couple of years now - it’s great - saves you heaps of time. But are you using it to its full potential? I’ll take a bet that you’re not. These things move fast, and it’s hard to keep up. Which is why, in our Tech for Vets Series, we pull apart the veterinary tools that are changing how we work, and this time we put Heidi up on our screens for a detailed walk through. Our guide is Dr Kieran McLeod , head of medical knowledge at Heidi Health. We start by putting the scribe through its paces to find the workflow tricks that you’re probably missing - I walked away with at least five tricks I'd never used. Then Kieran shows off all the shiny new AI magic coming your way: voice agents, built-in clinical support and a hardware solution that lets you leave your phone in your bag. You'll learn: The scribe features you're almost certainly ignoring - linked patients, the context window, smart dictation, and the one-click voice edits that mean you never type a note correction again The AI voice agent that makes the phone call you've been dreading What baked-in clinical decision support looks like How to safety-net the worry that keeps you up - that quiet "did I miss something?" feeling How to incorporate hands-free hardwar e into your workflow This is a screen-share walkthrough, so head to Spotify if you want to watch the clicks rather than just hear us talk about them. Show notes and details live at thevetvault.com Get clinical support from human specialists at the Vet Vault Specialist Support Space Get rid of your mid-year 'meh' at our Vets On Tour New Zealand snow conference Topics and Timestamps 02:35 Intro: Beyond the scribe0 05:18 Human-first vs. vet-first: does it matter? 09:17 Note-taking basics 09:46 Context windows & linked patients 15:46 Multiple documents & the source of truth 18:49 Smart Dictation for quick edits 29:38 Sync changes across documents 33:10 Task lists 36:06 Collaboration & session sharing 40:07 Sharing & exporting documents 41:22 Heidi Comms: AI voice agents 53:46 Heidi Evidence: clinical decision support 01:04:50 Using Evidence for complex histories 01:09:11 Evidence sources & collections 01:14:01 Heidi Remote: the hardware mic 01:21:46 EMR integrations (ezyVet & Covetrus)
A surgeon hurls a scalpel across theatre. It clatters off the wall. Nobody looks up. Twenty minutes later he's in the tearoom offering everyone a biscuit, and someone shrugs: "That's just him when he's stressed." If you've worked in veterinary practice for any length of time, you've got your own version of that story - maybe a bit less dramatic, but still things that completely destroy psychological safety. This episode is about that stuff, and the new psychosocial safety laws now rolling out across Australia that say plainly: no, actually, that's not acceptable. To make sense of what that looks like on a normal Tuesday in a normal practice, you'll hear from psychologist Rhonda Andrews, who works across high-pressure industries - emergency departments, the courts, and the veterinary profession - and who has spent years watching them all wrestle with the same problem: people breaking. This conversation is not about “just be more resilient”, but about systems. Rhonda makes a genuinely good-news case that these laws aren't more bureaucracy to dread - they're the push our profession has needed all along. You'll hear Why the things you've always filed under "just part the job" might now legally count as a psychological workplace injury - with consequences attached The myth spreading fastest right now - that bosses can no longer have an honest performance conversation - and why that's flatly wrong What the new psychosocial safety laws actually require of you as a practice owner Why this a team problem , not just something for management to sort out Why "workload" is almost never the real problem - and the thing breaking your team underneath it that owners consistently miss The one shift available to everyone in the building - whatever their title - that changes culture without a single policy change A note: this is the second in a small psych-safety miniseries. If you haven't heard Episode 158 with Dr Rebecca Faris on the AVA Thrive programme, start there for the bigger picture. Resources: Barrington Centre - Rhonda's psychosocial safety seminars (two online sessions, plus an in-person Melbourne day) and the Vet ECM training programmes for owners, leaders, and new supervisors: barringtoncentre.com For show notes, clinical content and the newsletter head to thevetvault.com , and come find your people at a Vets On Tour conference - email me at info@thevetvault.com to find out about our new-grad 50% discount for Wānaka inAugust. Topics and time stamps 04:52 Rising Mental Health Claims 08:41 Mythbusting Owners Fears1 0:37 Defining Psychological Safety 12:37 Vets Staying in Bad Jobs 14:28 Sponsor Break Vets On Tour 16:03 Systems vs Individual Responsibility 19:35 Burnout Stats and Human Cost 21:17 Who Can Influence Culture? 22:46 Is Vet Work Uniquely Hard? 24:05 Human Sector Parallels 29:15 Business Model Reality Check 30:18 ROI of Retention 32:20 Psychosocial Safety Laws 37:34 Workload and Rostering Fixes4 2:44 Leadership and Being Heard 45:27 From Blame to Pathways 50:27 Training Programs and Teams 52:58 Myth Busting Performance Reviews 54:27 Final Takeaways
The long-term vision is that you walk into a clinic, hit record at the beginning of the day - you walk out at the end of the day, and you never put your hands in a computer. You just did medicine, and everything went into the right place.’ Sound too good to be true? Maybe. But it's closer than you think. If you've already adopted a veterinary AI scribe, you'll know it's transformed your day. But scribes are just the gateway drug. The really interesting question is what your scribe connects to next - and the answer, for a growing number of vets, is the brain of the clinic itself: your practice management software. This conversation brings together Dr Caleb Franke l, ER vet and founder of Instinct - the PIMS used by many of the world's largest specialty and emergency hospitals, and now built out for general practice too, and Rohan Relan , founder of Scribble Vet . Earlier this year, Instinct acquired Scribble - and what they're building together is a glimpse of where veterinary software could be heading. You'll hear: Why up to 80% of your veterinary work day is swallowed by a keyboard What "beyond scribing" looks like - from infographics, to embedded drug references that update in real time as you talk, to anaesthesia records that fill themselves in from across the room. The "easy to verify, hard to generate" principle - why the best AI tools in clinic don't try to replace you, they let you stay in the loop without doing the grunt work. What it means when your scribe and your PIMS talk to each other . Why an "open API" matters more than you think when individual vets can magically build for their own tools. The tech patient safety layer that can catch your mistakes before you make them Where this all goes next - and why both guests believe we're still only seeing the beginning of what AI in clinical practice can do. We recorded this as a video with screen sharing, so if you want to follow along and see what these tools actually look like in action, watch it on Spotify. For our clinical content, show notes, and our full back catalogue, head to thevetvault.com . While you're there, check out our subscriber-only clinical podcast, our newsletter, and come and hang out with us in real life at Vets On Tour. Topics and Timestamps Why Instinct Acquired Scribble 2:08 Beyond Scribes: The Bigger Vision 7:48 Demo: Scribble + Instinct Integration 10:06 Plums Drug Reference Integration 11:30 Mid-Roll: Events & Announcements 14:49 Pushing Notes to Instinct 16:27 Scribble Features: Translations, Care Cards & More 19:29 Record Review & AI Verifiability 21:28 Instinct PIMS Overview 24:17 Instinct Expands to General Practice 24:51 Instinct Features: Estimates, Safety Warnings & Clinical Tools 32:03 Embedded Scribble: Voice-Controlled Anesthesia Records 38:07 AI Safety: Human in the Loop 38:46 APIs, MCP Servers & Vibe Coding for Vets 45:02 Open vs Closed PIMS Philosophy 50:39
"Maybe we're just picking the wrong people to be vets." You've probably heard some version of that line. Maybe you've even said it. 'The new grads can't cope. The younger generation is too soft. If this profession isn't working for you, maybe the profession isn't the problem - maybe you are.' But what if that's the wrong conversation entirely? Maybe it's not the people who need to change - but the job itself. That's the question at the heart of this conversation with Dr Rebecca Faris, the lead of the Australian Veterinary Association's Thrive programme - an industry attempt to figure out how we make veterinary medicine a profession people can actually stay in and enjoy. You'll learn: Why a full-time working week in veterinary medicine probably shouldn't be 40 hours - and the official position from Safe Work Australia that will surprise you The difference between psychological safety and psychosocial safety (one is a vibe, the other is the law - and if you own a practice in Australia, you need to know which is which) What the new psychosocial safety legislation actually requires of practice owners Why "playing to your strengths" isn't the same as avoiding the hard stuff - and how to have that conversation with your employer without sounding like you're asking for special treatment The invisible emotional labour tax you're paying on every consult - and why recognising it changes everything What genuinely great veterinary workplaces are doing differently , and why the "squeaky wheel" narrative is drowning out stories of practices that are getting it right Why "I can't hack full-time" might not mean there's something wrong with you - and the self-compassion case for rethinking what a sustainable vet career actually looks like How to get involved in shaping the future of this profession instead of quietly checking out If you've ever felt wrecked at the end of a perfectly normal day and wondered whether it was you or the job - this one's for you. Resources mentioned: The Thrive Programme and 2025 Wellbeing Survey: ava.com.au/thrive Cultivating Safe Teams training (AVA) 2026 Thrive Wellness Symposium at the AVA Conference, Brisbane, 19 May 2026 Safe Work Australia - psychosocial hazards guidance This episode is not an ad. We're not paid to feature Thrive or the AVA - we just think this is a conversation the profession needs to be having. If you've got thoughts, pushback, or your own story about thriving (or not) in practice, drop us a line at info@thevetvault.com . For our clinical content, show notes, and our full back catalogue, head to thevetvault.com . While you're there, check out our subscriber-only clinical podcast, our newsletter, and come and hang out with us in real life at Vets On Tour. 00:52 Rethinking the 40-Hour Workweek 03:03 Flexibility and Job Crafting 04:57 Are We Picking the Wrong People? 06:05 Playing to Strengths vs Business Needs 12:39 Psychological vs Psychosocial Safety 15:55 The New Laws: Employer Obligations 17:51 Identifying Psychosocial Hazards 20:40 Cultivating Safe Teams Training 24:45 Workload and Emotional Labor 32:34 Vets on Tour Break 34:27 Should Full-Time Be 30 Hours? 36:12 Inside the Thrive Initiative 39:31 Mental Health First Aid 41:35 Empathy for Difficult Clients 44:13 Wins and Optimism 46:27 How to Access Thrive 51:27 Closing Advice: Get Engaged
You know that feeling: exam time is looming. You've spent three days making flashcards and highlighting your notes, but you haven't even started actually studying yet... Whether you're a vet student drowning in slide decks, a membership candidate juggling articles and notes, or a resident trying to jam an impossible volume of clinical knowledge into your skull - the way most of us study is, frankly, not backed by the science. Which is why you might need a little help from technology: In part two of our Tech Tools for Vets series, software engineer Hasitha Jayatilake joins me to walk you through StudyAnything - an AI-powered study tool that generates quizzes from your notes, tracks your weak spots over time, and builds guided learning pathways based on Bloom's hierarchy of learning. (By the way - he built this tool because he couldn’t bare watching his vet student partner making Anki cards at 2am!) What you'll learn: How active recall and spaced repetition actually work - and why highlighting your notes is basically doing nothing What Bloom's hierarchy means for your study plan - and how Study Anything uses it to move you from rote recall to clinical application StudyAnything’s guided learning pathway feature (just gone live) - that turns your uploaded notes into a structured lesson plan with concept maps, assumed knowledge, and motivational context How the community feature works - study groups, shared question banks, and what this means for educators (or podcast hosts!) who want to create resources How to generate harder questions on demand - using learning outcomes and difficulty levels to get yourself on the honours roll What makes this different from Notebook LM or other AI tools This episode includes screen sharing, so if you want to follow along, watch the video on Spotify. If you prefer audio only, you'll still get 99% of the value. The team at StudyAnything are giving Vet Vault listeners the opportunity to try out their top tier subscription (LOTS of quizzes!) with code VETVAULT at studyanything.academy for 50% off your first month on the paid plan. That's about $3.50 to give it a proper test run. Note: This episode isn't a promotion, endorsement or an ad - it's part of our ongoing series exploring the tools you might be considering. If you have a software you'd like us to look at, let me know at info@thevetvault.com Go to thevetvault.com for show notes, access to our clinical continuing education content and to sign up for our weekly 'best of the Vet Vault' newsletter, or join us in person at one of our phenomenal Vets On Tour conferences. (Look out for our upcoming New Zealand, Italy and Africa conferences.) Topics and Timestamps 3:26 Active Recall & The Science of Studying 4:06 How StudyAnything Works - Uploading & Courses 7:57 Bloom's Hierarchy & Learning Outcomes 9:53 Ad Break - Vets on Tour 11:24 Quiz Demo 19:28 Guided Learning Pathway 20:15 File Summary, Concept Maps & Key Terms 29:10 Study Groups & Communities 31:02 Comparison with Notebook LM & Competitors 32:32 Spaced Repetition & Future Features 37:29 Pricing 39:48 Deep Dive: Navigating the Dashboard 41:00 Deep Dive: Creating & Customising Quizzes
Is our podcast getting… repetitive? Honest question. Lately, we’ve felt a growing tension behind the mic: are we just saying the same things… just with a new guest and in slightly different ways? Are we actually helping you? (With is after all the point of this podcast) In this short solo episode, I ask a few questions that I’d love your input on. We want to rebuild this with you. This is your invite. Feedback to info@thevetvault.com , or at our contact form on the website, or hit me up in the comments on Spotify.
Ever check your payslip… your student debt… your mortgage… and wonder if you’re just treading water? You’re not alone, and you’re not stuck. In this episode we revisit one of the most neglected topics in the profession: money . Hubert sits down with US-based financial adviser Eric Miller to break down the decisions that can actually move the money-needle for employed vets: from budgeting and debt to investing, insurance, and increasing your income. (We do global principles with US specifics) No jargon. No guilt. Just a clear starting point for vets who know they should have a plan… but haven’t begun yet. Here’s what you’ll learn: Why practice ownership isn’t the only route to financial security The one habit that underpins every solid financial plan A simple 70/20/10 framework for spending, investing, and enjoying your money How to handle student debt without letting it control your life Whether to prioritise debt repayment, investing- or both The difference between good debt and bad debt (and why it matters) How automation quietly builds wealth in the background What young vets need to know about insurance, income growth, and lifestyle creep And perhaps most importantly: A more grounded, reassuring view of the profession itself. Yes, financial pressure is real. But Eric will convince you that veterinary medicine is still a strong, high-potential career - IF you do it right. thevetvault.com for show notes, access to our clinical continuing education content and to sign up for our weekly 'best of the Vet Vault' newsletter, or join us in person at one of our phenomenal Vets On Tour conferences. Topics and Time Stamps 04:24 Biggest Financial Mistakes 05:42 Budgeting & The 70/20/10 Rule 14:41 Retirement Planning & 401k 24:09 Student Debt & How to Tackle It 26:22 Loan Forgiveness 28:58 Pay Off Debt vs. Invest 31:53 The Debt Snowball Method (it's a good thing!) 33:55 Increasing Your Income 37:44 Constructive vs. Destructive Debt 41:35 Insurance & Health Coverage 44:06 Looking Ahead: The Veterinary Industry 49:45 One Financial Habit for Ne w Grads We love to hear from you. If you have a question for us or you’d like to give us some feedback please get in touch via our contact or catch up with us on Instagram . And if you like what you hear, please share the love by clicking on the share button wherever you’re listening and sending a link to someone who you think should hear this.
Four years after our original antibiotic myth-busting episode (Ep 60), we’re back with Dr Riati Scarborough to talk antibiotic prescribing habits. This time we’re joined by fellow stewardship expert Dr Laura Hardefeldt , and this time we’re asking the harder question: Have we actually changed? The good news? Some prescribing habits are shifting. We’re seeing shorter courses and less ‘just in case antibiotic usage. But let’s not pat ourselves on the back too quickly. Because some of our most entrenched habits are still alive and well, like how we treat skin disease, and our ongoing love affair with amoxiclav. This episode is a practical, clinically grounded update on what the evidence says in 2026 - and how to make realistic changes without compromising patient care. We cover: Why skin disease remains the single biggest driver of antimicrobial resistance in small animal practice, and what to do about it Amoxicillin vs amoxiclav: when de-escalation is not just safe, but smarter Why conve nience (you know the brand we’re talking about right…) is not a clinical indication Trimethoprim-sulphonamide and the real story on KCS risk Dentals, heart murmurs, and what prophylaxis actually looks like in 2026 Simple in-clinic stewardship strategies that genuinely shift prescribing behaviour This isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress. If you’d like effective antibiotics to still exist in five to ten years… This episode is essential listening. Find out how we can support you in your vet career at thevetvault.com . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. Grab one last handful of spots in the Maldives for our surf/dive vet conference with Vets On Tour . Tips and Timestamps 3:03 Progress in prescribing habits including UTI durations and surgical prophylaxis 4:55 Skin disease as the biggest problem area in small animal practice 7:01 Topical therapy versus systemic antibiotics for skin conditions 9:28 Deep pyoderma and the new consensus statement 11:00 Gut bacteria as a source of resistant infections 12:41 Rise of MRSP, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius 14:00 Amoxicillin-clavulanate overuse 16:47 Vets on Tour conferences advertisement 18:08 Pharmacology refresher on amoxicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, and cefovecin 19:45 Why cefovecin is classified as high importance, vs the convenience argument for cefovecin in cats 22:56 Long-acting amoxicillin injections as an alternative 24:00 Getting amoxicillin back on the shelf 24:53 Communicating antibiotic choices to clients 29:32 Dental antibiotics and debunking the heart murmur myth 34:07 Subclinical bacteriuria and stopping cultures in asymptomatic patients 38:30 Reassessing the dry eye risk of trimethoprim-sulfonamide 41:43 Antimicrobial stewardship trial using colour-coded pharmacy shelves
Veterinary life can feel like a treadmill with no off-switch: 15-minute consults that always run over. Emotional labour no one trains you for. A schedule that swings from slow to chaos - in minutes. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. In this raw and refreshingly real episode, productivity coach Demir Bentley (Life Hack Method) live-coaches GP vet Dr Ray Gates , tackling the uncomfortable truth of veterinary medicine:You’re expected to be clinically excellent… while running on empty. This isn’t a listicle of “10 productivity hacks.”This is about reclaiming 1% wins that actually work in the chaos of clinical life. You’ll learn: Why productivity isn’t about doing more - it’s about protecting your energy How “chaos as the default” leads to burnout (and how you can change the system, not just yourself) How to lower your cognitive load and reduce admin fatigue The art of setting goals that don’t become another source of stress Small upstream shifts that stop downstream disasters How to finish a shift and still feel like you Whether you’re buried in charting, stuck in overbooked consults, or silently wondering if you’re just not “resilient enough” - this conversation will show you another way. You don’t need another motivational quote.You need practical tools to get your time, headspace, and energy back . And it starts here. Raise your hand here to find out more about our AI for clinics Mastermind Find out how we can help you build you in your vet career at thevetvault.com . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. Topics and Time Stamps 10:56 The problem 23:04 The revenge binge 26:10 Taking back the 1% 35:52 Upstream changes to prevent downstream chaos 41:31 Expectations vs reality 52:05 You are not powerless
Ever feel like your anxiety or fear of failure is just... who you are? The perfectionism. The overthinking. The constant pressure to “get it right.” It can feel like it’s wired into your DNA . But what if it isn’t? Dr Rod Irwin , vet, former clinic owner and author tells us how who went from panic attacks in an empty vet clinic to a completely rewired life - thanks to neuroscience. After hitting breaking point, a chance encounter with neuroscience set him on a 15-year journey into neuroplasticity and positive psychology - and ultimately changed how he led. Together, we unpack how our brains are shaped by past experiences, why vets are particularly vulnerable to negative belief loops, and how we can deliberately rewire our thinking to reduce anxiety, improve performance and build healthier workplace cultures. We explore: Why early experiences like bullying and perfectionism hardwire us for burnout What neuroplasticity actually means, and why this isn't just “positive thinking” How emotions strengthen or weaken your neural pathways Dr Irwin’s first 3 practical steps to start rewiring your brain Why your identity is the key to lasting change How clinic leaders unconsciously set the emotional tone for the entire team And how reconnecting to purpose and values can transform your culture This is a science-backed, practical conversation on mindset, leadership and wellbeing – tailored to the veterinary world. Because your brain isn’t broken.It’s just wired by experience - and you can change the wiring. Learn about all 12 keys here , or here if you're a practice owner, or book a chat with Rod here . Find out how we can support you in your vet career at thevetvault.com . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. Grab one last handful of spots in the Maldives for our surf/dive vet conference with Vets On Tour . Get case support from our team of specialists in our Specialist Support Space . Check out our Advanced Surgery Podcast at cutabove.supercast.com , or go all in on surgery with our collaboration with Sydney University's CVE Surgery Course.
Welcome to episode one of our new Tech Tools series , where we cut through the noise to bring you real insights into the latest veterinary tech that could genuinely make your day‑to‑day vet life easier. In part one VetRec founder Kevin Cohen helps me put this AI scribe through its paces to show us why veterinary AI software is rapidly moving WAY beyond just note taking. Highlights : What an AI scribe really is and how it saves vets hours of documentation time Beyond scribing - new tools to speed up your workflow with increased reliability and context VetRec’s clinical support tool: D.A.V.I.D. (Diagnostics Assistance for Veterinary Insights and Differentials) Team workflows — how receptionists, nurses and vets can collaborate in the same platform This one involves a bit of screen sharing, so if you want to follow along - watch the video for this on Spotify. Note: This episode isn’t a promotion or an ad — it’s the first of many deep dives into the tools you might be considering. If you have a software that you’d like us to explore, let me know at info@thevetvault.com Check out our Advanced Surgery Podcast at cutabove.supercast.com , or go all in on surgery with our collaboration with Sydney University's CVE Surgery Course. Find out how we can help you build you in your vet career at thevetvault.com . Get case support from our team of specialists in our Specialist Support Space . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. Join us in person for our epic adventure CE events at Vets On Tour . (Next up: Japan snow conference!) Topics and Time stamps 04:05 – New Features 2025 05:19 – Add to Visit 07:46 – DictationFeatures 08:35 – A Cut Above Promo 10:08 – Snippets 12:15 – Insights & Recommendations 13:59 – Integrations 16:06 – EzyVet Chrome Extension 17:05 – Custom Templates 17:58 – Phone Call Recording 21:38 – Multi-Pet Support 22:33 – Client Handouts 24:07 – Analysis Features 28:38 – David AI Assistant 38:03 – Records Recap 41:09 – Team Access 42:29 – Best Recording Practices
Am I a useless vet? Sounds like a silly question that a new grad might ask, right? But imposter syndrome doesn't care about your credentials. It whispers that you're a fraud, that you got lucky, that one day everyone will realise you don’t belong. Or maybe you don’t feel like an imposter - but you beat yourself up after a case goes wrong. You replay every missed diagnosis. You hold yourself to an impossible standard, and when you fall short (even slightly), the inner critic shows no mercy. Sound familiar? In veterinary medicine, where perfection often feels like the baseline and the emotional toll runs deep, these patterns can be exhausting. But here’s the truth: you’re not the only one who feels this way. In this raw and honest conversation, we unpack: Why imposter syndrome isn’t just a new grad thing - it can resurface anytime you step into something new, no matter how experienced or accomplished you are (Just keep listening if you don’t believe me) What confidence really looks like - not knowing everything, but being willing to try, learn, and grow Why perfectionism is often at the root of imposter - and what to do about it Making peace with the inner-critic Why vulnerability matters A simple mindset shift that can make all the difference And practical strategies to manage imposter feelings You’ll hear real stories, mindset tools, and the reminder that feeling “useless” says nothing about you. If you’ve ever questioned your abilities or felt like you're just pretending to hold it all together - this episode is your mirror. You belong here. And it’s time you believed that too. Our guests are: Dr Marie Holowaychuck - a board-certified emergency and critical care veterinarian and the founder of Reviving Vet Med, a global initiative dedicated to equipping veterinary professionals with practical tools for mental health, resilience, and work–life balance, and the author of A Compassionate Calling: What It Really Means to be a Veterinarian. Check out her new book here. Dr Kerri Nelson : Experienced ER vet, mentor and former medical director. First time mom-to-be! (She has an epic blog about over-achieving - here .) Dr Rob Webster : Co-Chief Executive Officer of Animal Emergency Australia, the leading veterinary emergency-care group down under, where he oversees clinical standards and consults on complex emergency and critical-care cases. A board-certified specialist in emergency and critical care since 2014. Jiu-jitsu tragic. Check out our Advanced Surgery Podcast at cutabove.supercast.com , or go all in on surgery with our collaboration with Sydney University's CVE Surgery Course. Find out how we can help you build you in your vet career at thevetvault.com . Get case support from our team of specialists in our Specialist Support Space . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. Join us in person for our epic adventure CE events at Vets On Tour . (Next up: Japan snow conference!) Topics and Time stamps 04:28 You're not alone 09:56 What is a syndrome? 15:49 Defining Imposter Syndrome 19:44 Maybe It's Just Kinda Normal? 22:10 So What Can We Do About It? 27:22 The Eternal Internal Critic 30:22 Talk It Out 35:59 Vulnerability As A Weapon Against Imposter 39:03 This Is What Getting Better Feels Like 40:18 Perfectionism - The Root of Imposter 49:28 At Least You'er Not a Psychopath! 51:04 The Best People Are Filled With Self-Doubt 51:56 Mistakes Happen
Stop scrolling - I know what you’re thinking: “I don’t want to listen to someone preaching to me about antimicrobial resistance - it’s boring, and it just makes me feel guilty!” Here's a promise: you'll find nothing boring or preachy here. What you will get is interesting science, practical tips, and zero guilt trips. Dr Kate Worthing is a senior lecturer in veterinary microbiology, practising clinician and passionate antibiotic resistance researcher, and she’s about to change how you prescribe. Together we unpack why the way you use antibiotics in general practice is more than a clinical choice - it’s a responsibility that affects your patients, your team, and your future cases. From unseen pathways of resistance to pragmatic stewardship strategies you can implement this week, this is essential listening for all veterinarians. You’ll learn: Why antimicrobial resistance is not just a global issue - it’s personal, and it’s already in your consult room. How selection pressure works beyond the infection: across the microbiome, the patient, and the environment. Why MRSA isn't really the problem you should be worried about (and where you SHOULD point your attention). Where resistance risk is highest in small animal practice. What “good prescribing” looks like in real life How to find and apply trustworthy prescribing guidelines without slowing down your workflow. Resources: AMRVC https://www.amrvetcollective.com/ https://www.amrvetcollective.com/home/guidelines/ WSAVA Infographics https://wsava.org/committees/therapeutics-guidelines-group/ ISCAID https://www.iscaid.org/guidelines Understanding the mechanisms of resistance Video Visit thevetvault.com to join our Vet Vault Nerd community for more clinical confidence and better patient outcomes, get help with your tricky cases in our specialist‑support space , and subscribe to our newsletter for clinical gems and a bit more.
We scrutinise one of the most practical yet under‑examined advances in veterinary practice: AI‑based radiology interpretation tools. I sit down with veterinary radiologist and Vedi entrepreneur Dr Steve Joslyn to unpack the rise of AI-powered radiology tools in general practice. But this isn’t just opinion: Steve reveals the findings from his team’s recent study that put 6 commercially available AI radiology softwares in the spotlight - or up on the light box - to assess whether they deliver on what they promise. From how these systems are trained, to where they shine (and where they fail), this conversation gives a no-nonsense look at what AI can actually do for your diagnostic imaging workflow. What You’ll Learn: How these tools are built : Neural networks, down-sampling, and the truth behind “ground truth”. The data dilemma : Why most AI tools perform best in theory, not in general practice. Where they fall short : From image quality issues to breed bias and external validation gaps. New accuracy data : Insights from Dr Joslyn’s pilot study comparing six commercial AI tools. A decision-making playbook : When to trust AI, when to double-check, and when to avoid it entirely. Ethics and workflow impact : Who’s responsible? What do you tell clients? Can AI triage be trusted? How to stay future-ready : What’s coming next – and how to adapt without compromising care. 🎧 Listen now for the tools to ask better questions about AI in your clinic. Find out how we can help you build you in your vet career at thevetvault.com . Check out our Advanced Surgery Podcast at cutabove.supercast.com . Get case support from our team of specialists in our Specialist Support Space . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. Join us in person for our epic adventure CE events at Vets On Tour . (Next up: Japan snow conference!)
Did you know that a brachycephalic dog with BOAS has a 433% higher anaesthetic risk than a dog with a normal nose? Let me rephrase that: that Frenchie you’re spaying later this week is more than four times more likely to die on her surgery day than any of your other patients. 😳 Do we have your attention?! Thanks mainly to the rising popularity of the French Bulldog, you’re probably anaesthetising these kinds of patients all the time. So how do we reduce that risk? How do improve patient safety while decreeing your stress levels?! At the Brachycephalic Care Unit , surgeon Dr Abbie Tipler and her team have polished brachycephalic anaesthesia down to a fine art, and in this episode, she shares all the gold. From the days leading up to anaesthesia to selecting the safest mix of premed and anaesthesia agents, all the way to a calm, well-oxygenated recovery, this episode is the ultimate masterclass in brachycephalic anaesthesia. Hit us up for the full show notes for this episode, as well as Dr Abbie’s brachycephalic pre-surgery history template, here. This episode is one of more than 600 from our subscriber-only clinical podcasts. If you like this style of learning, where I dig for all the pro tips and updates from some of the best specialists in the world, then you’ll love our clinical feed. Go check it out at thevetvault.com Oh, and if you’d like to join me in Japan in February or the Maldives in April for the most fun you’ll ever have at a vet conference - have a browse at vetsontour.com Topics Covered: Before the big day Structured history taking: airway, gastrointestinal, sleep, and anxiety indicators Understanding the link between upper airway obstruction and GI dysfunction Assessing regurgitation, silent reflux, and aspiration risk Pre-treatment protocols: omeprazole, metoclopramide, and diet adjustments Identifying when to delay elective procedures for optimisation Using C-reactive protein and radiographs to assess for aspiration pneumonia Managing anxiety pre-hospitalisation with trazodone Plan for the day of surgery Fasting times and timing surgeries for optimal recovery monitoring Strategies for minimising stress in brachycephalic patients pre-op The role of early premedication and pain relief Drug choices: the “Goldilocks” approach to sedation Reducing regurgitation risk Your pre-op pro tips Extubation and recovery: positioning, monitoring, and oxygen weaning The impact of cage-side nursing and owner-assisted recovery
“If you can’t afford a pet, you shouldn’t own one.” Ever said this line? Once you’ve been on the receiving of someone’s anger about the cost of their vet bill, it’s an easy thought to have. But it’s not the whole story, is it? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Paul Manktelow - a veterinary surgeon with 20+ years in UK animal charities and current Director of Veterinary Services at Blue Cross . Dr Paul shares lessons learned in not-for-profit vet care to help us untangle that tension between care, compassion, and commercial reality. We cover: Trends from the front lines in the charity sector How “affordability” is shifting under rising cost of living Decision-making tools that balance optimal vs achievable care Business models that either enable or block access to care How vets can approach financial conversations with clarity, dignity, and trust You’ll learn about: 💡 “Pragmatic care” as the antidote to chasing the mythical ‘gold standard’ 💡 Cost-based vs value-based pricing models 💡How to think in tiers of care—and where the limits lie Because behind every clinical decision is a human one. Find out how we can help you build you in your vet career at thevetvault.com . Check out our Advanced Surgery Podcast at cutabove.supercast.com . Get case support from our team of specialists in our Specialist Support Space . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. Join us in person for our epic adventure CE events at Vets On Tour . (Next up: Japan snow conference!) Topics and Time Stamps 03:11 Balancing Costs and Care in Veterinary Practice 06:45 Challenges and Changes in the Veterinary Profession 11:41 Client Expectations vs Financial Realities 16:32 The Impact of Economic Hardships on Pet Care 32:16 Blue Cross's Model 39:10 Individual Responsibility in Veterinary Practice 42:54 Getting Clear on Quality of Life and Prognosis 47:23 Cost-Based vs Value-Based Pricing Models 01:10:05 Pragmatic Care and Clinical Guidelines 01:16:54 The One Question
In episode 141 , I shared my take on where AI fits into veterinary medicine - and where it might take us next. But I’m no expert. So I brought one in. In this episode, I sit down with Rohan Relan , Silicon Valley software engineer and founder of ScribbleVet ,an AI tool built for vets. We unpack the promise and pitfalls of AI in clinical practice and try to figure out how you can use it without losing sleep (or your license). What we cover: Why AI is not just a "smarter Google”- and why that matters The risky shortcuts vets are already taking (and how to avoid them) How to increase trust and accuracy when using AI Where innovation collides with privacy, data, and consent DIY AI vs purpose-built tools If you're curious about AI but not sure what’s hype and what’s helpful, this one’s for you. Come find out what W(asabi)TF Wednesday is all about at our Japan Snow Conference Check out our podcast for business owners , and Dr Sam’s ‘ How To Make A Hell Of a Profit And Still Go To Heaven ’ workshop. Join our community of Vet Vault Nerds to lift your clinical game and get your groove back with our up-to-date, easy-to-consume clinical episodes at vvn.supercast.com . Get help with your tricky cases in our Specialist Support Space. Visit thevetvault.com for show notes and resources related to this episode. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. Topics and Timestamps 04:39 What I got wrong about AI 08:19 How models “know” things — next‐word prediction & reasoning 15:00 Grounding AI responses using external tools / search 19:19 Scribble Vet features 38:12 Privacy, ownership, and AI liability 51:00 Rohan’s podcast and AI tool recommendations 54:00 Key misconceptions & Caveats
