The equine veterinary industry is worried about two large problems when it comes to new veterinarians joining the industry: One is getting new vets who have sufficient skills to begin in practice, and two is keeping equine veterinarians to stay in practice within the first five years of graduation.
Read the episode transcript here.
In Episode 52 of Disease Du Jour, we talk with Debbie Spike-Pierce, DVM, MBA, who’s the president and CEO of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, and Amy Grice, VMD, MBA, who practiced for more than 20 years before starting Veterinary Business Consulting through which she advises veterinarians and practice owners on a wide variety of projects and challenges.
EquiManagement’s Disease Du Jour podcast is focused on equine research and current best practices. Disease Du Jour is brought to you in 2021 by Merck Animal Health.
We also are joined on this podcast by co-host Duane Chappell, DVM, an equine professional veterinary services team member at Merck Animal Health.
Topics discussed:
- How does veterinary school education prepare a new equine veterinarian for initial practice and where is it deficient?
- Discuss the values found in internships vs. launching into practice right after graduation.
- How would a new grad identify a great internship opportunity versus one that maybe is not going to be as impactful to them and could even be detrimental to their career ahead of them?
- How can this process of developing their skills maybe solidify their interest to stay in practice long-term?
- What do you think the role of equine veterinary practice is in developing a sustainable positive environment to encourage a successful practice career in equine medicine?
- What do young veterinarians need to come out of vet school and learn—either from vet school or from their initial practice—of these soft skills such as interacting with clients, ethical challenges, negotiating contracts, and business side of practice?
- What sort of encouragement can you give to those young veterinary students who are in school, they really want to do equine practice, but maybe they’re a little concerned with all of the negative things they’ve heard about low salaries or women in practice, or not having the right skill sets?