veterinary leadership

Ever wondered about the secret to a thriving veterinary practice? Look no further, as we introduce you to Dr. Christine Staten, the visionary behind the Veterinary MBA. With her wealth of knowledge from over two decades of experience in the field, Dr. Staten brings you a treasure-trove of insights on navigating the tricky terrains of veterinary practice ownership. Hear her elaborate on aligning your team's purpose, vision, and core values with your mission, and witness the transformation in your team's dynamics.  We also touch on fostering a culture of recognition and motivating your team through regular huddles. Tune in to uncover some of the strategies that will revolutionize your veterinary practice, and don't forget to connect with Dr. Staten to dive deeper into her educational programs.
More about Christine!
Dr. Christine Staten is a native of Tucson Arizona and after an earlier career as a Labor and Delivery technician, attended and graduated from Colorado State University, School of Veterinary Medicine in 1999.
Dr. Staten joined the vet who took care of her animals when she was a kid in 4-H, a one-doctor mixed animal ambulatory practice. In 2005, they built a mixed animal clinic, Adobe Veterinary Center. The clinic currently has a team of 55 people with six large animal vets and five small animal vets. She has been a practice owner for 20 years and a solo owner since 2017.
Dr. Staten is passionate about encouraging and mentoring the next generation of veterinarians into the greatest profession in the world. Desiring to learn more about entrepreneurship and business management, Dr. Staten completed her Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University in March 2023.  With her company, Veterinary MBA, Dr. Staten is enthusiastically helping other practice owners and managers create more sustainable business models while gaining more time and freedom in their lives.
Unapologetically unbalanced, Dr. Staten is married with five children and three grandchildren. She dabbles in real estate with commercial property, student rentals, and an Airbnb.
EMAIL: cstatendvm@adobevetcenter.com
IG: @veterinary_mba
WEBSITE: veterinary-mba.com or adobevetcenter.com
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www.thewholeveterinarian.com
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IG @thewholeveterinarian
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Toxic behaviors have deep-seated impacts on our well-being in veterinary medicine. Systematic changes, clear expectations, workload balancing, and candid communication are crucial to crafting a productive and safer work environment. The episode, featuring return guest Dr. Marie Holowaychuk, highlights the influence of individual attitudes on a team's environment and dives deeply into the role that leadership needs to play in creating a safer and more open veterinary workplace.
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More about Dr. Holowaychuk!
Dr. Marie Holowaychuk is a board-certified small animal emergency and critical care  specialist and passionate advocate for veterinary team wellbeing. An avid writer, podcaster, and researcher, Dr. Holowaychuk has authored dozens of articles and recorded a multitude of podcast interviews related to personal and professional wellbeing. She hosts the Reviving Vet Med podcast and writes a monthly blog and newsletter on pertinent issues related to veterinary mental health and wellbeing.
Dr. Holowaychuk lives in Calgary where she occasionally locums in private referral practice and as a specialist teleconsultant. As a yoga and meditation teacher and wellness coach, she facilitates wellbeing workshops and retreats for veterinary clinics and organizations and offers individual and group coaching and online programs for veterinary team members. She recently launched a new website containing wellbeing resources for veterinary professionals.
Previous Conversations with Dr. Holowaychuk regarding mental health and suicide prevention:
https://thewholeveterinarian.com/44
https://thewholeveterinarian.com/45

Connect with her here:
Website: https://marieholowaychuk.com/ 

Reviving Veterinary Medicine website: https://revivingvetmed.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarieholowaychuk/ 

Instagram: @marieholowaychuk or @revivingvetmed

Podcast: https://revivingvetmed.com/podcast/ 

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Connect with Stacey or find more from The Whole Veterinarian!
www.thewholeveterinarian.com
If you want to have a small part in supporting the production of the show, click here to Buy Me A Coffee!

IG @thewholeveterinarian
Listen on your favorite podcast player here
Thank you for your time and support!

Leaders in the veterinary field need to be supported and trained because they impact the rest of their organization. Too often, they are thrown into positions with no education on how to be leaders. Dr. Sally Ryan has a wealth of experience in the veterinary industry, and she is the founder, consultant, and instructor of Veterinary Leadership Services. In this conversation, we talk about some barriers that cause this lack of education as well as some core principles for teaching adults with busy lives.

There are various barriers that lead to a lack of training in the veterinary industry. The two big ones: staffing and time. First, you have to have the staff capable of creating and leading a training program; in bigger organizations, that can be a job in itself. Second, time is always an issue. When are you going to create the training? When are you going to lead it? Will it be during normal hours or outside hours? You have to come up with a plan that everyone can get on board with and make it meaningful.

Adults are busy. One of the most crucial core principles is to make training topics relevant and efficient. You don’t want to waste people's time; you want to enrich it. Dr. Ryan mentions creating problem oriented training, using diverse formats to layer the education, being clear on the why, and preparing for impending changes as big principles as you develop training.

ADDIE is an acronym for the training model Dr. Ryan recommends that aids in the creation of an efficient program. 
Analysis - what do you want to achieve?
Design - Who, what, and how of the content.
Development - Bring all the goals and resources together to create the elements of training.
Implementation - Start the training with a smaller, more receptive group to work out the kinks.
Evaluate - Is this working? Do you need to make any changes? Are you seeing the desired outcomes?

A culture of learning creates confident staff members, more job enjoyment, and better performance—a win, win, win! You can find out more about Dr. Sally Ryan and Veterinary Leadership Services by emailing her or visiting her website.

What’s Inside:

• Why are leadership training and support so important for veterinarians?
• Common barriers to training and support in the veterinary industry.
• The core principles for training adults.
• Key points for creating and implementing training.
• An acronym to guide the creation of training in your organization.

Mentioned In This Episode:
Veterinary Leadership Services
vetleader@yahoo.com  

Dr. Phil Richmond's early career in the veterinary field quickly became overwhelming from self-imposed overworking and overextending, leading to depression and even suicidal ideations. Dr. Phil is fortunate to have coworkers who saw the signs and helped him get the help he needed and deserved from a local medical professional help program. Now, he is spreading the word about trauma and its effect in the workplace.

The ACE [Adverse Childhood Experience] assessment, can help identify common childhood traumas that can indicate risks in adulthood as well as explain coping, and trauma responses you may be experiencing. 12.5% of adults in the US have 4 or more ACE indicators. When you understand your trauma and the fact that others around you may have similar indicators, you can approach situations with care and grace.
Trauma-informed leadership and care in the veterinary space are so important because not only is it likely for your co-workers to be affected by trauma but your clients too. The next time you experience a situation that is emotionally charged, take a breath and respond with care.
 
If you are facing depression and overwhelm like Dr. Phil was, please reach out and get help! We encourage you to take the ACE assessment and if a 12-step program is not the model for you, there are other models and other ways to get the help you need. You can reach out to Dr. Phil Richmond on LinkedIn.

What’s Inside:

• How can early and childhood trauma affect veterinarians?
• How “toxic employees” can be reacting to trauma.
• Caring for trauma-affected clients.
• What is trauma-informed leadership?
• What is the ACE Assessment?

Mentioned In This Episode:
Screening Tools | ACEs Aware – Take action. Save lives.
Dr. Phil Richmond - LinkedIn

With 27 years as a Veterinary Medicine professional, Andrea Tschakert has seen the industry change, morph, and come back. She describes the path of vet med as a figure 8. Over time she has gained insight on two big topics, Culture and Cash.

Andrea describes culture as the way veterinary clinics process people and their pets. And over the decades she has seen it manipulate, grow, shrink, and manifest into many things over time. One change we discuss is the weight of grief after losing a pet and the way we respond to that. Losing a pet has always been sad, but pets in this generation are key members of the family, and clients and staff grow to love them in a deeper way than ever before. And with that comes a deeper grief. How are hospitals changing to support their clients and handle their own grief when it comes to pet loss? Andrea says making a space and giving time to hospital staff is critical for the culture, mental health, and longevity of her employees.

Money can also be a hot-button topic, especially because clients often feel like veterinary practices overcharge out of greed. Andrea is not afraid to say, money is the measure of good medicine. Without money, veterinary practices cannot operate and with money, they have the opportunity to practice better and better medicine. She does comment on Profit Sharing which some clinics and groups are opening up to with their staff, and she views it as an important incentive to get employees involved in the betterment of a clinic where they have a direct stake in the growth. 

Andrea and I discuss all the great ways she improves her clinic culture as a practice manager, including marrying the cultures of old and new. She has a lot of great ideas and a passion for the field that is truly inspiring. You can find Andrea on LinkedIn or reach out via email.

What’s Inside:

• How has culture in veterinary medicine changed over time?
• How should clinics handle grief with their staff and clients?
• How to marry the culture of old and new veterinary generations.
• Why is money the measure of good medicine?

Mentioned In This Episode:
Andrea Tschakert on LinkedIn
ATschakert11@gmail.com 

As a new veterinarian post-graduation in 2012, Dr. Amanda Ensor had bright expectations and big goals for her career. Unfortunately, her experience was met with a toxic vet culture that crushed her dreams. Dr. Ensor did not let that stop her as she persevered through the next 10 years of her career. Today she shares her journey of how she overcame her own lack of mentorship to become a full-time mentor to new veterinarians.

As she worked through clinics as a small animal general practitioner Dr. Ensor experiences true burnout. She talks about physical illness, lack of sleep, panic attacks, inability to find joy, and a negative effect on her patient care. These are all hallmarks of burnout and an unhealthy work lifestyle. Dr. Ensor left that behind to become a relief vet where she finally got to see and work in healthy, loving clinics and meet her “vet family” as she calls it.

Throughout her time working in veterinary clinics, Dr. Ensor worked with another vet to create a mentorship program for women in their community that spanned across careers. The joy and fulfillment she felt in this led to where she is now as a full-time mentor. Dr. Ensor works as a mentor for NVA with a group of mentors across the company where they can provide mentorship and support to any new vet in an NVA hospital for their first 11 months.

Dr. Ensor's mentorship style promotes success, and personal agency, and builds confidence by being available to provide encouragement and resources. For her, this stage in her career is about manifesting the mentorship she herself needed but did not receive. If you’re interested in contacting her she has graciously provided her email for my listeners!


What’s Inside:

• What toxic vet culture can do to new veterinarians.
• Why mentorship is important in the veterinary industry.
• Mentoring to promote agency and build confidence.

Mentioned In This Episode:
Amanda.ensor@NVA.com 

Dr. Shannon Bass wears a lot of hats in both her personal life and even more so in the veterinary field after working in almost every role in a hospital. She now holds the position of Director of Talent Acquisition, Specialty, for VCA Animal Hospitals. Knowing firsthand the challenges we face in the veterinary profession, Dr. Bass highlights the importance of developing and supporting hospital leaders.

Oftentimes promotion to a leadership or management role in a hospital comes from within the existing staff. Suddenly you're expected to manage your peers, which can be intimidating and overwhelming, especially when you’re not provided the training, support, or resources you need. You are not alone and don’t rush to leave your position. There is information and support available if you just ask!

If you’re new to a leadership role, expecting a promotion, or even a hospital owner looking for ways to build up your leadership staff Dr. Bass and I go over some key skills and competencies that we think are really important for leaders but may not always come naturally.

• Effective communication
• Self/Emotional Regulation
• Vulnerability
• Time management
• Organization
• Decision making
• Understanding your risk aversion
• Developing Staff

Consider these skills, work on them, and seek resources but understand that you will not have them mastered overnight. Applying these skills in your leadership roles will take practice, repetition, and your own leadership style.

Dr. Bass encourages new leaders to take self-initiative and start preparing or “self-rescuing” right away. She recommends checking out Dr. Brené Brown’s book, Dare to Lead but you can also start by utilizing free resources by searching online, there is tons of information out there!

If you want to contact Dr. Shannon Bass you can connect with her on LinkedIn.

What’s Inside:

• How to develop and support hospital leaders.
• Common challenges for new leaders.
• Important skills and competencies for leaders.
• Veterinary leadership resources.

Mentioned In This Episode:
Shannon Bass - National Director of Specialty Recruiting - VCA Animal Hospitals
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. 

This week, we speak to the wonderful Dr Hannah Perrin - a leading figure in veterinary education.  She's worked with Street Vet, Veterinary Management Group, and lectures at the Royal Veterinary College.  We talk leadership, education, and identity in the veterinary profession, with Hannah delivering an excellent 60-second CPD on how to build a support network as a leader.

Hannah originally qualified as a pharmacologist, before becoming a practice manager in a specialist exotics practice. Working alongside a variety of professionals from specialists and students,  she developed a keen interest in education, research and leadership.  Hannah discusses how varied and rewarding teaching can be, and how we can positively influence others through our leadership and teaching style.

 In 2010 she went back to school for a part-time Master's degree in Health Services Research while consulting for a variety of first opinion and referral practices, followed by a PhD in Veterinary Education focusing on the development of professional identity in vet students and the transition from student to practice.  

She is now Learning and Development lead for VMG (Veterinary Management Group) and Course Director for the VMG/ILM Award, Certificate and Diploma in Veterinary Leadership and Management.  Alongside her professional interests, Hannah loves parkrun, coffee and cake.

Have you struggled to create a cohesive vetmed team? Are you having difficulty attracting the right talent? Are you confused as to why you work in a veterinary clinic that has no direction or actual leadership? Dr. Dave Nicol of VetX International is here to help us understand how vital leadership is for the health and wellbeing of the entire vet practice - both the business and the individuals working inside of it. Leadership cannot be left to chance - tune in to this episode to get insight into how and why you need to be proactive in your veterinary business if you want to see your team succeed.
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More about Dr. Dave Nicol...
Dr. Dave Nicol is a veterinarian with more than 20 years of experience in general practice and has held several leadership roles within practice and industry. He has written three books, most recently the best-selling, So You’re A Vet...Now What? – a manifesto on how to survive as a veterinarian after graduation. Dr. Dave hosts The Blunt Dissection podcasts which combined has been played more than 250,000 times. He owns Roundwood Vets, a boutique vet practice in London and founded VetX International to help vets connect with their career and help practice owners create fantastic practices for the vets to work in.
He speaks at conferences all over the world to speak about his favourite topic of
leadership and generally cheerleading for the veterinary profession. In 2019 he was
voted VMX Practice Manager Speaker of the Year.
Find out more here...
www.vetxinternational.com
www.drdavenicol.com

Connect on IG @drdavenicol or @vetxinternational or LinkedIn
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Email: thewholeveterinarian@gmail.com

Connect with Stacey or find more from The Whole Veterinarian!
www.thewholeveterinarian.com
If you want to have a small part in supporting the production of the show, click here to Buy Me A Coffee!

IG @thewholeveterinarian
Listen on your favorite podcast player here
Thank you for your time and support!

When you think of amazing leaders throughout history, there's a good chance you're thinking of someone who has enacted transformational leadership. Today we get to learn all about the pillars of transformational leadership - what it's made of, why it can be so beneficial, and what some of the downsides might be in this interview with Dr. Andrew Ciccolini. Andrew is just wrapping up his Master's degree in Organizational Leadership and so generously shares his insight with us. Veterinary medicine is definitely in need of this leadership style, so let's all pay close attention!
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More about Andrew Ciccolini, DVM, MSOL
Dr. Andrew is a veterinarian dedicated to the health and welfare of underserved pet populations with a passion for reducing economic barriers that disrupt the human-animal bond. He is a 2011 graduate of The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine. He served nine years of active duty with the United States Army providing veterinary care all across the world. Continuing to serve part time in the Army National Guard, he is also the Medical Director at the National Mill Dog Rescue, a non-profit located in Colorado that rescues, rehabilitates, and re-homes over 1,100 commercial breeding dogs every year. Andrew has completed a Master of Organizational Leadership degree from Regis University and leads non-profit initiatives for Galaxy Vets.
-Find him on Instagram!!!
-Find him on LinkedIn
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Make a donation to Children's Hospital Colorado in Ethan's honor!
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Resources that were mentioned
-Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (animated video from author Dan Pink)
-Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
-The Little Blue Truck series by Alice Schertle
-My American Journey by Colin Powell
-The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander by Pete Blaber
-https://galaxyvets.foundation
-National Mill Dogs Rescue Healing Hearts Fund
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Find out more about The Whole Veterinarian at our new website!
Instagram: @thewholeveterinarian
Facebook
Email: thewholeveterinarian@gmail.com

Connect with Stacey or find more from The Whole Veterinarian!
www.thewholeveterinarian.com
If you want to have a small part in supporting the production of the show, click here to Buy Me A Coffee!

IG @thewholeveterinarian
Listen on your favorite podcast player here
Thank you for your time and support!