Ready Vet Go! is a wellness podcast produced by the Washington State Power of Ten 2018-2019 class. This podcast series covers important aspects of wellbeing to better educate and empower all veterinarians.
S1E1
Interview conducted by: Dr. Raina Penn with assistance from Dr. Blair de Vries
Communicating with and educating clients can be one of the most rewarding, challenging, and frustrating daily tasks. However, when used correctly and routinely, these efforts are sure to pay off. Tune in to the interview with Dr. Richard DeBowes as he and Dr. Raina Penn discuss the value of client education and communication within the profession.
Bio:
Richard M. DeBowes, DVM, MS, DACVS, is a Professor of Surgery and the Director of the Professional Life Skills program at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Working with Dr. Kathleen Ruby and others, Rick helped fund, develop, promote and host the Cougar Orientation and Leadership Experience at WSU and the AVMA Veterinary Leadership Experience (VLE) program for the global veterinary profession. Based on his experiences in veterinary practice and his awareness of the “people skills” needed to be a great health care team member, Rick currently oversees the practice management curriculum and continues to teach in the leadership and the clinical communication courses for which he was the founding co-director.
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S1E2
Interview conducted by: Dr. Jamie Peterson
Dr. Abby Whiting discusses a significant cyberbullying experience that impacted her hospital and changed the course of her career. Working in conjunction with other champions of veterinary well-being, she’s creating a cyberbullying toolkit to help veterinarians handle these targeted digital attacks.
Bio:
Dr. Abby Whiting is a 2011 graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, and an Epsilon class graduate of the Veterinary Leadership Experience. She spent seven years in small animal private practice, and two years ago started working as an emergency veterinarian at a busy full-service referral center. She is a board member for the nonprofit, Not One More Vet; and chairperson of the MVMA’s well-being task force and the MVMA’s Power of Ten program. She is the previous recipient of the Gentle Doctor Award and the MVMA’s 2019 President’s Award. working with many other key contributors to develop a cyberbullying toolkit for veterinarians.
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S1E3
Interview conducted by: Dr. Courtney Wiese
A discussion with well-known veterinarian Dr. Andy Roark about how to deal with feedback you are given and how to give effective feedback.
Bio:
Dr. Andy Roark is a practicing veterinarian, international speaker, author, and media personality. He is the founder of both the Uncharted Veterinary Conference and DrAndyRoark.com. He has been an award-winning columnist for DVM360 and has a successful online training course for veterinarians and veterinary teams. His popular Facebook page, website, and YouTube show reach millions of people every month. Dr. Roark received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and was voted the Practice Management Speaker of the Year at NAVC, one of the world’s largest veterinary conferences, two out of the last three years. Practices where Dr. Roark works were named as finalists in the American Animal Hospital Association’s Practice of the Year Contest in 2013 and 2015.
S1E4
Interview conducted by: Dr. Melissa Boyer
One of the biggest topics in the veterinary world and a huge stressor and many of our lives is student debt. Join Dr. Tony Bartels as he discusses the current state of veterinary-related debt, the different types of student loans and their associated repayment plans, and resources available to us to better understand our debt and how to manage it. Debt is a reality in our industry but learning about the options for repayment allow us to prepare for a thriving financial future.
Bio:
Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA, graduated in 2012 from the Colorado State University combined MBA/DVM program and is an employee of the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) and a VIN Foundation Board member. He and his wife have more than $400,000 in veterinary-school debt that they manage using federal income-driven repayment plans. By necessity (and now obsession), his professional activities include researching and speaking on veterinary-student debt, providing guidance to colleagues on loan-repayment strategies and contributing to VIN Foundation initiatives.
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S1E5
Interview conducted by: Dr. Melissa Boyer
What are your financial goals in life? Learn more about how to turn these goals into reality with Darby Affeldt, DVM, a veterinary-specific financial advisor. Join us as we discuss financial health in the veterinary industry and learn more about financial advising and what to look for when evaluating professional services.
Bio:
Darby Affeldt, DVM, RICP is a Financial Advisor for clients in multiple states. Darby works with veterinarians in all career stages, with small to mid-sized practice/business owners, and with individuals seeking retirement and estate planning guidance. As a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine herself—as well as being married to another DVM whom owns a large mixed animal practice —Darby understands the industry, its’ complexities and the needs of her clients. As a lifelong entrepreneur, Darby is deeply passionate about helping others to succeed and draws upon her personal experiences and training to support clients to efficiently pursue their financial goals. Her practice focuses on collaborating with her clients to comprehensively integrate debt management, saving, investing, college funding, and insurances to build wealth and design long-term retirement and legacy strategies. Darby is Securities registered—Series 7, holds a State Law Securities registration—Series 63, she is an Investment Advisor Representative—Series 65, and holds Life/Health/Disability Insurance licenses, each in multiple states.
Darby is originally from Colorado and received both her Bachelor’s and Doctorate degrees from Colorado State University. Darby’s articles are regularly featured in Veterinarian’s Money Digest, Veterinary Team Brief, Pulse and the WSVMA, and she has co-authored Real Life Financial Planning for Veterinarians.
S1E6
Interview conducted by: Dr. Jen Stonequist with assistance from Dr. Makensie Santiago
In this segment, the focus is not only on veterinary leadership, but the specific situation many small practices face being a small and close team. The ability to effectively lead a productive and happy team when you are not only professional colleagues, but great friends or even family. Dr. Pappaioanou discusses many situations and lessons learned early on in her career leading teams within veterinary medicine. Dr. Pappaioanou discusses leadership in a multitude of veterinary career fields that can be expanded into many of the situations we face as veterinary professionals working in small clinic settings.
Bio:
Marguerite Pappaioanou, DVM, MPVM, PhD, has held a wide variety of leadership roles throughout her veterinary career and is an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle. There she contributes to the research, teaching, and outreach programs of the Center for One Health Research. She is an epidemiologist and veterinarian with over 30 years’ experience working toward improving global and U.S. public health. Before coming to Seattle, she served most recently as CDC’s Liaison to FDA for Food Safety. Over her career she has served 24 years at CDC as an epidemiologist working on global emerging infectious and zoonotic disease surveillance, prevention and control programs. From 2005-2007, at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, she served as Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, and from 2007-2011, she served as Executive Director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. Dr. Pappaioanou has championed and employed a one health approach to her research and improving public health practice. She is sought out as a subject matter expert on implementing One Health to improve human, animal, and ecosystem health.
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S1E7
Interview conducted by: Dr. Shawna Wedde
In this episode, Dr. Shawna Wedde, a 2018-19 WSVMA Power of Ten Member, interviews Dr. Laura Baltodano, a veterinarian and a certified health and wellness coach and mindfulness teacher. They discuss ways in which veterinary professionals can help to reduce stress in their daily lives, with special focus given to the practice of mindfulness.
Bio:
Dr. Laura Baltodano, DVM is the proud mother of four beautiful children; they are her shining lights. She is part of the 1 Life Connected movement and founder of Andrew’s Anthem, a 501(c)3 nonprofit suicide prevention initiative focusing on the art of fully living through promotion of wellbeing. She is a veterinarian and owns and manages her single doctor veterinary practice. Laura is also a certified health and wellness coach, certified Awakening Joy teacher and mindfulness teacher. Her passion is helping others cultivate coping skills and resilience so they can live fulfilling lives. She lives in Fort Myers, FL with her husband of 22 years, 3 surviving children and a plethora of pets. Her website is can be found at thewellnessdoctor.com
S1E8
Interview conducted by: Dr. Sarah Blackburn and Dr. Stelian Fuduli
Wondering about where to start with getting your life in order? We as veterinarians have heard that work-life balance is important, but quite frankly it does not seem realistic for most of our situations. How can you balance work with the things you love? In this podcast we interview Dr. Gary Marshall, a veterinarian and owner of Island Cats Veterinary Hospital in Mercer Island, WA, and discuss how he has determined strategies to integrate work in with the rest of his life as a veterinarian, practice owner, husband and dad. We hope that this podcast will help you find your own balance.
Bio:
Dr. Marshall is a 1989 graduate of the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He has been working in the field of companion animal health since 1979. Dr. Marshall serves as Vice President of the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association locally and is Vice-Chairman of the American Veterinary Medical Foundation at the national level. He also is Adjunct Faculty for Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine where he mentors students and also helps train those interested in feline practice as part of their senior year rotations. Outside of this profession, Dr. Marshall enjoys getting to all the corners of the Pacific Northwest to work on honing his landscape photography skills, and during the winter he participates in a local curling league. Dr. Marshall is married and has two grown children. He and his wife share their home with their senior cat named Millicent Cloudberry (Millie) and Bassett-Retriever cross named Fred.
Washington State
Veterinary Medical Association
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