This week we conclude the “We Don’t Talk About…,” series where we have been exploring some often-undiscussed challenges in vet med. We previously discussed topics such as board complaints, leaving an internship, and not passing NAVLE on the first try. The goal of these conversations is to reduce the stigma around these experiences and to share resources for listeners who may find themselves going through challenging times, either now or in the future. On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Jen Brandt, AVMA’s Director of Wellbeing and DEI Initiatives, to discuss Imposter Syndrome, or as we will learn in the conversation- Imposter Phenomenon. She shares research and tips for addressing the environments and systems that promote this phenomenon. This is an enlightening conversation and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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This month, we’re featuring a new series called, “We Don’t Talk About…,” exploring some often-undiscussed challenges in vet med. We’ll be discussing topics such as not passing NAVLE on the first round, board complaints, and the actual root causes of Imposter Syndrome. The goal of these conversations is to reduce the stigma around these experiences and to share resources for listeners who may find themselves going through challenging times, either now or in the future. On this episode we are joined by Dr. Andrew Groenewold, a small animal veterinarian in the Chicago suburbs. He shares what his road to pursuing an internship looks like and the decision to shift directions and not complete his internship. It is a great conversation filled with a lot of wonderful insights and questions we can all consider asking ourselves, no matter what stage of our career we are currently in.  We are so excited to include this discussion in our series and look forward to sharing the rest of the episodes with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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In this episode of the My Veterinary Life podcast, Dr. Julie Cappel shares her multifaceted career journey, from practicing veterinary medicine with small animals, avians, and exotics to becoming a life coach. She recounts her early inspiration from a sixth-grade teacher and her path to practice ownership, where she learned valuable leadership skills and the importance of aligning with one's ethics. Dr. Cappel also discusses her experience of being fired from her first job, which, despite being challenging, taught her resilience and empathy, ultimately benefiting her leadership style. Balancing career and family life, she candidly admits to the challenges and imperfections of managing multiple roles, including raising children and holding leadership positions in veterinary associations. Dr. Cappel's story is one of growth, overcoming adversity, and embracing the diverse opportunities within the veterinary profession.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“I think that the skills that I have learned, is working within a budget, which especially in veterinary medicine that’s something that we have to accommodate all the time and I think just being appreciative and respectful of people from different backgrounds too.”

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is Ashlea Tenorio. Ashlea is a veterinary student at Texas A and M. we talk about her journey to veterinary school as well as her impressive list of extra-curricular activities. We talk about some of the challenges she has faced and how she has overcome them. It is a wonderful conversation and we cannot wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“Asking myself a simple question. And so that simple question for me was what job would I commit to even if I didn’t get compensated for it? And for me it was contributing to vet med and working towards becoming a veterinarian.”

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is CiAsha Hickerson. CiAsha is a veterinary student at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. We talk about what it was like to move abroad from Michigan to pursue veterinary medicine and why she decided an international school was the right decision for her. We also talk about the importance of mentorship and how the DVMC scholarship to attend AVMA Convention impacted her life. It’s a fun conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“I definitely do look for ways to be more inclusive with clients specifically going back to when I was a vet tech. I had this moment where an elderly, deaf couple walk into the clinic, and they start signing and I don’t know sign language. It’s definitely ASL and definitely something I wanted to learn for the longest time.”

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is Michelle Mounier Barrera. Michelle just started veterinary school, literally! At the time of the recording, she was in her first week of classes. She is no stranger to veterinary medicine, however. She has had an impressive career leading to veterinary school, which includes becoming a certified veterinary technician and going on to teach other technicians. She shares many stories about her love and passion for this profession and providing the best care for anyone that seeks care for their pets. This is a fun episode and we can’t wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“So servant leadership for me, was kind of like a lifestyle change that I took on in college and had no idea that it would develop to be something that is woven into every single decision that I made in vet school and hopefully pretty soon as a new vet. That really pushed me to take on some pretty big initiatives at Auburn as well.”

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is Dr. Indya Woods. Dr. Woods is a 2022 graduate from Auburn University. She talks about her fellowship and creating the Veterinary Intensive Program at Auburn. We also touch on the importance of servant leadership and how that has been woven into the fabric of all her decisions. This episode is so full of advice and fun, we can’t wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“And that your career doesn’t necessarily just look like a straight up ladder. It can be like a jungle gym, where there are lateral moves and sometimes you go down and sometimes you are hanging upside down in the middle. And that’s ok.”

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is Dr. Sarah Wooten. Dr. Wooten has had a very exciting career. She started in clinical practice, moved on to shelter medicine, and writing. She then created a game and is not helping to plan a conference and so much more! This episode is full of great words of wisdom and lessons from throughout her career. It is a great conversation, and we can’t wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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If you want to learn more about Dr. Wooten, please visit the following:
www.drsarahwooten.com
Vets Against Insanity CON Website: www.vetsagainstinsanitycon.com
Vets against insanity website: https://vetsagainstinsanity.com/
RACE approved online courses by me: https://drsarahwooten.thinkific.com/

“I started realizing that as veterinarians, all we’ve ever focused on is professional development and CE and how to be a better doctor, and there’s this whole other world of working on yourself. I just didn’t even consider that personal development was a thing.”

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is Dr. Stacey Cordivano. Dr. Cordivano wears many hats including, equine practitioner, practice owner, mom, podcaster, volunteer, speaker and much, much more. We learn what building her equine career looked at and where they idea for the Whole Veterinarian Podcast came from. It is a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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If you want to learn more about Dr. Cordivano, visit her website at: https://thewholeveterinarian.com/

“I think like you said, I had this little box of how I felt a practice should look and it wasn’t looking like that and once I realized we’re very versatile in what we can do. There’s no reason why I have to create this little box for myself. Then it really started to expand and grow from there.”

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is Dr. Hannah Rodriguez. Dr. Rodriguez is a mixed animal practice owner, mother, AVMA House of Delegate Members and so much more! We talk about how she became interested in veterinary medicine and the path her career took as well as the role mentorship has played in her career so far. We also discuss what the process of setting up a practice was like for her. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

We are so excited to bring you a special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We are calling these drop-in episodes the Vet Debt Sessions. Throughout the year, we will talk to veterinary colleagues about how they are managing their educational debt. Our guest today is Dr. Anne Budzinski. She shares with us her strategy for paying off her educational debt. We discuss what guided her decisions and her priorities. It is a fun and informative conversation, and we cannot wait to share her journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“I have a team that I work with. I work with a team of sale or territory managers, and so I’m not their direct manager, but I work with a team of them. So I try to use some of those skills with them when I’m trying to figure out how, each one of them approaches their work differently so I try to use that with them.”

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is Dr. Jamie Pribyl. Dr. Pribyl is a professional services veterinarian at Boehringer Ingelheim. Prior to this she was in equine practice. Today is a final episode in our series highlighting Veterinary Leadership Institute Trek. Dr. Pribyl attended the inaugural session in April and we talk about how she has already begun implementing many of the strategies. She also shares why she believes all team members can benefit from training like this. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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On this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast, we chat with newly elected AVMA Vice President Dr. Jennifer Quammen. Hear some of the highlights from the 2022 AVMA Convention AND tips to get the most out of your convention experience. It is a whirlwind conversation full of fun memories and great advice. We can’t wait to share this journey with you!
Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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This is our final installment of our three-part mini-series highlighting topics that will be covered in AVMA's Journey for Teams Educational Sharpenings. In this episode, we are focusing on how to be an upstander and stay interviews. We are joined by Dr. Latonia Craig, AVMA’s Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and Dr. Jen Brandt, AVMA’s Director of Member Wellbeing and Diversity Initiatives. They discuss the significance of being an upstander in the workplace, the implementation of stay interviews to gauge employee satisfaction, and the importance of trust and communication in leadership. The episode offers practical advice on fostering a supportive and inclusive culture in veterinary settings.

To learn more about all these resources, visit journeyforteams.org

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“We all, and I heard it from others in a group too, come with this expectation of what we think people are expecting us to be, which is really an inside out way of thinking about things, but it causes us to hold back in some of our areas of difference. And I think that our areas of difference are really what makes our team strong, when we can show up fully for each other in that way. So I think by being able to implement show up to work as my authentic self, it really invite others to do the same and that’s when we are just really firing on all cylinders and doing our best work as a team.”

Thanks for joining us on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Our guest today is Dana Ursu. Dana is a licensed veterinary technician and team manager. She also attended VLI Trek in April 2022. We talk about why this experience was so important to her and the impact it is already having on her and her team. It’s a great conversation filled with a truly special ending to wrap up the experience!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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We are so excited to bring you a special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We are calling these drop-in episodes the Vet Debt Sessions. Throughout the year, we will talk to veterinary colleagues about how they are managing their educational debt. Our guest today is Dr. Annah Windsor. She shares with us how and her family tackled their educational debt. We discuss what guided her decisions and how it is working for her right now. It is a fun and informative conversation, and we cannot wait to share her journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

Here are a list of resource shared in this episode:
VBMA: https://vbma.biz

Health Professions Scholarship Program: https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/specialty-careers/health-care/amedd-scholarship.html

You Need a Budget (YNAB): https://www.youneedabudget.com/

“It’s not about the coffee. We will walk early in the morning to a Starbucks which is an hour long walk to and from and that comradery that you establish on that walk is priceless.”

Thanks for joining us on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Our guest today is Dr. Chuck Wiedmeyer. Dr. Wiedmeyer is one of the facilitators for the Veterinary Leadership Institute Trek and Veterinary Leadership Experience. We talk about how he became involved and why he prioritizes these experiences and steps away from his job as a clinical pathologist to dedicate that time. It’s a great conversation and we hope it will encourage you to explore CE opportunities outside of clinical medicine to expand your personal and professional growth.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“If you feel like you’re not improving yourself, if you fell like you’re not learning anymore, if your growth curve has tapered off, I would say get up and do something different. Because life’s too short and you’re in high demand as a veterinarian and so take advantage of this time to learn more, to expand your knowledge base, expand your network.”

Thanks for joining us on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Our guest today is Dr. Andrew Heller. Dr. Heller is the chief growth office at IndeVets. We talk about his road to veterinary medicine and how he strives for constant learning. We also discuss what it is like to be part of a startup and how he balances the different areas of his life. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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We are so excited to bring you this special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We are talking to Dr. Kara Escutia. Dr. Escutia is a Trust Veterinarian with AVMA’s PLIT and our focus today is on delivering bad news. This is a continuation of our conversations with Dr. Escutia which we will be sharing throughout the year to help you understand some of the most common claims seen and how to prevent them. Delivering bad news can be stressful no matter if it is your personal or professional life and Dr. Escutia shares some great insights as well as examples of how you can become more comfortable and confident in this area. We are excited to share this conversation with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“Showing up and showing up as my best self and saying, ‘Hey, you know this is what I can do and this is what I cannot.’ I want to inspire my team with that and I said ‘Hey what a better thing than to get off on the right foot with my career with this under my belt’ rather than ‘Oh, I’ll do it in five years’ when I’m feeling burned out.”

Welcome to this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Our guest today is Dr. Melissa Terry. Dr. Terry is a recent graduate and currently an associate veterinarian at a small animal practice. She shares with us the importance of advocating for yourself at all levels of your career, including veterinary school. We learn how she became interested in the VLI Trek experience and what she is already implementing in her personal and professional life. It’s an inspiring and fun conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“She developed this amazing program, which just walked us through the idea of trauma, the idea of trying to cope with trauma and defining what we experienced as trauma. And I think the most powerful thing that she did for us is she validated our experience.”

Welcome to this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We have two guests on this episode! Dr. Charles Hurty and Helen Beaman join us to share about the amazing wellbeing program they collaborated on to bring to Dr. Hurty’s clinic. We learn about how Dr. Hurty decided he and his team needed some additional help and how the program took shape. It is a fun and informative episode full of lots of great advice and we cannot wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“Getting into vet school, there were a lot of people that were really interested in small animal, and I wasn’t super interested in small animal, which made me feel a little bit like an outsider sometimes. But, I super enjoyed what I was doing so I was hopeful the people around me were picking up on that.”

Welcome to this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Our guest today is Dr. Corinne Bromfield. Dr. Bromfield is currently an assistant extension professor at the University of Missouri. We talk about how she got interested in farm animals, which truly is a story NOT to be missed! We also talk about how the reaching out and building connections can make a huge difference in a career. We also talk about her experience at VLI Trek and what her drew her to that opportunity. We can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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Welcome to this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Our guest today is Dr. Bertice Berry. Dr. Berry is the keynote speaker at the 2022 AVMA Convention. She has an incredible career and tremendous stories to share. Our focus today was on conversations in DEI and the role we can each play. It was such a great conversation and has only enhanced our excitement for the keynote session. We cannot wait to share this conversation with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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If you would like to learn more about Dr. Berry, please visit her website: https://berticeberrynow.com/

“It didn’t make you intimidated to, ‘you have to go back, you have to do everything.’ It really made me feel like taking these little things and they will blossom into something bigger, and if it doesn’t work, hey it’s not going to work for you, but there’s all these other things that possibly could and will work for you. Definitely, once again, you nailed it. It’s those small things, those small little impacts that will again change and become bigger ripples.”

Welcome to this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Our guest today is Shane Allen. Shane wears many hats within the veterinary profession, including but not limited to practice manager, resident handy man, and novice dental machine repair man. We talk about his time at VLI Trek and how he has already begun to implement some of the learnings from that experience back at his clinic. It is a fun, inspiring conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

This is part two of our three-part mini-series, where we are focusing on Educational Sharpenings, a new program within AVMA's Journey for Teams. To share information on these topics, we are joined by Dr. Latonia Craig, AVMA’s Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and Dr. Jen Brandt, AVMA’s Director of Member Wellbeing and Diversity Initiatives. We focus today on the topics of  Perspective Taking and "What if I Say the Wrong Thing?" The conversation touches on the importance of these skills, addressing the fear of saying the wrong thing, and the value of genuine apologies all while sharing examples of how to apply these in veterinary medicine.

To learn more about all these resources, visit journeyforteams.org

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

Follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

Welcome to this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Our guest today is Dr. Jen Brandt. Dr. Brandt is the Director of Member Wellbeing Initiatives at the AVMA and she is going to share with us updated resources and data on suicide prevention. We discuss how research in suicide prevention is relatively young compared to other areas of mental health and how the words we use truly matter. Dr. Brandt shares some of the better practices that are being discussed now in this area. It’s an informative and hopeful conversation and we are grateful to have the opportunity to share this information with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

We are so excited to bring you a special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We are calling these drop-in episodes the Vet Debt Sessions. Throughout the year, we will talk to veterinary colleagues about how they are managing their educational debt. Our guest today is Dr. Emily Schaefer. She shares with us how she went from being overwhelmed with her debt management to educating herself to committing to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. She also opens up about some of the changes she would have considered to minimize debt from her undergraduate education. It is a fun and informative conversation, and we cannot wait to share her journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

We are so excited to bring you this special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Today our guest is also one of our co-hosts. Dr. Marci Kirk shares her experience with the Veterinary Leadership Institute Trek program, which took place in Post Falls, Idaho the first week in April. We talk about why smaller group retreats like this are worth considering for your continuing education budget and what you can expect to learn during your time. It’s a fun conversation and we are so excited to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

To learn more about the Veterinary Leadership Institute, please visit their website: https://veterinaryleadershipinstitute.org/

We are so excited to bring you this special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We are talking to Dr. Kara Escutia. Dr. Escutia is a Trust Veterinarian with AVMA’s PLIT and our focus today is on informed owner consent. This will be the first of many conversations with Dr. Escutia throughout the year to help you understand some of the most common claims seen and how to prevent them. Informed owner consent is a foundation to all these discussions. Dr. Escutia shares some great insights and stories, and we are thrilled to bring this conversation to you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

We are so excited to bring you this special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. Today we are talking to Heather Jarvis. Heather is a lawyer who specializes in public interest law, and this includes becoming an expert in student loans and advocating for borrowers. She brings her own experience with student loans to the conversation too! It’s a great conversation that shares some things to consider while student loans are still on pause. At the time of the recording, payments on student loans were scheduled to begin again in May, however at the time of release, student loan payments have been paused until September 1. We are so excited to share this conversation with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

We are so excited to bring you this special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast We have two extraordinary guests today. Dr. Joseph Hahn from Merck Animal Health and Dr. Jen Brandt from the AVMA. We discuss the findings from the most recent Merck Wellbeing Study and what tangible steps we can take to improve the culture in our workplace. It’s a informative and inspiring conversation and we can’t wait to share it with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

To find out more information on the Merck Wellbeing Study please visit: https://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/about-us/veterinary-wellbeing-study

“When you feel called to, find the courage, find your voice, and find your way forward. Build your community of allies and cheerleaders around you, which is what I did.”

Our guest today is Dr. Sonja Olson. Dr. Olson has had an incredible career! We dig into how the road was not a straight path to where she is now and how it all ended up working out in an unexpected way for her to pursue her dreams. We discuss how it takes a lot of self-reflection to determine what next steps are the best for you in your career and ways to follow your passions, which in Dr. Olson’s case culminated into a book on veterinary wellbeing that was just released! It is a great conversation, and we learn so much from her positive attitude towards challenges and unforeseen bumps along the road. We cannot wait to share her journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“That’s what happens when you come together in community, and you take advantage of everybody’s strengths and you recognize, ‘I don’t need to tell you how to be different, I’m going to show you in my own life and then I’m going to invite you to consider coming on that journey with me.’ I think that’s how you change the world, actually.”

Our guest today is Dr. Betsy Charles. Dr. Charles wears many hats in the veterinary profession. In today’s episode we talk about her role as the facilitator for the 2022 Veterinary Leadership Conference keynote session. During our discussion we talk about the importance of stories and how showing people something is infinitely more effective compared to just telling people. Our conversation doesn’t stop there, we talk about vulnerability and self-assessments and so much more. This is a truly inspiring and insightful conversation, and we are so excited to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“Let’s find your story. That’s the important part. Find your story. And, you know, the lesson for all of us, is that we all have a story. Everybody has a story.”

Our guest today is Dr. Morgan McArthur. Dr. McArthur was one of the keynote speakers for the 2022 Veterinary Leadership Conference. We chat about the importance of finding and owning your story and how the stories we tell ourselves can really impact your outlook on the day! It’s a fun, inspiring and insightful conversation. We are so excited to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“And I think if we take that sort of, more of a collaborative approach, I think it’s, you know, as long as we feel good and we feel comfortable with that, I think it’s a great approach to try and take even in GP or in emergency. I, you know like I said, I don’t like eyes. So for years on emergency, if that was the next triage o that was the next case, I’d be like, I will do anything for you. I’d look at the other vets there. I will suture up wounds. I will go calculate 10 CRI’s that you need to do right now, if you will see that eye case.”

Our guest today is Dr. Dana Varble. Dr. Varble is currently the chief veterinary officer at NAVC. She shares how she has shaped her career into something loves and has fun with every day. She has spent time in general practice, emergency and exotic practice as well as association work and editing/publications. We have the best time chatting and cannot wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

We are kicking off a three-part mini-series focusing on Educational Sharpenings, a new program within AVMA's Journey for Teams. To share information on these topics, we are joined by Dr. Latonia Craig, AVMA’s Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and Dr. Jen Brandt, AVMA’s Director of Member Wellbeing and Diversity Initiatives. The program offers free modules to help veterinary teams understand and apply diversity, equity, and inclusion principles. It includes videos, essays, and worksheets for self-awareness and emotional regulation. Today’s focus is the first two modules which are self-awareness and emotional reactivity. Our guests share an overview of the topics and share examples and applications within veterinary medicine.

To learn more about all these resources, visit journeyforteams.org

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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Our guest today is Dr. Anna Reddish. Many of you may know Dr. Reddish as one of the original co-hosts of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We chat today about new opportunities and what it is like to take a leap to try something new. She shares the importance of self-reflection and really being honest about what your goals are for both your personal and professional life. It’s a fun conversation full of great advice and we cannot wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“I had to choose and make that, change that trauma and that sadness that was so deep and make it into something that gave me motivation to go into veterinary medicine and be somebody who can bring people together and who can bring out the empathy in those moments.”

Our guest today is Hidayah Martinez-Jaka. Hidayah is completing her fourth you of veterinary school. This would already be a full plate, but she also is the current SAVMA President AND was part of the incredible Keynote Experience at the 2022 Veterinary Leadership Conference. She joins us to build on her story of finding the light in veterinary medicine. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“My biggest thing was, I said I’m a veterinarian and how that one word created so much conversation. And that’s how I ended it to the quietest of people. Because you have reserved youth, reserved children, and by just saying that. And that’s what I feel like as veterinarians we need to remember.”

Our guest today is Dr. Stephanie Jones. Dr. Jones was one of our early guests on My Veterinary Life Podcast and she joins us today to discuss the story she shared during the 2022 Veterinary Leadership Keynote experience. We focus today on how we can bring the light out in those around us and often it is as simple as saying the word veterinarian. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

Our guest today is Dr. Jen Brandt. Dr. Brandt is the Director for Member Wellbeing Initiatives at the AVMA. She joins us for a quick conversation on some timely topics in wellbeing. Dr. Brandt offers some highlights from the most recent Merck Wellbeing Study and what we can do with this information. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share it with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“Find your North Star. What’s your North Star? I have a necklace that has a pendant on it and people are always asking, ‘What does that mean?’ It’s a reminder to find my North Star. If everything disappeared and I could not be a veterinary technician, and I didn’t work for the organization that I work for and I’m involved in the activities, at the end of the day, what’s my North Star?”

Our guest today is Garnetta Santiago. Garnetta is a registered veterinary technician and has had an incredible career! Today we focus on the story she shared during the 2022 Veterinary Leadership Conference Keynote. We discuss the power of story telling and what impact you can have on others both in your personal and professional life. It’s an incredible conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“You know veterinary medicine has provided me a great life over the last years. And I keep emphasizing that because I don’t think we hear it enough. I don’t think we hear enough that, you know, that veterinary medicine can be a great life. It’s very rewarding. I mean it has its challenges but everything has its challenges.”

Our guest today is Dr. Vernard Hodges. Dr. Hodges was one of the keynote speakers at the 2022 Veterinary Leadership Conference. You may also recognize him from the hit TV Show Critter Fixers. In this episode we discuss the importance of mentorship and what an amazing career Veterinary Medicine can offer to anyone. This was an extremely fun and inspiring conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“And I think that was the first instance of you have to be able to pivot. You are going to be put in positions or situations that you probably never thought you would and so you have to make the most of it. And so, I did a lot of quick learning on my feet, like, ‘you’re the only doctor right now, you’re fresh out, you have to call in reinforcements.’”

Our guest today is Dr. Lauren Rowe. Dr. Rowe is the newest member of the AVMA’s Student Initiatives team. We learn what her road to veterinary medicine looked like and how community played a big part in that! She also shares what went into her decision to pursue an internship and then return to faculty at Tuskegee as well as how she first learned about the opportunity at the AVMA. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“It really hit me that, you know, this could be something oncologists could use. There really is a huge gap also with just access to oncology. I think it was the National Cancer Institute came out and said about 6 million dogs a year get cancer and if you look, there is actually less than 450 boarded veterinary oncologists in the US and Canada.”

Our guest today is Rachael Venable. Dr. Venable is a board-certified oncologist and founder of Pet Cancer Care Consulting. We talk about becoming board certified including her internship and residency experience and what it was like to start a business. It’s a great conversation and we are so excited to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

If you would like to know more about Pet Cancer Care Consulting, please visit Dr. Venable’s website at: https://petcancercareconsulting.com/about-us/

“Looking back I feel really blessed that I had two choices, I could either go down the path of being an artist or possibly being a scientist and I thought, ‘ok if I could be a veterinarian, this is going to be exactly what I’m meant to do.’ I feel lucky that I had that vision as a child and that’s what I wanted to do. So yeah, it was an easy choice, growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian.”

Our guest today is Dr. Joanne Maki. Dr. Maki is the Technical Director for North America Veterinary Public Health with Boehringer Ingelheim. She shares her incredible career journey and how one newspaper ad for a veterinarian changed the course of her career. We also talk about how she blends her passion for science and creativity into her research. It’s an incredible conversation and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“My stepdad, who I adore, and I quote him all the time. One of the things he always told me, ‘Never run away from something, always run to something’. So, if you don’t like your job, that’s not a reason, really to go looking, that’s not a reason to take something else.”

Our guest today is Dr. Lisa Fortier. She recently joined the staff of AVMA as the Editor in Chief for publications and we loved having this opportunity to get to know more about her. We talk about how mentors played a pivotal role in her career and helped her find the opportunity at Cornell University where she spent over 30 years! She then shares how she has found a way to combine her passion for reading, science, problem solving AND helping others find their voice in her new role at the AVMA. We also learn about many exacting changes coming to AVMA publications. It is a fun and insightful conversation, and we cannot wait to share this journey with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on social media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

Our guest on this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast is Dr. Mike Adkesson, President and CEO of Brookfield Zoo. Dr. Adkesson recounts his journey from a young zoo volunteer to a zoo veterinarian and eventually to his current executive role. He shares insights into the challenges and rewards of zoo medicine, emphasizing the importance of conservation and education. The episode also explores Brookfield Zoo's upcoming centennial and its plans for immersive animal habitats and conservation efforts. Dr. Adkesson's passion for his work and the zoo community's dedication to animal care and conservation are highlighted throughout the conversation.  

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“You know I really look back and things that I found myself doing that I may not have chosen to do really gave me a wealth of experience and helped me bring a completely different set of skills to this position.”

Our guest today is Dr. Sharon Wappel. Dr. Wappel currently works for Zoetis as an Associate Director of Global Biologics and a Small Animal Clinician. We talk about all the turns her career has taken and some of the challenges she has faced and how she overcame them. It is an incredible conversation and we learned so much. We cannot wait to share this conversation with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“What I learned was, it’s just about building relationships and seeing how you can fit in the puzzle, just education. A lot of it was letting them know what there was available and what could be done.”

Our guest today is Misty Tobyne. Misty is a veterinary technician who works for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. We talk about her road to veterinary medicine and how she jumped straight into an role in industry thanks to one of her professors. She shares what she has loved about her career path and how her roles in the company have evolved over time. It’s a great conversation and we can’t wait to share this journey with you!

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

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“The thing that I would say to anybody listening, is that you are doing great. It’s a hard time to be in the veterinary field. You know, I know so many people are overwhelmed and just remember that you know, that what you are doing is enough and that if you need help, to reach out to somebody and that you are definitely not alone in the struggle right now.”

Our guest today is Dr. Yvette Huizar. Dr. Huizar joins us to continue our discussion on diversity, inclusion and belonging in veterinary medicine. She shares why it was so important to create the Latinx Veterinary Medical Association and how she did this through veterinary school and continues to work on it during her internship. We learned so much and are incredibly honored to share this conversation with you.

Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org

You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast