Kay Ritchie has a wealth of experience in the animal health industry. With 15 years as a registered veterinary nurse and seven years as an account manager for the largest global animal health company, Kay’s in-depth knowledge of both the veterinary and business sides of the industry has allowed her to provide key insights from a candidate side and employer angle. Her experience and transition is representative of what is happening now – burnout and fatigue. But she wanted to continue her connection to the veterinary industry. And hence is now at Noble Futures, a recruitment agency dedicated to servicing the global animal health industry.

Seeking the right job and best practices on hiring veterinary staff

Dr Nadine Hamilton helps veterinary and animal workers by using research, evidence-based solutions to help them get in control of their wellbeing so they can enjoy life, become more resilient, feel healthy, and easily knock out stress and overwhelm. She is a psychologist, author and international speaker. A leading authority on veterinary wellbeing and founder of the charity Love your Pet, Love your Vet (LYPLYV), Nadine joins us on episode 8 to talk about managing expectations and setting boundaries.

Managing expectations and setting boundaries at the veterinary clinic

Anthony is the CEO of Alpha Vet International and is a veterinary dermatologist. In 2010, he started The Webinar Vet, which is the largest online provider of veterinary CPD in Europe. In this episode, we talk about Anthony’s journey, current aims, his thoughts on learning in a post-COVID-19 world and why sustainability should be at the top of your agenda.

The power of being a life-long learner

There are a half-million service animals in the United States, according to ShareAmerica, and 16,766 assistance dogs certified by Assistance Dogs International. 

These animals aid in so many ways, yet the cost of veterinary care may prove unaffordable for the families that adopt assistance canines after their years of service are over. Now, a new initiative aims to close the care gap with service animal care plans.  

Our guest, Nick Braukhoff, is a volunteer firefighter and software manager at Covetrus. He’ll talk about the types of service animals that might benefit from these plans and how the plans enable local clinics to do good in their community, while fostering stronger bonds with pet parents. 

Find out more about the pilot program by emailing serviceanimals@vcp.vet.

Please like, subscribe and review the show wherever you listen — it helps new listeners find us! 

Have feedback? Email nicole.knight@covetrus.com.

Episode 12 - Philanthropy in Practice: Care Plans for Service Animals

What to expect with Ascend. This episode looks at the team behind-the-scenes of Covetrus Ascend! We dive into the key drivers of what and why we built it the way it is designed. Carly’s passionate expertise highlights the need for mobility, key integrations, an intuitive interface and the ability to enhance not just the experience for the clinical team, but for pet parents too. Listen to our 10-minute chat with her and find out what functionality you should be expecting and looking out for.

Product Spotlight with Carly Clark, Product Manager at Covetrus GTS

Will is the Managing Partner at VetsDigital and has over 14 years’ experience marketing in the veterinary industry. VetsDigital are Europe’s largest veterinary-only marketing agency that have a range of services from SEO to Email Marketing to Web Design and Campaign Management. They work with “one-man-band” practices to large pharmaceuticals and everything in between.

In this episode, we talk about the importance of a marketing strategy and the top tips on key marketing practices you can implement today.

Creating a strategy and using your practice management system to drive your marketing efforts

Technology can be a unifying force for good, connecting practices to pet parents and pet patients to improve animal health. If you’re curious about technology, how do you choose one that will support your clinic’s goals for the long term?  

In the first episode of Covetrus® Connected Care, Ying Chen, Chief Customer Officer, Product at Covetrus, outlines practical, easy-to-follow steps to find value in technology. For example, she suggests starting with certain technologies, which she calls “small t” technologies, rather than others.

Episode 1 - Finding Value in "Small t" Technology

In our 12th episode of Paws, Rewind and Play, we talk to Ellie Cavale who is co-founder of Vets on the Common, a start-up practice based in London, United Kingdom. She is an RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Surgery providing both first opinion and referral care to their patients. Their values are based on her and a colleague’s history of treating London’s stray dogs, cats, exotics and wildlife, where they transitioned to setting up their own practice and wanted to create a place with love, compassion, trust and expertise.

Ellie talks specifically about key challenges present for smaller, local independent practices, her valuable recommendations and her vision ahead.

Navigating veterinary practice life as a start-up and business owner

For our 13th episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Ian Shapland who is an Approved Advisor with a focus on Marketing and Business Development. He is the Co-Founder of VetDigital in Australia and his expertise heralds from 30+ years working across the Veterinary, Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical industries consulting in traditional and online marketing.

Understanding how to balance budgets and evaluate what’s critical in the CoL crisis can be a headache. Here, we unpack the importance of brand equity and how to make sure things like marketing and advertising don’t take a backseat. It can even impact and benefit your staff recruitment efforts.

Maintain brand presence and marketing efforts in the cost of living crisis

In episode 14, we take a look at the Cost of Living Crisis in the veterinary industry, “navigating the same sea with a different boat!” Words nicely put together by wonderful Gemma Barmby who is a Veterinary Business Consultant with a head for numbers and a love of PowerPoint.

Looking ahead and navigating the Cost of Living (CoL) crisis in the veterinary industry

In episode 15, we talk with Dr Jocelyn Birch Baker and dive deep into the challenges faced by female employees in a male-dominated industry as she shares valuable insights on how to retain fantastic veterinarians in the clinical space.

Seeking the right job and best practices on hiring veterinary staff

Paws, Rewind and Play

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