Business
About a year ago I began hearing more and more stories from students and young colleagues about some of the miserable ways they were treated at school, and in their first jobs. Meanwhile, for the longest time I have been disappointed by the way veterinary professionals treat each other on veterinary Listservs, and even at CE meetings; there is an obvious undertone of snarkiness, and sometimes disdain when colleagues share experiences about how they diagnose, and treat cases. This is not a new thing in the profession, because when I started thinking about it I realized that this tone has been present all through by vet school years and my veterinary career. I just finally recognized it! Cue a meeting I attended this past summer where Dr. Betsy Charles, was a guest speaker. She is the executive Director of the Veterinary Leadership Institute, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of veterinary leaders. During one of her presentations she discussed an undercurrent of bullying, and shaming within the profession. The light bulb went on and I knew I needed to have Dr. Charles on this podcast to discuss this subject. This is a fascinating podcast with Dr. Charles because this is a complex topic. I must admit that by the end of our chat Dr. Charles brought up a concept that gave me a profound sense of optimism about our profession. It was almost the missing link that joins the challenges we have as a profession, and a solution to help steer us past these challenges. I won’t say anything more about it, you will have to listen to the end to find out. This is a discussion we need to start and the profession needs to address. Some of our conversation may be very controversial to some people so please leave a comment here, or on our Facebook Page. The more we discuss this the better we will be able to find a solution. You can find our more about the Veterinary Business Institute at their website, and on their Facebook Page.