Drat & Drake Veterinary Podcast

Today we interview author and former journalist Patti Eddington, about her book "Don’t Look in the Freezer: The Very Strange Life of a Veterinarian’s Wife" (released in April 2026) and how it grew from early blog-era writing and workshops into a more honest memoir-like collection of stories.  We discuss the realities of being constantly on call while building a practice, raising their daughter Mol...

On the Drat and Drake Veterinary Podcast, we interview Dr. Kate Elden, recently hired as Chief Medical Officer at Dutch, one of the biggest telemedicine platforms, about her career path from equine practice to small animal general practice, medical director roles, and ultimately telehealth. Dr. Elden describes how COVID accelerated her telemedicine experience and why cost and access barriers keep...

In this episode, Dr. Tam and Dr. Cruz Martinez go deeper on how inner dialogue can fuel anxiety and fear or, with intentional language, build confidence and resilience.  Dr. Cruz shares his own vet school experience of spiraling thoughts and explains how repeated self-talk becomes beliefs, identity, and behavior. Using examples from parenting and everyday commitments, he highlights three energy-de...

In this episode of Draft and Drake, we are joined once again by Dr. Cruz for an insightful discussion on mental health, focusing on processing emotions and the interrelation between mental conditioning and academic success. Dr. Cruz shares a powerful story about a vet student who struggled with self-doubt and anxiety, illustrating how repeated thoughts can condition our beliefs and ultimately impa...

In this episode of the Drat and Drake Veterinary Podcast, Dr. Cruz returns to discuss the critical role of emotional self-regulation in veterinary mental health. Dr. Cruz elaborates on his 'feel better, think better' philosophy, providing strategies to acknowledge and simplify emotions for clearer thinking and effective problem-solving. They also explore practical self-coaching techniques and the...

In this episode we introduce Dr. Luis Cruz-Martinez who discusses his journey through his veterinary career from wildlife, academics, and now Veterinary Coaching.  Here we take a sneak peek at the insightful stories and lessons that Dr. Cruz has learned and also mentored throughout the years. Who knows, maybe we've found another recurring member??

Today's episode teaches us a lot more about feline medicine and the specialty behind it.  D&D were lucky enough to speak with Dr. Martell-Moran DABVP who gives us a really insightful look on the process of becoming boarded, her long and rewarding path in veterinary medicine, and also who she is as a human being.  This is our first episode where we interview someone out of our personal circle o...

WebThis episode of D&D - well just Drat - we interview a fellow RUSVM alumni, Dr. Kat Van Zant.  She shares a lot of insight on Holistic, Eastern veterinary medicine, particularly the process of acquiring this certification, as well as how holistic vets may practice. Think of it, and I quote 'Western medicine is putting out the fire, Eastern medicine is preventing it.'  Dr. KVZ also shares her...

Drat & Drake hang out with Noal as he shares his years of experience in the vet field. Noal ranks his favorite specialties, discusses the incredible evolution of veterinary medicine, and gives us veterinarians a better scope of a life of a technician.  Bonus: did you know it's illegal to call a veterinarian technician a 'nurse'? (but we still want to do it)

Another new Drat & Drake segment we're calling 'Next Level'. As I discussed before, we try not to have any particular medical jargon for a number of reasons, but when we get the opportunity for some really cool studies with a good friend we can't help but learn some tidbits on niche treatments. Let's learn a few things about dialysis! Dr. Tyler Johnson discusses some applications, obstacles, a...

D&D has a new segment called Vet Exchange, where we chat with people outside of our veterinary field to get a glimpse of what their life is like. AND THEN WE SWITCH! The interviewee becomes the interviewer.  We had a lot of fun talking to my old high school colleague, Kirsten Winkelbauer. She is a freelance illustrator and designer who gave us a slight view into the world of an artist.  We tal...

D&D welcome new graduate but seasoned doctor, Taelor Aasen to the podcast! Taelor has a truly inspirational story as someone who took full use of her resources in veterinary school and came out guns blazing and now works as a successful ER doctor.  Topics we discuss today include: - ER relief - Surviving and getting the most out of vet school - Finding the right hospital for you - Dealing with...

Veterinarian...guitarist...marathon runner...and founder of Hubavet - a new Telehealth service for veterinarians. What else does he do?! Jump into the heart and soul of Dr. Atalla as he discusses his journey as a veterinarian and his vision for Hubavet. Click  here  to check our Hubavet!

Who doesn't hate a good ol' mosquito or two? These annoying and also deadly creatures cause enough issues to us first world country, but to add on being one of the most deadly animals towards humans (aside from other humans) in the world? Today's episode we talk about some methods our global top scientists have used to try to control the world's mosquito population. So far, things sound kind of pr...

This episode is a long one but for a good reason! Drat & Drake discuss many of the various ways a veterinarian could utilize their degree, inside and out of practicing just medicine. We go into the big obvious ones like General Practice, Emergency, Internships & Residencies, but also dive a little into hollistic medicine, social media, entrepreneurship and others.  As promised in the episo...

Drat & Drake return from Orlando after attending VMX, the largest veterinary conference in the world.  We went to several talks together and give our inputs...mostly on drugs.  Stay tuned!

This week Drat and Drake speak with their first guest - Dr. Auge, a special member of the family! Dr. Auge is Dr. Drake's mother, who shares her extensive experience as a seasoned veterinarian.  Do you want to learn more about the concept of a cat clinic? Is your partner or spouse a veterinarian like yourself? What's the update on scruffing cats?

We're so hard on ourselves! We're also pretty hard on others and it's so easy to judge - arguably project our own poor self-esteem and image.  Brew up a cup of coffee of tea, sit through some traffic, or work out to Dr. AT & Drake dedicate some time talking about our personal standards in the veterinary field and what it means to value yourself as a doctor.  Comment on your own thoughts and st...

I'm happy to introduce Dr. Remington Drake to the channel as a new member of the podcast. We are officially Drat & Drake! More episodes to follow... ...but first, who is Dr. Drake?

This month I hang out with Dr. Liao, a fellow colleague and old classmate from as far back as 2008!  We discuss it all: Asian American background, student loans, business ownership, entrepreneurship, and of course our Oma/Sarcomas. Tune in with a cup of coffee and listen to us catch up on life.

Today we return have a long hiatus to discuss several things: 1.) Emergency medicine is a different monster 2.) The rise of VEG!! An upcoming emergency chain that is all the crave in veterinary medicine. Why is that?! 3.) Mental health and our stories - listen to the story behind Dr. Fifa's struggles and how her obstacles were overcome

It took me a long time to post anything for a while. It's been such an emotional year with so many reasons to keep your head down. I've been pretty quiet about a current social justice movement that has been battling a crisis for many generations. This being a social podcast, I feel like it is important to discuss this issue, especially since I have befriended many brilliant black veterinarians du...

New graduates tune-in! Dr. Hayley Hoffman, a recent graduate of 2019, has some fantastic insight on how to approach your first year.  We've talked about work-life balance here on this podcast before, and Hoffman is the key example of how to keep your mental health in check, especially while you're in your first year out. Absorbing all those new stimuli around you can be extremely overwhelming, so...

Behavior medicine is an incredibly under-appreciated and poorly understood specialty in our veterinary field. I am so happy to have Dr. Pamela Colareta, a connoisseur of this specialty to bring us a little bit closer to understand what a behaviorist entails, as well as some misconceptions we may have about training our pets and their behavior modification.  We also go into expectations entering an...

This episode we have the wonderful and charismatic Phil Aughinbaugh who chats with us about his story as a registered veterinary nurse. Being in this field for nearly a full decade, he's been in GP, surgery, emergency, and has even taken a break from the veterinary field for some time. Tune in to learn more about the stories of our veterinary team members. For the followers on this channel who are...