The Uncharted Veterinary Podcast

This week on the Uncharted Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss are tackling some serious questions that Stephanie lumped together from the mailbag. We've received some asks from veterinarians and managers facing the angry clients, online mobs, in-person harassment/bullying from people when the horrible, unexpected things happen. When a pet slips a leash and runs into the ro...

This week on the Uncharted Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss are tackling a question Andy was asked about working together with our (local) competition. A manager in a rural/remote area is wanting to connect with other managers. It seems the veterinarians in the area don't all get along and see no reason to work together. These managers are looking at it from a different...

Dr. Amanda Doran joins Dr. Andy Roark to discuss managing (and being) a neurodiverse doctor. Very little of the conversation is specific to veterinarians as opposed to other members of the vet healthcare team, and everyone in the clinic can benefit from this conversation. We cover common behaviors as well as resources and management strategies for supporting a diverse group of individuals across a...

This week on the Uncharted Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss are picking up where they left off last week! That's right, this is part 2 of our first cliff hanger episode. This week, we will dive into the action step ideas for the challenge facing our repeat mailbag writer who was previously feeling squashed and stubborn. They are still at it and just as stubborn as ever,...

This week on the Uncharted Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss jump back into the mailbag to make history. That's right, we got a topic we loved so much this week that we are splitting this episode into two! This week, we will dive into the headspace of the challenge facing our repeat mailbag writer who was previously feeling squashed and stubborn. They are still at it and...

Bret Canfield joins Dr. Andy Roark to take a MEATY question from the mailbag. When you have a doctor who came from a toxic clinic and now has serious trust issues with staff, how do you coach him or her through that behavior? Are you at risk of driving this doctor away? Let's get into it! Belbin Team Roles: https://belbinnorthamerica.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw0dKXBhBPEiwA2bmObTTWlmfL57KtkwfIdV74o5ksSzg_U...

This week on the Uncharted Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss jump back into the mailbag to discuss a letter from a veterinarian who is fed up with naughty client behavior. This vet is even more fed up with feeling like their hospital management does not have their back or the backs of the team when it comes to holding clients accountable for things. Clients are being mean...

Dr. Michael Miller joins the podcast to talk about the downside of leaders eating last. He and Dr. Andy Roark discuss what happens when servant leadership turns to martydom, signs that practice leaders are "giving" in an unhealthy way, and what to do about it. This episode is perfect for anyone who is pouring their heart and soul into practice and feels burned out and used up at the end of the day...

This week on the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie "Celebrate Good Times" Goss are having a party with y'all. That's right, we are celebrating our 200th episode of the podcast this week! It has been 200 weeks of good times diving into some awesome topics that we are all wrestling with on a regular basis in our practices. Andy and Stephanie both want to thank you, our listeners, for making the...

This week on the Uncharted Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss relish in living in the shades of gray. We received a mailbag letter from someone who asked "Is it just us or do any other hospitals have the struggle of whether or not support staff should be taking detailed history from clients before the doctors get in the exam room?...Should full medical history be the docto...

When is a leadership practice or decision SO bad that you need to go to the state veterinary board? That's the question being asked today in our mailbag! Dr. Andy Roark and Maria Pirita wade into how we parse ethical questions, what steps our writer might take and when, exactly, do we "bite the hand that feeds us." Mentioned in this episode: Join us for the Medical Director Summit! Care is Your Ca...

This week on the Uncharted Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss dive into the mail bag and come out with a wonderful question from a lead LVT who is struggling with a new hire that they are hearing some not so nice things about through the local vetmed grapevine. The world of veterinary medicine is a very small one - does that mean it is unfair to judge someone before you ev...

Can you lead people to water and make them drink? This week's episode starts out with a mailbag question where the writer already has part of their answer. And life is always a little more complicated than at first glance so Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss dive into this mailbag entry from a veterinarian who is considering joining a new practice. This practice is quite different...

This week on the Uncharted Podcast, Stephanie Goss is going rogue. She invited Tyler Grogan, Veterinary Technician and Uncharted Social Media Goddess as well as Eric Garcia, Marketing and Social Media genius/guru of Simply Done Tech onto the podcast. Fair warning - when Stephanie gets to have dear friends on the podcast, shenanigans ensue and this week is no exception. You may have heard Eric lect...

Practice manager and owner Jenn Galvin joins Dr. Andy Roark to tackle a tough question from the mailbag! If you're a practice manager who wants to find a veterinarian business partner, where do you even start? In this episode, Jenn and Andy talk about setting expectations, maintaining relationships throughout the current hospital, growing and using your personal network, and achieving cultural ali...

Have you ever worked somewhere that the team felt frustrated at the lack of accountability for repeated mistakes and the drastic differences in work ethic between staff members? When frustration like this extends over time, the result can be cultivating an office environment with a huge increase in tension, gossip, and bickering. Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss tackle a mailbag...

Jason Szumski, c/o 2023, joins Dr. Andy Roark to share some research on what graduating veterinary students are looking for in a first job and to answer the burning question so many independent vet practices have: "How do I even compete to hire new grads?!" Let's get into this episode! ABOUT OUR GUEST: Jason Szumski is a fourth-year veterinary student at the University of Illinois. He is the SAVMA...

Have you ever judged someone on your team when you happened across them sitting down at work and staring into space? Or heard someone say "If there is time to lean, there is time to clean!" Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss loved this short but complicated question from a manager wondering what to do about a fellow manager on their team who tends to look at things from a snapshot...

The team has been together for almost a year and yet they seem to be collectively saying "I've not been show how to do that..." about many things. Simple things. Are you ready to pull your hair out yet? We can understand why! Dr. Andy Roark and practice manager Stephanie Goss understand the pain and frustration this mailbag writer has over this exact situation. Plus they shared that when their lea...

This week on the podcast, we have a cross-over episode! That's right, this is a Cone of Shame episode. Imagine a CSR working from home, checking a client out and booking appointments from his home, or a technician live-chatting with three different pet owners through the clinic webpage from her apartment, or a doctor doing telemedicine appointments from another state? This isn’t fantasy. There are...

You have a teammate who is amazing at their job. They have great skills for the work. They get the job done well, safely and on time. There is just one, small problem. They seem to have a trainwreck of a personal life and it bleeds into their work life with regularity. How do you find the balance between caring for a coworker and asking someone to do their job? A writer to the mailbag asks us this...

If you are in veterinary medicine, you've heard conversation about cyber bullying. Ranging from clinic's getting beat up in local social media groups to experiences like the recent one the team from Maine Veterinary Medical Center had to navigate, veterinary medicine is seeing the impact of words from keyboard warriors. Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss were talking through some of their thoughts...

Have you ever asked yourself the question "Am I toxic?" This week on the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss are tackling a letter from the mailbag that asks some amazingly self aware questions. Our listener said that they have seen/heard a lot of information about toxic work environments and toxic employees (as a group). They haven't seen a whole lot of discussion about how to tell if you...

Could you imagine working in a practice that literally doesn't write more than the presenting problem and any treatments done during an exam in the chart?

Imagine that you work in a practice as a new grad and form friendships with the people who are literally helping shape you into a vet. You leave the practice to get some more experience and then you come back to the practice you started at - only this time, you are a part owner and that means you are the boss! This week on the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss are tackling a letter from t...