The Vet Vault: Veterinary Career, Clinical Skills & Wellbeing

It’s the topic in veterinary science that we wish we didn’t have to talk about. Every time we hear about another veterinary suicide, we feel sad, angry, and frustratingly powerless. But in this conversation with Dr. Kat Williams and Dr. Alena Gadoury, you’ll be inspired to take back the power to act against this curse of our profession. Drs. Kat and Alena are the founders of VetHerd , an industry-...

What if I told you that your clients never have to worry about when they inject their diabetic cats with insulin, and still maintain beautiful glucose control? And timing insulin with meal times: forget about it! Those are just some of the things you’ll learn about in this episode about using basal insulin in veterinary diabetic patients. We also discuss: Why you don't need fancy diets for goo...

You know when you see that case, usually some sort of traumatic injury , where something feels a bit 'off'. Maybe the story doesn't fit the injury, or it's the third time you've seen this patient in the last few months. Whatever it is - there are alarm bells... In this episode forensic veterinarian Dr Elizabeth Pearlman tells us why it's so important that you listen to thos...

You know that feeling when the ‘not breathing well’ patient gets rushed to your crash bench, and you stand there with your stethoscope trying to look like your planning, but actually, you’re just panicking... You have to do something, but what? Where do you begin?!  This is exactly why I loved this conversation with ECC specialist and Director of Animal Emergency Australia, Dr Rob Webster, about t...

We're experimenting with something... I found a software that magically translates your voice into any language of your choosing, and I'm dying to see if I can use it to get some Vet Vault vibes into the non-English speaking veterinary world. So, as a trial run, we had this conversation about renal physiology and the many ways in which we, as vets, misunderstand and misinterpret the link between u...

'Resilience' can be a very loaded word: where is the line between 'toxic resilience' that relies mostly on stubborn grit and self-sacrifice, and a deep sustainable resilience that stems from a much deeper place? Dr Geoff Wilson is intimately familiar with resilience: veterinarian down to the core, Dr Geoff lives a vast and varied life split between being a family man, veterinarian,...

If you find surgery even remotely appealing, then chances are a good old intestinal foreign body removal ranks high on your list of favourites. But GI surgery can be a lot less fun when faced with a linear foreign body, and patient outcomes can be potentially be much worse. This episode with specialist surgeon Dr. Bronwyn Fullagar is packed with invaluable insights to make your linear foreign body...

You know you want to do it, but you don't know where to start. It's a daunting task for sure - veterinary practice is not known for being soft on the environment, so the thought of acting to reduce the impact of your veterinary workplace can seem paralysingly complex. So where DO we begin? Well, you can begin with this podcast. Dr Jeremy Watson  is a veterinarian and practice owner. His de...

The puppy that ate the box of NSAIDs, the lab who found the bag of sultanas, cats and lilies - you know what to do: whack them on twice maintenance fluids for a few days to flush out the toxin and protect the kidneys, right? But wait. Have you ever stopped to think about HOW IV fluids increase toxin excretion? What if we told you that it DOESN'T?! In this episode critical care specialists Dr L...

" The what and the why of leadership is not up for debate anymore. We know what leadership is supposed to be, and we know what workplaces are supposed to be so that the human beings in it can actually get the work done. It's the how that we're catching up on." - Josh Vaisman "I'm excited. I feel like we're at, or past, a tipping point in the profession. People really...

Whether you're still calling it HGE, or you're getting used to saying AHDS, it's likely that haemorrhagic diarrhoea is one of the more serious and most common GI conditions that you treat in companion animal veterinary practice. But are you treating it the right way? And how can you even be sure that your severe GI case 'just' has the HGE/AHD syndrome, and not some other seriou...

The last time we had Sam Bowden on the podcast, all everyone in the veterinary profession could think about was: 'too much work, not enough workers!' But 2023 saw some changes. The deluge of work turned into a more reasonable stream, veterinary companies are looking twice at their bloated wage bills, and clinics are finally filling those vacancies. It’s a different landscape to be sure, an...

This episode is available as a video podcast on Spotify. Dr Gary Turnbull is a Director of The Lincoln Institute , a coach, speaker and facilitator in the fields of veterinary practice management and leadership, veterinary business models and life balance strategies. He’s also a former practice owner with decades of clinical vetting and leadership experience under his belt. Through his work at The...

This episode is available as a video podcast on Spotify. In this episode, Dr Zoe Lenard shares with us the importance of continuous learning for a fulfilling veterinary career, both in technical and non-technical aspects. She discusses adult learning, the pitfalls of perfectionism, and the impact these have on personal growth. Dr Zoe Lenard is a dynamic radiologist with a passion for connection an...

Regina Carey is a coach, public speaker and special educator who works to help drive change within the veterinary and human healthcare professions. But in this interview we focus on another aspect of her life: she’s married to a veterinarian, and therefore, by default, married to the veterinary profession.  In this episode we explore what’s that like to be the significant other in the life of a ve...

What would you say are the biggest stumbling blocks to a joyful career in veterinary science? The unfortunate reality is that there are many people in the veterinary profession who would not readily use 'joy' and 'work' in the same sentence. But Dr Russel Welsh wants to change that. Dr Russel Welsh is  a veterinarian with over 23 years of experience and a passion for the vet profes...

Have you ever found yourself in a moment in your career where you knew: ‘This is definitely not it. Something has to change!’  Dr Tannetje Crocker’s career is as multifaceted as a diamond, and just as brilliant, and in this episode she’ll show us that if you approach your career with intention and heart that the grass CAN be greener. This episode of the Vet Vault is for every veterinarian who'...

Dr Jane Heller is the epitome of a mutlti-faceted vet career: she’s a Veterinary Epidemiologist with an interest is in infectious disease epidemiology, with particular reference to antimicrobial resistance and the potential for zoonotic transfer of pathogens between animals and humans. Her career has included a stint in private practice and at the University of Sydney, specialist training in Veter...

Join us as we chat with the incredible Dr Dennis Wormald, and discover why he wants us to take another look at the word - difficult - when it comes to our patients. Dennis is not your run-of-the-mill vet; he's a bona fide canine behaviour enthusiast and his fascination with understanding and addressing the quirks of our four-legged friends began long before he donned his vet hat. Back in the d...

How much time have you committed over the course of your veterinary career to get better at teaching? I'm betting that for most of you, the answer is: not much. Why? Because we're not teachers, right? But maybe we need to think again. Most of us in the veterinary profession spend much of our working lives trying to transfer and translate information. Isn't that, in essence, teaching? D...

How do we make 'resilience' more than just another buzzword and resilience training not just a box to tick for the HR department? Assoc. Prof. Sarah Guess is a specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine and Associate Professor at Washington State University where she teaches internal medicine. Outside of her clinical work her interests and research are in educational psychology, resilien...

Here's a little nugget of wisdom for you: 'Do what you can with what you have where you are.' I stumbled upon it a while back, and it's like a bite-sized version of stoic philosophy. It's a solid life motto, especially in the world of veterinary work, and it neatly sums up what you're about to hear. Meet Dr Warwick Vale – a name you've probably heard in the Aussie veter...

I don’t know about you, but one of my least favourite things to see on my consult list is a cat with a snotty nose. The idea that my patient’s problem can be anything from a self-limiting mild disease to a serious and frustrating impossible-to-treat condition, and the decision-making around this, fills me with uncertainty and dread. This episode aims to replace that uncertainty with confidence, or...

Confession: sometimes I get tired of wellness discussions, with the constant barrage of advice on resilience and burnout prevention. Not because it's not important, but because it often feels like these conversations boil down to "here are ways how you should be better so that you can better cope with this challenging career." Which is why I loved this conversation with Dr Heidi Hulo...

Vets of Australia, meet Spirocerca lupi, a parasite that's been flying under the radar for a while now in Northwest Queensland. But as you'll learn in this episode, is well worth adding to your DD list. To make the introductions we're joined by Professor Peter Irwin, an Emeritus Professor from Murdoch University with a career that spans several continents and almost four-decades. He&#3...