The Vet Vault: Veterinary Career, Clinical Skills & Wellbeing

One message that we hear time and time again from our guests here at the VetVault is that success, or happiness, or fulfilment or performance or whatever you want to call it, starts in your head. In this episode we explore what’s happening inside that head of yours, and how we can influence it for the better. Veterinarian, public speaker and coach Dr Katie Ford graduated from the University of Liv...

We strive for that elusive 'work-life balance', but are you sure what exactly you're chasing? Nigel Marsh points us in the right direction in this week's quickie. 

The first time you meet Dr. Charles El-Hage, you’ll think to yourself: “who the heck was that guy?! There’s something about him that makes me want to speak to him a some more.” And then, when you ask someone about him you’ll see their face light up with a smile, and they’ll say, “oh that’s Charlie, he’s great. Let me go introduce you.” So, let’s introduce you... When he’s being Dr. Charles El-Hage...

Today we're digging deep into the Vault to bring you this slightly alternative view from Dr Oliver Liou. We can get very focused on being high achievers and all round awesomeness, but is that always good for us? In this Vet Vault quickie Oliver talks about the flip side of being exceptional, and how to deal with the fallout of becoming 'too good' at your job. 

In this episode we tackle a subject that is not necessarily directly veterinary related, or is at least not limited to our profession, but still a critical topic to discuss because of the impact that it will have on all of us, and more importantly, because of the impact that veterinarians can have on it: climate change. If you’ve ever looked around your workplace and thought to yourself: “ This ca...

We revisit our very first guest with a story from Louisa about the early days in her career that demonstrates a vital career lesson.

We were introduced to Dr. Dan Markwalder when we interviewed to Dr. Cody Creelman, who kept referring to him as one of the best mentors out there. Seeing as we’re all about mentoring here we knew that we had to have him on the show, and Dr. Dan certainly has the experience to make him an absolute mentoring guru: He founded his first hospital at age 28, and has grown that business into an eighteen...

For people who are feeling overwhelmed: that’s normal. One of the main messages I want to get out to the vets is to normalise the enormity and the depth of emotion that they’re going to experience. Because it’s new. And to not pathologise it.  We live in a world where when we have an emotion we almost want to give it a Broadway musical: “Why am I feeling sad today? Let’s focus on that sadness...

Welcome to our third and final episode talking about dealing with trauma, loss and grief in a crisis situation, and specifically as it relates to the bushfire catastrophe that we are currently experiencing in Australia, with our super-star social worker Liz Crowe. In this episode Liz speaks to us about the weeks and months after the firestorm has passed: what happens once the crisis has abated and...

Welcome  to the next installment of our bushfire special series with Liz Crowe.  In part two Liz tells us how we can best support someone who is caught up in a challenging situation, like the fires that our Aussie vets and thousands of other workers are currently dealing with. Watching our friends an colleagues give so much of themselves is inspiring, but sometimes we feel powerless to h...

This is a special episode that we’re rushing out as a resource to our colleagues who are caught in the apocalyptic bushfire crisis that Australia is currently experiencing, but also for anyone who wants to support those in the crisis but feel unequipped to do so. Beyond the current crisis - we also believe that the advice from this episode’s spectacular guest will be a valuable resource to anyone...

Carolyne Crowe worked for 11 years as an equine vet both in the UK and in New Zealand before deciding to shift her energy from primarily helping animals to helping people by becoming  an award winning personal performance coach, mentor, international speaker, researcher and lecturer. She has a Master's degree in Workplace Health and Wellbeing and continues to research this field. She is a master t...

Helga Kausel, better known as the Travelling Vet, is best known for her inspirational Instagram account, where she shares her veterinary journey and real life journeys. When Helga is not being the travelling vet she is an equine vet in Germany, and when she is travelling she uses her skills, influence and the money that she generates through her social media accounts to improve animal welfare wher...

Dr Olivia James is one of the leaders in the field of equine dentistry. She is months away from finishing her  diplomate examinations, which will make her a specialist, and the highest qualified equine dentist in the Southern Hemisphere. Olivia  has worked in veterinary practices in regional Australia both in mixed and equine hospitals since graduating from the University of Sydney with honours in...

Since  starting the podcast we’ve had some amazing feedback from some of our listeners. I love hearing about how other  people are inspired by our guests, but one question that pops up time and  time again is some variation of: “I don’t feel like I can focus on my career, because I have young kids.” And I totally agree - I often feel torn  apart in the tug of war between career and parenting. So  ...

For this episode we're trying something new. We've had so many valuable insights from our guests that we thought it would be well worth it to review some of our favourite bits. Join us as we dig deeper into  the topics that we think can make a big impact on your career.  In this episode we explore some important themes from Dr Oliver Liyou, our guest from episode 4.  Oliver shared s...

When we started organising this episode with our guest he was neck-deep, or shall we say shoulder-deep, into clinical cow practice. However, the last few weeks have seen some major changes in the life of Dr. Cody Creelman, Cow Vet.  Up until about 3 weeks before we recorded this episode Cody Creelman was a veterinarian, multiple practice owner, and digital storyteller based in Alberta, Canada. Cod...

Dr. Justine Lee, the one and only VETgirl, is best known for the hugely popular on-line veterinary education resources that she produces through the vet girl on the run website, podcast, and pretty much anywhere where you find your continuing education.  Currently, Dr. Lee is one of approximately 450 board certified veterinary specialists world wide in emergency and critical care, and is a Diploma...

I’ve been a big fan of guest for today’s episode ever since seeing him deliver a keynote speech at a big-ticket vet conference. I knew immediately that I wanted to hear more about what he had to say. His message resonated strongly with me personally, and with the entire audience of vets there that day. It’s a message that we here at the Vet Vault think will be very valuable to all of you, our list...

Most vets would agree that excellent communication skills are one of the most important tools that we need to develop for a happy veterinary career, and it's a topic that we've always wanted to feature here, so we were thrilled when one of the leading minds in veterinary communication training agreed to join us on the Vet Vault. Cindy Adams is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical a...

One of our criteria for selecting guests here at the vet vault is to find people from across varied and interesting parts of our profession to showcase all doors that can open to you with your veterinary degree. Well, today’s guest is the poster boy for veterinary career diversity! Dr Guy Weerasinghe has covered more ground in the veterinary profession than many of us will do in a lifetime. He’s b...

We’ve always known that as part of our guest list we wanted to talk to vets from outside of clinical practice to provide us with some insights about parts of the profession that neither of us knows anything about. When it came to choosing who we should interview from the world of industry, today's guest was at the top of both of our lists.  Dr. Mina Hamilton is a smiling bundle of energy and enthu...

James Greenwood is a practicing veterinary surgeon living and working in Bristol in the UK.  Originally from a farming family in Yorkshire, James inherited the family trait and devoted himself to a life spent in the company of animals. Since graduating from Bristol University in 2007, James has worked in mixed, equine and then for the last few years in companion animal practice.  Through...

Dr. Rob Webster is an emergency and critical care specialist and one of the founding members of Animal Emergency Australia, a group of emergency clinics in southeastern Queensland.  Outside of his clinical and leadership roles within the practice he has also trained and mentored large numbers of vets and vet nurses, inspiring them with his boundless energy and infectious enthusiasm. We pinned him...

Professor Jill Maddison is currently Professor of General Practice, Director of Professional Development and Director of the BVetMed course at the Royal Veterinary College in the United Kingdom. She is actively involved in undergraduate teaching and CPD at the RVC in the areas of small animal medicine, clinical problem solving and clinical pharmacology. She has lectured extensively around the worl...