The Veterinary Culture Lab

Mistakes and unexpected outcomes are an unavoidable part of doing complex medical work. But what happens after something goes wrong can have a powerful impact on the people involved—and the culture around them. In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore research on debriefing after adverse medical events in veterinary practice. The findings suggest that simply having a d...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore what happens when the veterinary career you worked so hard to build doesn’t quite look like the one you imagined. Grounded in recent research exploring the experiences of newly credentialed veterinary technicians, this conversation examines the gap between the expectations people carry into the profession and the realities they...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh dig into something veterinary leaders hear all the time: people need more feedback. But what if the real issue isn’t how much feedback we give—but how nourishing that feedback actually is? Grounded in research exploring strengths-based feedback, work engagement, and job crafting, this conversation looks at what happens when feedback goe...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore a surprising question: what if the goal of wellbeing isn’t to eliminate adversity—but to help people navigate it well? Grounded in research examining how cumulative lifetime adversity influences our response to future stress, this conversation explores an unexpected finding: people who had experienced moderate adversity showed m...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab, Andi and Josh explore one of the most inevitable—and emotionally charged—parts of veterinary medicine: mistakes. Grounded in research on error management culture, psychological capital, job satisfaction, and wellbeing, this conversation examines why the way a team responds to mistakes may be just as important as the mistakes themselves. Rather than as...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab, Andi and Josh explore what happens when a lifelong passion becomes a profession—and why loving horses alone is not enough to sustain a career in equine medicine. Grounded in recent international research on employee engagement and work satisfaction in equine veterinary professionals, this conversation examines the workplace factors that help passionat...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore a deceptively simple question: what actually keeps people engaged at work? Grounded in research on positive leadership, workplace climate, and employee engagement, this conversation unpacks how the everyday interactions between people shape motivation, burnout, and the decision to stay—or leave. Because it turns out that engagem...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore a powerful and deeply human question: what helps veterinary professionals stay emotionally connected to meaningful work — even when the work itself is hard? Grounded in research on compassion satisfaction, resilience, psychological distress, and life satisfaction, this conversation unpacks the idea that wellbeing in veterinary m...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore what actually makes people stay in veterinary workplaces during difficult times—and why communication may be one of the most powerful retention tools we have. Grounded in research on positive communication and The Great Resignation , this conversation unpacks how transparency, flexibility, support, and trust shape the way veteri...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore a hopeful but important question: what if veterinary medicine already has many of the ingredients needed for people and teams to thrive? Grounded in research on meaningful work, burnout, resilience, leadership, and workplace wellbeing, this conversation challenges the idea that vet med is fundamentally broken. Instead, the episo...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore a question that hits a nerve for many veterinary professionals: why does feedback so often feel threatening instead of helpful? Grounded in brand-new veterinary research on psychological safety, communication quality, and turnover intention, this episode unpacks how the way feedback is delivered can shape trust, team culture, an...

This episode is best experienced IN FULL!!  We recorded this live in Zimbabwe during the THRIVE veterinary wellbeing retreat—and the video version brings it all to life. From wildlife encounters to breathtaking landscapes and powerful human moments, you can watch the full experience unfold on YouTube here . In this special episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi records live from Zimbabwe dur...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore the role of interpersonal curiosity—and why it might be one of the most underrated skills in veterinary medicine today. Grounded in research on resilience in veterinary students, this conversation unpacks how curiosity shows up in the way we interpret stress, respond to challenges, and connect with the people around us. Because...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh take on one of the most talked-about concepts in veterinary medicine: work-life balance. Truth is that most practices already have work-life balance policies. PTO exists. Sick days exist. Flexibility exists. And yet - burnout persists. So, what is actually going on? Grounded in science, this episode explores a powerful and often overloo...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh take on one of the most common and emotionally charged narratives in veterinary medicine: “Younger generations just do not want to work.” Rather than reinforcing stereotypes or dismissing frustration, this conversation turns to the research. Grounded in a 2016 cross-temporal meta-analysis by Jean Twenge and colleagues, the episode explo...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore a powerful idea: every veterinary clinic is performing a play—whether it realizes it or not. The stage is your hospital. The cast is your team. The script? That is your culture. Grounded in the evidence-based framework from Organizational Culture in Action by Gerald Driskill and Julian Mirivel, this episode unpacks how workplace...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh take on one of the most talked-about—and most misunderstood—topics in veterinary medicine: burnout. Rather than adding to the noise, this conversation brings clarity by grounding the discussion in science and centering the experience of veterinary technicians and nurses. Grounded in a 2025 Delphi study led by Angela Chapman and colleagu...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore why some veterinary teams feel energized, supportive, and fully engaged - while others feel stuck just going through the motions. The difference is not talent, workload, or motivation. It is how people support one another at work. Grounded in a large meta-analysis on interpersonal support and self-determination theory, this conv...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh dig into what really sits behind so-called “unicorn clinics”—and it turns out it is not luck, perks, or fairy dust. It is communication. Grounded in a 2012 study by communication scholars Paul Madlock and Melanie Booth-Butterfield, this conversation explores relational maintenance : the everyday communication behaviors coworkers use to...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh dig into one of the simplest—yet most underestimated—forces shaping veterinary culture: the experience of feeling genuinely heard at work. Grounded in a massive meta-analytic review on perceived listening, they unpack how the quality of our listening predicts our workplace wellbeing. The punchline? Listening may be one of the most power...

Care Flows Forward: How Supporting Your Team Elevates Patient Care in Vet Med In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore a simple but powerful truth: teams do not feel your intentions — they feel your behaviors. Using a human healthcare study on manager caring and patient experience, they dig into how presence, visibility, and small supportive actions ripple outward to s...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh return for Part 2 of their conversation on coaching communication—this time turning insight into action. Building on the science from The Effectiveness of Workplace Coaching: A Meta-Analysis of Contemporary Psychologically Informed Coaching Approaches (2021), this episode explores how curiosity comes to life through Sir John Whitmore’s...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore what coaching really means in veterinary medicine—and why curiosity might be the most powerful tool we have to strengthen culture. Grounded in a 2021 meta-analysis of workplace coaching, this conversation unpacks how three evidence-based approaches—GROW, Positive Psychology Coaching, and Cognitive Behavioral Coaching—can help ve...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh dive into groundbreaking new research from their friend Dr. Zach Mercurio—research that pinpoints exactly how leaders can help veterinary teams experience more meaningful work. Grounded in a 2024 study on purposeful leadership , this conversation uncovers six specific, learnable leadership practices that boost energy, reduce burnout, an...

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab , Andi and Josh explore the power of resilience—not just as a personal trait, but as a skill we can teach, build, and share. Grounded in a 2017 study by Jenny Moffett and David Bartram, this conversation uncovers what happens when veterinary students receive formal resilience education early in their careers—and what it means for the rest of us who nev...