Veterinary Viewfinder Podcast

October is World Pet Obesity Month, and this episode covers what veterinary teams can do to help patients and clients better understand, prevent, and treat pet obesity. Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor break down APOP’s 2026 Veterinary Clinic Pet Obesity Prevalence Survey, including how clinics can participate, which patients to include, and why asking owners how they perceive their pet’s body con...

Recognizing neurodivergence in veterinary medicine is one thing. Knowing what actually helps is another. This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, welcome Ron Sosa, CVPM, CCFP, back to the Veterinary Viewfinder for a practical conversation about neurodivergence at work and the supports that can make a real difference. They talk about executive function, masking, the inner critic, impo...

What does it look like to celebrate veterinary technicians and support the careers they’ve worked hard to build? First, a reminder: October 2026 is World Pet Obesity Month. Sign your clinic up for APOP’s 2026 Pet Obesity Prevalence Survey, running October 1–December 31. Eligible U.S. clinics receive a $50 stipend after submitting at least 15 complete, eligible records that pass APOP’s data review....

October is World Pet Obesity Month! We need your help in collecting pet obesity prevalence data - and you can earn $50 for your team! Visit https://www.petobesityprevention.org/2026-veterinary-clinic-pet-obesity-prevalence-survey Speaking of obesity in dogs and cats: spaying and neutering may be routine surgical procedures for most veterinary professionals and pet parents, but the nutritional shif...

The sympathy card goes out. The next appointment comes in. But when a patient dies, who checks on the people who cared for them? This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, turn the conversation about euthanasia toward the veterinary team. They explore why some losses hit harder, from saying goodbye to a longtime patient to losing an animal everyone worked to save, and why being experie...

A missed call becomes a potential ER visit. An overwhelmed team becomes a business risk. And suddenly, an everyday practice challenge can feel a lot more urgent than it did five minutes ago. This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, take a closer look at fear-based marketing in veterinary medicine and how the way a problem is framed can shape how veterinary teams respond to it. Using...

You accepted the new job, gave notice, and walked into what you thought was a better opportunity. Then, within days, the red flags start piling up. The workload isn’t what you were promised. Training is almost nonexistent. The team feels unwelcoming. Now what? This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, talk about what happens when a new veterinary job doesn’t match the one you intervie...

A headline can do more than earn a click. It can change how veterinary professionals see one another. This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, examine how clickbait and rage-bait framing can deepen mistrust across veterinary teams. Using a provocative article about employee theft as a starting point, they explore what happens when practical business guidance is presented in terms of...

Backyard chickens, miniature cows, goats, pigs, and other unconventional pets are showing up in suburban homes and on social feeds faster than veterinary care can keep pace. In this episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, examine what happens when owners expect a small animal clinic to help with a species the team isn’t trained, equipped, or comfortable treating. They discuss the real...

Veterinary employers have long complained about applicants disappearing during the hiring process. Now, candidates who are ghosted after an interview have websites where they can publicly report the employer. This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, explore what these anonymous reporting sites reveal about hiring culture in the U.S., and perhaps in veterinary medicine. Beckie explain...

Why can taking PTO, stepping away during the holidays, leaving on time, or protecting even one hour for yourself feel like letting down your team or the people you love? This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, unpack the guilt veterinary professionals often carry when they step away from the clinic. Their message is simple: feeling guilty is not the same as being selfish, and discom...

Keeping skilled veterinary team members isn’t simply about letting them perform more tasks. In this episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, explore Beckie’s early University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill doctoral research into what helps credentialed veterinary technicians feel valued, utilized, and more likely to stay. The findings challenge a familiar assumption in veterinary med...

Getting medications into pets sounds simple—until the patient refuses the tablet, the dose doesn’t fit, the flavor is a disaster, or the client physically can’t make the plan work. This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, talk with Dr. Rae Hutchins and Dr. Jennifer Merlo from Wedgewood Pharmacy about how veterinary compounding can support better patient care when commercially availab...

More pet owners are asking an AI agent before they call the clinic. They’re walking into the exam room with AI-generated ideas, possible causes, treatment questions, and sometimes a pretty strong opinion about what should happen next. So how should veterinary teams respond? In this 501st weekly episode of The Veterinary Viewfinder, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, talk about what happen...

For 500 consecutive weeks, The Veterinary Viewfinder has shown up for the conversations veterinary medicine needs, from team dynamics and credentialed technician advocacy to urgent care, leadership, burnout, workplace culture, and the profession’s toughest debates. In this milestone episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, reflect on nearly a decade of weekly podcasting without missing...

When was the last time you felt truly appreciated at work? This week on the Veterinary Viewfinder, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, are joined by Josh “Mexico Joe” Vaisman, MAPPCP (PgD), CCFP, Lead Positive Change Agent, author of Lead to Thrive: The Science of Crafting a Positive Veterinary Culture, and founder of the Flourish Academy. Together, they ask whether veterinary medicine too...

Pride Month gives veterinary teams a chance to celebrate LGBTQ+ colleagues and clients, but real allyship has to continue long after June. This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, talk with Stephanie Goss, CEO of PrideVMC, about how veterinary practices can move beyond rainbow stickers and build support into everyday clinic culture. Stephanie shares her path to and through veterinary...

America’s 250th birthday is not shaping up to be a typical one-night July 4th celebration. With fireworks and community events expected to stretch across July 3, 4, and 5 (and expect some noise even earlier), Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, are urging veterinary teams to prepare now for an extra-long, extra-loud holiday weekend. This episode focuses on what clinics can do before the bo...

What does it mean to be a veterinarian, a credentialed veterinary technician, an assistant, or a new role entering the clinical space? In this episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, dig into veterinary medicine’s identity problem: how comparisons to human medicine, unclear titles, internal hierarchies, and emerging roles like Colorado’s veterinary professional associate (VPA) can sha...

After-hours and urgent care have changed dramatically in veterinary medicine, but the system still has serious gaps. In this episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, look at what happens when pet owners need help after hours, and there’s nowhere realistic to send them. The conversation starts with the old model of pagers, late-night calls, and general practices carrying emergency respo...

This week on the Veterinary Viewfinder, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, talk with Michelle Crew, a credentialed LVT and the entrepreneur behind The Mobile Vet Tech, about building a career outside the traditional clinic setting. After losing what she thought was her “unicorn job” during COVID, Michelle began offering in-home services such as nail trims and anal gland expression, and fo...

In this episode of The Veterinary Viewfinder, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, use the current Hantavirus conversation as a jumping-off point for a bigger issue affecting every veterinary team: public trust in science. This is not a panic episode, and it is not about predicting another COVID. Instead, it is a practical conversation about science skepticism, vaccine hesitancy, misinforma...

Missed charges happen in every veterinary practice, but what happens next says a lot about clinic culture. In this episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, take on the uncomfortable reality of billing mistakes: forgotten charges, wrong invoice items, inventory mix-ups, and the dreaded follow-up call to a client. They discuss why missed charges often turn into blame, especially for tech...

Veterinary medicine is full of passionate people, but sometimes that passion turns into camps, loyalty tests, and turf wars. In this episode of the Veterinary Viewfinder, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, discuss why veterinary professionals can feel pressured to support only one organization, cause, or point of view, and why that mindset may be holding the profession back. From veterina...

This week on Veterinary Viewfinder, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, focus on Veterinary Receptionist Week (April 19–25, 2026) and the people who hold the entire clinic together from the front desk. They break down what veterinary receptionists actually do day to day, from triaging calls and managing the schedule to handling emotional clients and keeping patient flow on track. It’s a ro...