Veterinary specialty practice, which was once confined to teaching hospitals and universities, has been growing since the 1980s and is now widespread and commonplace. As younger pet-owning generations become accustomed to specialty offerings and demand higher, human-medicine-level care, veterinary specialty medicine continues to expand and provide ever-advancing diagnostics and treatments. Some clients, primarily older generations [...]
Stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue are long-overused buzzwords in the veterinary space, but mental health has become a more serious concern only recently. Recent veterinary wellbeing and burnout studies show veterinary suicide rates are rising, and veterinary staff are burning out faster than human physicians and most other professions. Stressed and burned-out staff who cannot [...]
The primary goal of collaborative veterinary care is to promote and advocate for the patient’s best interest, but the referral process can sometimes result in less-than-desirable outcomes if relationships between primary and referral veterinarians are strained. Tension is mainly because of confusion over which veterinarian is responsible for patient or client care tasks during the [...]
Determining the best time to refer veterinary patients to a specialist is not always easy or straightforward. Sometimes the need is clear, such as cases requiring advanced imaging, surgery, or procedures you’ve never performed. Other cases seem manageable at first, but may benefit from referral if the patient no longer responds to treatment or their [...]
The primary care-specialist veterinarian partnership should focus on collaboration that improves patient care and client experience, but these relationships are often strained because of poor communication, undesirable case outcomes, and client experience. Many factors influence the primary veterinarian’s decision to refer, but addressing these concerns can help you win over your local rDVMs, gain more [...]
Veterinary specialty care is expensive, and rightfully so. Specialty facilities offer advanced, progressive equipment and services and a standard of care that easily rivals human health care. Specialist veterinarians sacrifice years of income and move all over the country to pursue extra years of education through internships and residencies that prepare them for high-level practice. [...]
Demand for veterinary care has spiked in recent years, because of increased pet ownership and deeper human-pet bonds. Specialty care demand also has sharply increased, because younger generations want the same care level for their pets as their human family members. The JAVMA published a pre-pandemic article detailing a veterinary specialist supply problem, and we [...]
All veterinarians and support staff share a common goal—improving the health and welfare of the animals in their care. Achieving this shared goal requires collaboration from veterinarians across all disciplines, and requires primary care and specialty veterinarians to work closely together to support their clients’ and patients’ best interests. Despite this, some general practice veterinarians [...]
The COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives in ways that can’t be undone—our entire outlook and attitudes toward relationships with coworkers, friends, and family, and the value of our time changed tremendously as we faced ongoing danger. In veterinary medicine, we experienced sharply increased demand, decreased ability to meet that demand, and concerned, distressed, and angry [...]
Decades ago, the general practice veterinarian was a jack-of-all-trades who provided comprehensive care across all disciplines. Since that time, many veterinary specialties have rapidly emerged to offer pets an advanced care level similar to human health care. With all the specialty care now available, today’s pet owners, who are much more invested in their pets, [...]
