Episodes

Send us a text IndieVets - the collaborative and expanding group of independently owned and operated kiwi veterinary clinics - opened its doors early in 2021. Its ethos is "local vets for local pets". Julie asks Steve: What does he say to those people who think he sold out on the whole local thing because he created, then sold, Pet Doctors to an Aussie ASX corporate?Will he sell IndieVets? How can he guarantee that?Why should independently owned and operated clinics join IndieVets -...

Send us a text This episode is to help veterinary clinic employers AND employees navigate the troubled waters of Covid-19 vaccination rollouts Given there’s been a bit of talk in the media lately about vaccinations and testing – or lack thereof - and the government’s commitment to get Godzone Aotearoa New Zealand’s population vaccinated this year, today’s episode is all about the Covid-19 vaccination rollout and how to manage it in your clinic. In this episode: can someone decline to give "...

Send us a text Dr Alejandra Arbe-Montoya a PhD candidate from the University of Adelaide and Julie South discuss: Why veterinarians are leaving clinical practice,Moral Distress – what it is and why it needs to be included as part of the curriculum at vet school,How setting personal boundaries can help when you find yourself morally distressed,What types of communication you need to practice,How to handle Moral Conflict, andWhat being a Conscientious Objector means in the veterinary context.Wh...

Send us a text Does the thought of negotiating have you breaking out into a sweat or in hives? Would you rather do anything but negotiate? Many veterinary recruitment deals are lost - the dream candidate, the dream job - because the veterinary clinic or the candidate - didn't know how to make the job happen. There are many cases for using a professional recruitment agency in your veterinary clinic's hiring process. For me - Julie South - one of the really important aspects of...

Send us a text What's it like working in New Zealand as an overseas-qualified veterinarian? This episode is the first in the library collection about what it’s like for an overseas-qualified veterinarian to work in New Zealand as a veterinarian. Because, as I’m sure you know, not all overseas qualified veterinarians can actually work here as a veterinarian without re-qualifying first. Dr Rose Unsworth and I talked about all sorts of things: the differences in pet insurance upta...

Send us a text Today’s show is especially helpful for existing locums of any kind: veterinarians, nurses and vet techs as well as the clinics that hire them. If you’re a locum, you’ll seriously want to listen to today’s show because it could save you a whole bunch of financial grief and headaches. If you’re listening from Australia – or when the borders open up you’ll be heading off and working in Australia – then this is for you as well. This app takes away all the financial co...

Send us a text In today's episode: My thoughts on whether I think we have a veterinary shortage (or not). The shift I've noticed in the last nine months or so - since we've come out of AL4 Lockdown in 2021. Examples of a few job offers I've been involved in this year where each job-seeker has been over-the-moon with the offer of employment. One of the benefits of using a recruitment agency if you're a job seeker What needs to happen when you want to work only three or four days/week. Employee...

Send us a text This week I want to start a conversation, a discussion – with YOU. I want to know what YOUR thoughts, opinions and ideas are on a letter I received over the weekend. It’s an Open Letter written by a practicing veterinarian in a small town who tragically lost her veterinarian husband to suicide three years ago. The full text of Dr Jasmin's letter is on episode 18's Paws Claws Wet Noses show notes page for this episode so you can read it yourself. It’s writte...

Send us a text At the beginning of this year, I had the opportunity of catching up with a VetStaff locum for lunch. We solved all the problems currently facing the veterinary sector and the world. Over lunch, Dr Sam shared a book she’d read called Compassionomics – a book designed to answer a few questions – one of which was “does taking time for compassion make doctors better at their job?” I’m a Kindle woman, so I bought the Kindle version. It’s also available in paperback and ...

If you're a new veterinary graduate - veterinarian, veterinary nurse or veterinary technician thinking about, or already living in, rural New Zealand then this podcast is for you because you could be eligible to apply for the $1,500 Virbac Rural Women New Zealand Animal Health Graduate Grant. Links and people mentioned in today's show Virbac New Zealand The team - Katie Turner - Digital Product Manager Virbac's values Rural Women New Zealand Rural Women New Zealand current Board Rural Women New ...

Given that Covid-19 has been brought front-and-centre back into our lives and our businesses this week, I thought it might be a good idea to have a chat about the latest business subsidy available to clinics – and thus their teams – this week, what to do if one of your team members tests positive – the subsidy available to you, and then what you need to do if you or someone in your clinic needs to cross different alert level borders. The government has recently made changes the suite of financia...

Now that there’s talk the Covid-19 vaccine being rolled out in Godzone Aotearoa New Zealand – and with a bit more of a concrete timeline than we’ve had before, can your employer give you an ultimatum – the jab or your job? Employers cannot force medication or any kind of medical choice onto staff. If they do, they’re breaching the NZ Bill of Rights Act. Many employers offer flu jabs free of charge – these are solely at the discretion of each individual employee whether to accept or not. However...

Reference (and background) checking - why you absolutely must see it as an investment rather than a cost why you should do it – even when you think you can’t spare the time, what questions to ask, what answers might raise some red flags, what to do with those red flags, and what you can and cannot do in relation to reference checking and NZ law In Godzone Aotearoa New Zealand there are some things you absolutely cannot do in relation to reference checking potential new recruits and things you ab...

As you’ll hear from Vanessa’s accent – she’s not a kiwi - she left her family and friends in Canada to come to New Zealand 8 years ago to fulfil her dreams of studying in NZ to become a veterinarian … she’s lived here ever since! Vanessa is a recent Massey University graduate with 3 years experience who works in a busy South Auckland practice as their fulltime companion animal veterinarian. When she’s not working, she keeps active at the gym, and enjoys learning Japanese and water-colour paintin...

Today’s episode is about the importance of having a GROWTH MINDSET vs a FIXED MINDSET and how to use take that approach to bring about positive change in your life and veterinary clinic. E ither you’ve got a growth mindset or you’ve got a fixed mindset . They were coined by Carol Dwek, an American Psychologist, about 6 years ago. Dwek earned her PhD in Social and Developmental Psychology from Yale University. She coined the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset to describe the underlying belie...

This is the fourth episode (004) in the series supporting the parliamentary petition at GetVets.NZ . Today we look at some strategies to help you counter compassion fatigue – both as an individual veterinarian and, if you’re a clinic owner or practice manager, a few different things you can implement in your clinic. We hear an excerpt from a Ted-X talk, as well as a couple of sound bites from veterinary professionals and we’re going to finish up with some positive psychology and mindfulness stra...

This is the fourth episode in the series supporting WHY I’m launching a parliamentary petition requesting the government to designate veterinarians as critical workers to let more into NZ to help the dire shortage we have right now. You can sign the petition online at getvets.nz . All online signatures ate 100% confidential . Late last year I received a letter from a very globally experienced companion animal locum veterinarian. In the letter Dr Rose Unsworth shared the overwhelming demand for ...

This is the third podcast in the series giving the background info as to why I’m supporting NZs veterinary sector by petitioning NZs parliament to change the classification of veterinarians to that of critical workers because the way it is now isn’t working. In this week’s episode we’ll talk about some of the other absolutely critical roles veterinarians play in the NZ economy because being a vet isn’t all cuddles and kisses from fur babies or on-farm herd pregnancy testing. Veterinarians play a...

This week we look at some of the mental stresses that your favourite veterinary professionals are under so you can get a better understanding of what it’s like to walk a few kms in their shoes. This episode touches on some painful issues - like suicide. [You don’t have to listen to those facts if you don’t want to. I’ll let you know before we get to those so you can stop listening at that point.] We'll compare the cost of human medicine vs animal medicine. You'll understand - hopefully - why al...

The first of a multi-part series looking at the dire veterinarian shortage New Zealand faces. This shortage impacts the humans doing the caregiving - the veterinarians, their colleagues and families, the animals and the animals' owners. New Zealand is home to approximately 4.35 million companion animals - almost as many pets as there are humans! In this series you and Julie will catch up with veterinary professionals to hear what it’s like working on the front line in some of New Zealand’s veter...

If your clinic is open 6 or 7 days a week, then this episode is for you because calculating public holidays isn’t as straight forward for 6 and 7-day clinics as it is for Monday-Friday clinics. We’ve got four days of statutory holidays coming up: Christmas Day + Boxing Day and then one week later, New Year’s Day + the Day After New Year’s Day. In this episode I’ll tell you how to calculate the upcoming statutory holidays and which days are classified as “holiday”. This episode is for employees,...

9 ways to get "Hire Ready" in 2021 by starting today Today we’re going to look at how you can get hire ready in 2021. This episode is for you if: 1. you think it’s about time you had a pay rise and you’re planning on asking for one; or 2. you think it’s about time you changed employers – it doesn’t matter why – what’s important is the thought is going through your mind; or 3. you think it’s about time you had some more work life balance, so you’re going to become a locum veteri...

Are you wondering if locuming’s for you? If you’re thinking of chucking in your day job to pick up the Instagram-glamorous lifestyle of the footloose and fancy free, high rolling life of the locum, then this episode is for you! Here are 11 considerations I recommend you take into account before you rush to hand in your resignation: #1 – unpredictability #2 – admin #3 – follow up and follow through #4 – have lots of referees #5 - >3 years post grad experience #6 – you need to be a people person #...

Why do locums earn more? This is the third of a three part series about locuming – whether it’s for you or not – things to consider. This week we’re going to look at why it appears locums earn more per hour than employees doing the same job inside a clinic. This episode is for you if you’re about to start out as a locum or you’re employed at a clinic and maybe feeling a little resentful because a locum might, at first glance, be earning a truckload more per hour than your clinic is paying you. T...