Animal Health Solution - a Covetrus magazine for veterinary professionals
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1306279
33 Q4 2020 | Animal Health Solutions Finding a better way It's a tragedy that repeats every day in veterinary practices across America: an owner brings in a sick pet that could be treated easily, but doesn't want to pay the cost. As a result, the veterinarian can't do what he or she learned in school: put patient care first. But the veterinarian must do something that wasn't taught: have a difficult cost-of-care conversation with the owner. Emotions can run high during these discussions, especially when the owner believes the veterinarian cares more about money than the pet's health. An owner may not be able to afford a particular treatment—or simply doesn't want to pay for it. Either way, the result can weigh heavily on the veterinarian. And when this cycle repeats over and over, the cumulative effect can lead to such a high level of duress that the veterinarian may contemplate suicide—and far too often goes through with it. This scenario isn't the only cause of heightened stress. There's the financial burden as well, starting with what can be an extraordinary amount of student debt. Then, there's the pressure of how to effectively run the business of a veterinary practice. For example, many veterinarians who join a practice after graduation often have the opportunity to buy the practice later in their careers. Suddenly, they're required to understand complex financial issues—when they've never been trained in even the most basic concepts, such as what a P&L statement is and why it's critically important for understanding the health of a practice. For Steve Weinrauch, BVMS, MRCVS, there had to be a better way. He had seen classmates in veterinary school despair over their student debt. When he began practicing himself, he experienced firsthand the many barriers that prevented him from delivering the level of care he was trained to provide. "Our profession can be physically and emotionally demanding, and despite the best efforts of so many, nothing has ever truly made a sustained and comprehensive difference," Dr. Weinrauch said. "From veterinarian or tech student to retiree, these issues remain closer to us than most realize." To help overcome these issues, Dr. Weinrauch focuses on three proven strategies. He created MightyVet, an online community dedicated to teaching these strategies at no cost to veterinary professionals.