Today’s podcast guest is one of the UK’s finest, Professor Stuart Carmichael. Stuart is one of the few people on earth to have headed up the clinical services team of not one, but two of the best Vet Schools here in Britain - the Royal Veterinary College in London and Glasgow Vet School in Scotland. During his tenure, both locations successfully underwent rapid business growth and transformational cultural change.

Prof Carmichael also seems to have a masochistic streak having overseen three, that’s right, three large-scale construction hospital construction projects across the UK, the last of which was the Fitzpatrick Oncology and Soft Tissue Referral Hospital in 2016.

Prof Carmichael, I call him Stuart since I've been annoying him since he taught me as an undergraduate, has a list of qualifications and publications that would take days to read out. I’m going to spare us all the sense of crushing disappointment that our careers didn't go like this by not doing that. What I will tell you is that the cherry on the top of Stuart's large, well-iced career-cake was being elevated recently to elite status as a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons a level of recognition for huge and sustained contribution to the profession.

In the podcast, we discuss many topics including self doubt, networking skills, the paradox of skill acquisition as a surgeon, team building, self-esteem in the vet profession and most importantly the lingering doubt that he once played professional soccer.

This was a great fun conversation to have with one of my favourite people in veterinary medicine. It was such a privilege, and Stuart did not disappoint.

Listeners in America this podcast comes with a warning because it features not just one, but two Scottish accents. So you may not understand a word, but it’ll sound good regardless!