Tabitha and Laura get together to discuss their new adventures and what they've learned from doing NJAVT together.

Be sure to check out both of their social media platforms to keep up to date on the new and exciting projects they'll be working on! 

And please remember that you're not just a Vet Tech, you're AWESOME AF.

Show your NJAVT support:
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotJustAVetTechPodcast/
Twitter: @NotJustAVTPod
IG: @notjustavettechpodcast

It was recently national veterinary technician week, and we had the pleasure of highlighting and interviewing veterinary technicians who are making huge waves in the field of veterinary medicine and pushing registered veterinary technicians forward.  The interviews were so great, we broke them into two episodes. They offer awesome pearls of wisdom, show how valuable veterinary technicians are, and we discuss the biggest obstacles technicians are currently facing.

Guest Bio(s):

Melody Martínez is Certified Veterinary Technician and the first generation daughter of Afro-Caribbean, working-class immigrants from the Dominican Republic. She grew up in Massachusetts and began her veterinary career in 2007. Melody has worked in small animal general practice, emergency and critical care, and as a Senior Animal Caregiver at Farm Sanctuary, where she oversaw the medical care and husbandry needs of 800 rescued farmed animal residents at their New York shelter. 

In 2015, she pivoted to a career in nonprofit management, community organizing, and fundraising with organizations dedicated to racial and economic justice. Melody currently works as a racial equity and organizational change management consultant at Acorde Consulting. She provides organizations with trainings, assessments, and executive coaching to advance their diversity, racial equity, and inclusion efforts. She helps teams address conflict and create the healthier internal climate that is necessary for truly powerful work to take place. As a result, she has supported dozens of mission-driven organizations in making meaningful shifts to workplace culture and in becoming more values-aligned. 

Melody continues her work in veterinary medicine as a relief technician. She volunteers regularly by mentoring K-12 students interested in veterinary medicine, and by providing medical support at animal sanctuaries and organizations that increase access to veterinary care for people experiencing poverty or homelessness with animals. She serves on the board of the Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association (MCVMA) as the Chair of the Social Justice Committee.

Kirsty Oliver earned her Veterinary Nursing Degree from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the U.K., and passed her National Veterinary Technician Exam in 2004 after relocating to New Jersey. In 2005, she became a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner following completion of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine program. In 2010, she became certified in veterinary pain management through the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management. She is currently a rehab tech practitioner in a specialty surgery & rehab service in northern VA.

When she is not pursing her passion at work, she enjoys Reiki practice, beading, crocheting, and knitting & believes all adults should play with Lego !!!!

Liz Waynick is a Registered Veterinary Technician. Having a love for animals since childhood, she received a Bachelor’s in Biology from Muskingum University in New Concord, OH. She intended to apply to Vet School but after a summer shadowing experience she realized that Vet Techs did the majority of the hands on work, which is what drew her to apply to Tech School instead, receiving her Associate’s Degree from The Vet Tech Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. She currently resides in the Greater Cleveland area and has been a Registered Vet Tech in Ohio since 2010. 

She began her tech career in general practice. In 2019 she began writing articles for The Spruce Pets while continuing to work full time at her GP. In the summer of 2020 she made the switch to ER and Specialty practice and has since worked in both the ICU and Cardiology departments.

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Music from the Vet Tech Week intro by: PurplePlanetMusic.com

It was recently national veterinary technician week, and we had the pleasure of highlighting and interviewing veterinary technicians who are making huge waves in the field of veterinary medicine and pushing registered veterinary technicians forward.  The interviews were so great, we broke them into two episodes. They offer awesome pearls of wisdom, show how valuable veterinary technicians are, and we discuss the biggest obstacles technicians are currently facing.

Guest Bio(s):
Jenny Cassibry Fisher Jenny Cassibry Fisher has worked in veterinary medicine, in some regard for over 25 years, receiving her RVT in 2001 and her VTS (IM-oncology) in 2015. Her clinical experience includes, academia, general medicine and emergency medicine. Jenny Spent 14 years as the head oncology technician at LSU veterinary teaching hospital, cancer treatment unit, where she worked in the clinic as a medical and radiation oncology technician. 

Her teaching credentials include lecturing on the regional and national level, teaching fourth year veterinary students and lecturing at multiple veterinary technology programs. Jenny won the Susan Weeks nursing excellence award at LSU-SVM in 2008. She was also the clinical coordinator for the Baton Rouge Community College veterinary technology program in 2017. Her lectures cover relevant topics such as fluid therapy, oncology overview, going needle free, cytology, closed system transfer devices, chemotherapy safety, chemotherapy administration and radiation toxicity management and many others.

Dr. Liam Clay Dr. Liam Clay studied at the University of Queensland (UQ), from which he holds a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in Veterinary Technology, and becoming the first specialist in Behaviour in 2020 in Australia. Through UQ, Liam has also completed his honours in Stress and Behavioural Problems and a PhD in Canine Behaviour Assessment, Behavioural Problems and Adoption suitability in Australian shelters. 

He works closely with the shelters in research to develop programs in behaviour. Dr. Clay still partakes in teaching undergraduate studies in Animal Behaviour in shelters and clinics and supervising research at UQ. Liam has contributed to numerous publications in Canine Behaviour in shelters and has recently contributed to a book in animal-assisted therapy.  He is the current Senior Animal Behaviourist for Racing and Waging Western Australia, and consults privately in his business AABA consultants. 

Jade Velasquez Jade Velasquez is an LVT and Practice Manager who works at a general practice in Gig Harbor, Washington. She has been the President-Elect, President and Past President of WSAVT. She also has has sat on the NAVTA membership and PR committees. She uses her writing and speaking to reach veterinary professionals with her unique view of veterinary medicine. In 2014, Jade created a Facebook group; Veterinary Support Staff Unleashed to boost positivity and create a dialogue to inspire open communication in the field. She also has contributed to the NAVTA Journal and guest author at DrAndyRoark.com who has used her writing to generate some of the most viewed and well-received articles on their website. She enjoys reading, writing, horror movies, music and hanging out with her 15-year-old son,  Basenji and her CH kitten and Siamese cat.

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Music from the Vet Tech Week intro by: PurplePlanetMusic.com

Show your NJAVT support:
Don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen and rate and review on iTunes.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotJustAVetTechPodcast/
Twitter: @NotJustAVTPod
IG: @notjustavettechpodcast

When it comes to assessing and managing pain, it is important for us to get it right. In humans' pain is what the patient says it is. In animals' pain is what we say it is. Pain is a vital sign and we are so excited to have Tasha McNerney on the show today to talk about all things chronic pain management including how to help our clients recognize pain, multimodal pain management, and more!

 
Guest Bio: Tasha Mcnerney  BS, CVT, CVPP, VTS (Anesthesia and Analgesia)

Tasha is a Certified Veterinary Technician form Glenside, PA. She is also a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner and works closely with the IVAPM to educate the public about animal pain awareness. Tasha became a veterinary technician specialist in anesthesia in 2015. Tasha loves to lecture on various anesthesia and pain management topics around the globe and was recently named the VMX 2020 speaker of the Year for veterinary technicians. Tasha has authored numerous articles on anesthesia and analgesia topics for veterinary professionals and pet parents. In her spare time Tasha enjoys reading, spending time with her husband and son, and recording the Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds Podcast. 

Resources
International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management
HTTPS://IVAPM.ORG/

Veterinary Anesthia Nerds
HTTPS://WWW.VETERINARYANESTHESIANERDS.COM/

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Music from the Vet Tech Week intro by: Aleksei Gorobetc

Show your NJAVT support:
Don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen and rate and review on iTunes.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotJustAVetTechPodcast/
Twitter: @NotJustAVTPod
IG: @notjustavettechpodcast

Our podcast is aimed to offer a sliver of optimism and reality for people in all aspects of animal care and as always- advocate for our patients and our profession!

Here at Not Just A Vet Tech, we want to emphasize the importance of taking steps to prioritizing open conversations and personal wellbeing. 

Today, we are talking to Licensed Professional Counselor Meghan Breedlove about therapy, practical exercises you can do to get started taking care of your mental health, and more! 

Guest Bio:
Meghan Breedlove is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Ohio. She graduated with her Masters in Human Development and Family Science with a specialization in Sexuality Studies from The Ohio State University. She also graduated from Arizona State University with a Masters in Clinical Counseling and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Counselor Education and Supervision program at The Ohio State University. Her dissertation is focused on using restorative justice practices to repair harm and resolve conflicts among individuals in school settings. 

Meghan has worked with couples, adults, teenagers, and families in various settings. She has experience empowering clients to resolve relationship issues and family conflicts, navigate major life transitions, explore values and career interests, build communication skills, and cope with anxiety and depression. She believes in the importance of creating, communicating, and maintaining healthy boundaries in all aspects in life and seeks to support clients in this process. 

Meghan uses a range of interventions in therapy and is flexible in her approach depending on the needs of the client. She uses a Client-Centered approach and draws on techniques from Family Systems, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing, Reality Therapy, and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in her work with clients.
 

 Resources

• National Alliance on Mental Illness - https://nami.org/
• Not One More Vet - NOMV.org 
• Crisis Hot-Lines - https://nomv.org/crisis-numbers/
• Hope For The Day (It's okay to not be okay!) -  https://www.hftd.org

Show your NJAVT support:
Don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen and rate and review on iTunes.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotJustAVetTechPodcast/
Twitter: @NotJustAVTPod
IG: @notjustavettechpodcast

Laura and Tabitha get together (in the same room!) to discuss the power of saying NO even when it's hard to do.

Professional and personal boundaries whether they are ethical or even for the sake of your own sanity are often tested by employers, strangers, and even your friends. Navigating when and how to say NO in those situations can be difficult, join us as share some of our own experiences.

Don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen.

Rate and review on iTunes.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotJustAVetTechPodcast/
Twitter: @NotJustAVTPod
IG: @notjustavettechpodcast

 

Self care is all the rage but there is more to it than regurgitating the words. Actions are bigger than words and paradoxically thinking about all the ways you should be practicing self care can cause anxiety- adding another layer to deal with. 

On this week's podcast, we talk about practical self care tips and the importance of taking care of ourselves like we take care of our patients.

Product/Service Suggestions from Today's episode from Tabitha and Laura Lee:

• Tile (Produces tracking devices that users attach to their belongings such as keys and backpacks. A companion mobile app for Android and iOS allows users to track the devices and locate lost items through Bluetooth 4.0, or view where they were last seen. ) - https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/
• Free Period Press ( Paper tools for productivity) - https://www.freeperiodpress.com/ 
• Capital One 360 (Free Online Checking and Savings) - https://www.capitalone.com/bank/checking-accounts/online-checking-account/
• Pandora Premium (Ad-Free Music Streaming Service) - https://pandora.com/static/programs/2018/9999_dttvlp/index.html
• Artful Agenda (Artful Agenda combines the fun and personalization of a paper planner with the convenience of a digital calendar.) - https://www.artfulagenda.com/
• Zocdoc (online service that allows people to find and book in-person or telemedicine appointments for medical or dental care. The platform also functions as a physician and dentist rating and comparison database.) - https://www.zocdoc.com/
• Acuity - (Online appointment scheduling software. Clients schedule appointments, pay, and complete intake forms online 24/7. Free signup!) - https://acuityscheduling.com/

Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts!

CW: suicide, depression, mental illness

Compassion fatigue, burnout, and depression are all very common in the veterinary, training, and shelter industry among many others. We need to advocate and care for ourselves the same way we do for the animals we work with. YOU MATTER!

We all need to take care of eachother, compassion fatigue and depression are difficult to go through alone. Please reach out to someone and if you are being reached out to, dont ignore. You are not alone!

Tabitha and Laura share their struggles with compassion fatigue and burnout, how they are dealing with it and what has helped them.

Resources:
suicidepreventionlifeline.org
www.nomv.org/resources/
www.zocdoc.com/
habitica.com/static/home

Not Just A Vet Tech is a podcast dedicated to veterinary, shelter, and behavior animal professionals Laura Lee Muller and Tabitha Kucera, listen to a short preview and introduction of what's to come.