The 'So You're A Vet... Now What?' Podcast

For this week's episode of That Vet Life Show, Dr. Marcus Dela Cruz joins Dr. Moriah. 

Dr. Marcus is an ER veterinarian at PETS Referral Center and a mentor for students and young veterinarians. In addition to being a mentor, Marcus is also a Social Media Creator for pet parents.

After graduating from Purdue University College of Veterinary Practice in 2018, Dr. Marcus began his career in veterinary medicine at Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic. Marcus worked with a wonderful team of veterinarians at a beautiful Pismo beach for more than three years before joining PETS Referral Center as an Emergency Veterinarian.

During this episode, Dr. Marcus shares his story from being a veterinarian student to becoming a friendly face on social media for pet parents and a mentor for veterinary students. Dr. Marcus and Mo discuss the value of mentorship in professional development, emphasizing the importance of feedback and communication.

Listen in as Marcus discusses his mentorship story, which started not in a vet hospital, but on the field during an ultimate frisbee match. He shares how the mentorship he received at his first job helped shape who he has become as a veterinarian and mentor.

He talks about what his mentorship looked like and why it’s important to define the style of mentorship you need in your first job.

Outline of this episode :

• [01:02] Moriah begins the episode on a humorous note by mentioning Dr. Marcus's special pet, Charlie.
• [04:28] Dr. Marcus shares his journey as a veterinarian, from being a vet student to becoming a veterinary mentor.
• [09:05] Dr. Marcus talks about his experience with his Mentor, who, at the time, was also the hospital's owner and medical director.
• [13:12] How can mentoring aid in the development of a professional communication style that includes the correct tone, body language, and facial expression?
• [13:48] A short ad break - join Thrive
• [14:58]The episode resumes with Dr. Marcus and Dr. Mo discussing how Mentor and Mentee communication can be a confidence booster.
• [16:51] How does a role of a Mentor change from general practice to an Emergency Veterinarian role.
• [17:48] Marcus talks about the habit of proactively seeking feedback he developed in veterinary school.
• [19:35] Dr. Moriah and Dr. Marcus discussed the value of feedback in the field of veterinary medicine.
• Dr. Moriah also emphasizes the importance of being proactive in seeking feedback.
• [22:15] How to take care of own well-being while working as a Veterinarian. Dr. Marcus shares a story of how he met his mentor for the first time at Frisby Field.
• [26:00] What should be on your priority list while going for a job interview? The importance of mentorship in a job?
• [27:50] Dr. Marcus discusses what influenced him to become a Mentor for students and young veterinarians.
• [31:41] The episode concludes with Dr. Moriah thanking Dr. Marcus Dela Cruz.

To listen to the extended version of this episode, join our Thrive community for free.

In today’s episode of That Vet Life Podcast, Dr. Moriah McCauley is joined by April Kedrowicz, an Associate Professor of Communication at NC State’s vet school.

April has been a part of the team at NC State developing a new breed of communication courses with the goal of providing students with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed at communication when they graduate.

So far, they have seen four cohorts of students graduate through this program and the feedback has been absolutely incredible.

Listen in as April discusses what has made these courses successful as she unpacks the ins and outs of evidence-based communication. She also speaks on the positive impact that communication courses have on the well-being of students, and what all of this means for their continued development in a post-pandemic profession.

Outline of this episode:

• [01:56] Introducing April and the development of her pre-clinical communication curriculum for DVM students.
• [04:07] How engineers communicate differently from veterinarians.
• [06:18] Measuring communication skills.
• [12:12] The major challenges that April’s first cohort of students experienced with regards to communication.
• [15:55] Deciding on learning objectives for each level of the course.
• [20:45] Student feedback on the course so far.
• [24:12] The structure of a third-year class.
• [26:14] Ad break - Become a Thrive member.
• [27:24] The relationships between communication skills and mental wellbeing.
• [33:22] Developing communication courses to meet the needs to vet students living through the pandemic.
• [38:18] The future of communication courses.
• [42:02] The episode wraps up.

In today’s episode of That Vet Life Podcast, Dr. Moriah McCauley is joined by Lianne Mellin. Like Dr. Moriah, Lianne graduated from vet school at the end of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Lianne is currently working at a companion animal clinic as a general practitioner in New Zealand. Her interests lie in soft tissue surgery, dentistry, and helping owners care for their pets with a keen focus on preventative health care.

Over her years at veterinary school, Dr. Lianne worked hard to build a social media presence on both Instagram and YouTube in order to help prospective vet students, support those in the industry already and educate the public!

Listen in as Lianne shares her recent experiences changing jobs. She shares the fears she faced in the conversations she had with those around her as she navigated that fateful decision.

She and Dr. Moriah also talk about the recent VetX article she wrote about managing stress and how she sought out therapy as a preventative means of caring for her mental health in this rewarding yet challenging profession. Read it here. 

Outline of this episode:

• [02:32] Lianne shares the story of her graduation.
• [05:32] How Lianne navigated her first two years out of vet school.
• [12:35] Making the decision to resign from her first practice.
• [16:20] Submitting her letter of resignation.
• [20:11] Ad break - Become a Thrive member.
• [22:40] Lianne discusses the fears that ran through her head after she left her old job.
• [25:43] The moment Lianne realized that those fears were unfounded.
• [28:03] Finding a mentor in her new boss.
• [34:07] How Lianne is making waves in the Vetstagram community.
• [39:24] Lianne’s approach to self-care.
• [44:00] The episode wraps up.

In today’s episode of That Vet Life Podcast, host Dr. Moriah McCauley is joined by Cole Upton, a rising third-year vet student, who asks her the burning questions most vet students and new grads want to ask but are often too scared to.

No questions were off-limits in this special Q&A episode. Listen in as Dr. Moriah explains the ideal mentor-mentee relationship, how to negotiate contracts, the keys to eliminating impostor syndrome and gaining clinical confidence, and how to thrive overall in the sink-or-swim world of veterinary medicine!

Outline of this episode:

• [01:45] Cole shares his backstory and how he and Dr. Moriah first met.
• [07:35] “What is your definition of mentorship?”
• [11:26] “How do you achieve that balance between hand-holding and giving freedom to your mentee?”
• [14:06] “How do you assess your mentee’s strengths, weaknesses, and skill progression?”
• [20:36] “Where do you turn when you don’t know the answer to something?”
• [23:50] “What do you say to an in-house patient when you don’t know the answer to something?”
• [26:05] Ad break - Join our Thrive community.
• [28:02] “How do you choose whether to pursue a corporate opportunity or one in a small clinic?”
• [32:06] “Who are my referral centers and how do I negotiate my compensation?”
• [37:05] “What are your thoughts on non-competes?”
• [40:34] “How do I grow my competencies as I progress in my career?”
• [47:46] “When did you finally lose your fear of incompetency after graduating?”
• [49:16] “What do fresh grads need to know about CE Credits?”
• [55:47] “What self-care tips do you have for fresh grads?”
• [1:00:12] The episode wraps up.

In today’s episode of That Vet Life Podcast, host Dr. Moriah McCauley is joined by VetX's very own founder and CEO, Dr. Dave Nicol to discuss everything you need to know about VetX’s Veterinary Employment, Engagement, and Retention (VEER) Survey.

The survey seeks to single out those common factors which lead to career satisfaction in the veterinary space. Conversely, it seeks to define those common factors which lead to career dissatisfaction.

As industries across the board continue to reel from the impact of the Great Resignation, Dr. Dave hopes that this survey will be able to shed light on the current outlook shared by those who work in veterinary medicine. In doing so, industry stakeholders from education to employment and beyond can make better decisions for the overall well-being of every professional in the field.

“We’re looking for substance behind the story,” says Dr. Dave. “And then maybe we can help to change the narrative a bit after that.”

Outline of this episode:

• [01:40] Dave explains the ins and outs of the VEER Survey.
• [05:16] VetX’s goals for the survey.
• [09:10] How satisfaction will be evaluated and solutions proposed.
• [12:36] Ad break - Become a Thrive member.
• [13:44] How to access the survey.
• [17:44] Getting to 3000 respondents.
• [19:06] Dr. Moriah shares the most thought-provoking she encountered in the survey.
• [21:24] Why these types of surveys are usually difficult to conduct.
• [22:00] The episode wraps up.

This week on That Vet Life Podcast, Dr. Moriah McCauley is joined by a veterinary well-being researcher and the founder and CEO of MentorVet, Dr. Addie Reinhard. 

As a veterinary well-being researcher, Dr. Addie’s main research focus is around developing innovative interventions to support mental health and wellbeing within the veterinary profession. As a researcher, Dr. Addie is on the research team for the next phase of the Merck Animal Health Veterinary Well-being Study. 

Alongside her research with Merck Animal Health, Dr. Addie is also collaborating with them to grow and expand her own business ‘MentorVet’ - “an evidence-based mentorship and professional development program for recent veterinary graduates”. 

Dr. Addie gained her doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Tennesse in 2015, after studying for her Bachelor of Science in Biology. Since then she has completed a master’s degree in Community and Leadership Development and a Graduate Certificate in College Teaching and Learning from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Addie also holds a certificate in Veterinary Human Support from the University of Tennessee and is a certified QPR instructor and SafeTALK trainer.

In this episode, Dr. Addie and Dr. Moriah dive into all things mentor and wellbeing related!  

Outline of this episode:

• [01:11] The episode begins with Mo thanking Addie for coming on the show and asking her to define what mentorship means for her personally.  
• [03:06] Is mentorship a buzzword at the moment?
• [05:01] What does evidence-based mentorship mean?
• [09:39] The two discuss The Merk Animal Health Veterinary Wellbeing Study. 
• [11:10] What’s going on with well-being and what is in place to improve it?
• [14:53] Ad break - take our VEER survey.
• [16:31] The episode resumes with Mo and Addie discussing the different types of mentorship and how MentorVet addresses these. 
• [20:47] Moriah asks if MentorVet will branch out to support veterinary nurses and/or technicians also. 
• [22:32] Why is peer-to-peer mentorship important?
• [25:37] What is MentorVet?
• [28:44] How big is the MentorVet community?
• [30:11] Do the mentors at MentorVet get evidence-based mentorship training?
• [35:05] The episode wraps up to an end. 

In today’s episode of That Vet Life Podcast, host Dr. Moriah McCauley is joined with speaker, author, writer, the Vetitude founder, and veterinarian, Dr. Lauren Smith. 

Dr. Lauren Smith is a small animal veterinarian practicing in Long Island where she was born and raised. She graduated in 2008 from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and completed her clinical year at Cornell University. Her professional interests include internal medicine, preventative medicine, and client education.

Alongside her work in practice, Lauren is also the creator of The Vetitude; a website and social media brand dedicated to promoting empathy, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence to veterinary professionals so that they can be happier, more productive team members and animal care advocates.

In this episode, Dr. Lauren Smith talks about the importance of emotional intelligence, and how can we set boundaries and use mindfulness to practice being present. 

Veterinarian, author, and speaker, Dr. Kate Boatright, joins Dr. Moriah McCauley for this week's episode of That Vet Life Podcast.

Dr. Boatright is a small animal veterinarian with nearly 8 years of experience in general practice and emergency medicine. Dr. Kate recently moved to part-time clinical work to pursue her passion for educating veterinary professionals as a freelance speaker and author.

As an author, Dr. Boatright has published articles on a range of veterinary tops including client support, and information for new graduates. She is also a regular contributor to DVM360 and is the author of the "Finding Balance" column for Today’s Veterinary Practice.

Kate is also a well-recognized speaker in the veterinary industry and has spoken (both in-person and virtually) at national conferences, state conferences, veterinary schools, and national student webinars on numerous topics.

In this episode, Dr. Boatright talks about a huge passion of hers - the importance of mentorship. Tune in to learn how each member of a veterinary practice should support a new graduate.