This week on the Uncharted Podcast, practice manager Stephanie Goss is joined by her dear friend, Dr. Phil Richmond. Phil is the Chief Medical & Team Wellbeing Officer at Veterinary United and the Founder of Flourishing Phoenix Veterinary Consultants. He is an advocate for positive culture and individual, team and organizational psychological health, safety, and wellbeing in veterinary workplaces. Phil was also voted Most Funny in his high school class, was the NASA 1996 FL State Powerlifting champion (Juniors, 23 & under) and has seen Rush in concert more than any other band. That's what I call a bio! Stephanie and Phil are talking through a recent conversation had with some managers after a team member at someone's clinic called off for several days and then told their manager that they were admitted to the hospital following an overdose. This is someone who is newer to the team, performing well and this manager was asking how to navigate this. The discussion turned towards disciplinary-like actions - taking away keys, possible termination for the no call, no show, drug testing and more. Stephanie and Phil wanted to talk through why the default response is often to frame substance/alcohol use disorder and mental health crises in a disciplinary way; what we can do to examine our own bias when it comes to these challenges and leadership and how to begin taking steps to change the culture within our practices, our communities and veterinary medicine as a whole. Let's get into this... LINKS Episode Resources Mentioned by Stephanie and Phil At VMX: Veterinary Recovery Meeting is Sunday Jan 15 at the Hyatt from 4-8pm in Celebration 14. ACES Assessment/Information PERMAH Survey Information - Workplace (and personal) well-being assessments Mental Health Audit - Use the workplace mental health audit tool to find out how your workplace measures up. Vets4Vets - VIN Foundation Vet Peer Support Network

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Zoetis - Simparica Trio

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Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures.

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