If you’re at AVMA on Monday morning, come check out three hours of working and service dog talks presented by AAHA, including a panel discussion and Q&A!  

Anyone who has ever put a beloved pet to sleep might wonder if there’s such a thing as a “good” euthanasia.  Kathleen Cooney, DVM, MS, CHPV, a leading authority on companion animal euthanasia, says yes.  

Many veterinary professionals aren’t enthusiastic about anything that smacks of New Age “woo,” from the theoretical healing power of crystals to the more established power of meditation to calm.

Veterinary medicine is chock-full of goal-oriented people who are accustomed to doing well in school, meeting challenges head-on, and problem-solving their way through emotional and difficult days. I’m like that too, which means when I find something that doesn’t come naturally to me, I tend to do everything I can to avoid it.    This has been my relationship with any mindfulness or meditation practice I’ve ever tried.

Nephrology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the kidney, while urology deals with conditions related to the urinary tract. Together, they’re one step closer to being an official specialty in Veterinary medicine.

PetSmart kicked off the trend of offering veterinary services in retail stores back in 1994. Now they're revolutionizing the market again with an independent business ownership model that allows veterinarians to open their own AAHA-accredited practice inside a PetSmart location.

Dr. Stacee Santi, veterinarian and founder of Vet2Pet, says part of the reason we're so tired is that we find ourselves "having to go on a bunch of first dates all the time." She thinks the right tech, used the right way, can get us closer to our ideal client - and our ideal day in practice. 

One of the central themes in the AAHA Working, Assistance, and Therapy Dog Guidelines, the first set of complied guidelines for the care and handling of these amazing canine citizens, is the idea of cooperative care – with the dogs, with their handlers, and with our veterinary teammates. We certainly owe these heroes our compassion, empathy, and gentle handling, but in truth those are skills we can never polish up too much in our work as veterinary professionals.

David Ballard, PsyD, MBA, our guest on this week’s episode of Central Line: The AAHA Podcast , is not just a visionary – he's an expert in what makes organizations psychologically healthy, and he’s helped groups all over the human healthcare ecosystem get there. Thanks to connections that led him to Veterinary Visionaries, he’s turning that expert eye toward veterinary medicine. Check out this excerpt from our conversation.

The new buzzwords in leadership circles today are “psychological safety” and “vulnerability.” If you can create a workplace that honors these twin poles, note leadership gurus, your employees will feel safe enough to innovate.