March 2022

AAHA Board Director Will Draper, DVM, discusses efforts to improve diversity in the profession. Also in Inside AAHA, results from some recent member surveys, and Dear AAHA addresses how to deal with angry clients.

News briefs from across the industry and beyond. This month’s articles include:

• $175K donation supports diversity, inclusion in vet med
• Cats can “read the room”
• Greenhill Recognized with PrideVMC 2021 Leadership Award

and more!

People—including your clients—make assumptions about the needs, personalities, and potential of pet cats. Yet, these stereotypes often limit the opportunities given to felines. Some cat lovers aim to change that by reimagining cats’ lives.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, BlackDVM Network, an online community created to empower Black veterinary professionals, has continued to grow and thrive.

Just before Christmas last year, when Cole started showing less interest in his food, I chalked it up to one of his normal periods of inappetence. But when he didn’t bounce back in a day or two, and I noticed I was filling his water bowl at an alarming rate, I knew something was wrong.

Across the country, clients are becoming exceptionally rude by harassing, berating, and sometimes even threatening staff. What can practices do to head off this trend?

PLUS: Tips from a Certified Veterinary Practice Manager, by Debbie Boone, CVPM

A software switch may be a purely practical decision, but it carries its share of emotional weight. A familiar PIMS is more than a file cabinet on a server. It’s our connection to our clients. But change can be good.

This article defines how emotional constructs create dramas in the workplace. It shares where they come from: self-esteem issues, early life experiences, and family and cultural beliefs and stories. It also shows the reader how to begin to change a story, and emotional construct via a simple, four-step process.

Using validated metrics, the assessment of pain provides a window for recognition of pain and more effective pain management, providing better quality data for the benefit of our patients and addressing the need for evidence-based advancement of veterinary medicine.

Kelley Davis, Office Manager and Customer Service Representative at Rockledge Animal Clinic, in Rockledge, Florida, is a champion for positive culture and buidling client-patient-practice bonds.