While shining a light on the many different areas of the field of veterinary technology, we aim to have thought provoking discussions about the issues facing veterinary technicians and nurses with the leaders in our field.
It's finally May and that means Mental Health Awareness Month. All our episodes this month will focus on mental health issues. We hope to have some great discussions with some amazing guests. We're starting off with a short taproom episode letting you know all the great resources we'll be giving you this month.
Links:
https://Betterhelp.com/vettechcafe
We've talked a lot about the importance of being involved in your state and national technician associations, and we're back at it with Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (Nutrition). You may remember Ed from a previous episode, and we invited him back for another cup of coffee. Currently, Ed is the sitting President of NAVTA and we wanted to check in to see what NAVTA is up to and where the VNI is currently at. As always, we had great discussion about our profession and professional organizations. Let us get you a cup of coffee and come join in the conversation!
Links:
We've discussed at length on the Vet Tech Cafe podcast how the veterinary technician profession faces several complex problems. The possible solutions to these issues are even more complex. But don't lose hope-there are many of our colleagues dedicating their professional lives to work towards solutions. One such solution commonly mentioned is unionization. You may remember our anniversary episode from last year with Liz Hughston in which she introduced us to the idea of unionization in veterinary medicine and what that may look like. She also put us in touch with Katy Bradley, who was a leader of the movement to unionize a specialty hospital in the San Francisco Bay area that was ultimately shuttered by the Mars corporation. In this episode, we take a deeper dive into what unionization could look like and why proponents of it feel it is vital to our survival. Whatever your viewpoint of unions may be, put your work boots on, grab that thermos of coffee and give this episode a listen. As always, let us know what you think!
Jeff and Dave were guests on the PAWSitive Leadership Podcast with David Liss, RVT, VTS (ECC, SAIM), CVPM, PHR and Andrea Crabtree, BS, CVPM, SPHR, PHRca, CCFP. This podcast focuses on veterinary practice management issues. We really enjoyed being guests on this up and coming podcast. Be sure to check them out at the links below!
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/PAWSitiveLeaders
https://www.pawsitiveleaders.com/
Hello Caffeinators! Throughout the life of this podcast, we've stepped out of our comfort zone in several episodes to talk about things we encounter in our field everyday. Things that matter. Things that we all know exist but don't talk about. And we're doing it again. Brittany Laflen, RVT, VTS (IM-Neurology) and AIMVT President-Elect came by to chat with us and we could've talked for hour about so many facets to this issue. If you're in this field long enough, you will work with somebody who is expecting a baby, or be wearing those shoes yourself. Before you listen to this episode, ask yourself two questions: What is your reaction when you find out a co-worker is pregnant? Why is that your reaction? I think many of us would answer both of those questions in similar ways, and that's unlikely to be for a good reason. So let us pour you a cup of hot tea, coffee, or cocoa, and instead of talking, let's listen to what Brittany has to say on this one. We think we can all learn a few things from this one about how to support our colleagues.
Links:
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2009/10/01/the-harried-life-of-the-working-mother/
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/perinatal-depression/index.shtml
https://www.epi.org/child-care-costs-in-the-united-states/
There have been so many episodes that we could easily have recorded hours worth of conversation, and this is yet another. Ed Durham, CVT, LATG, VTS(Cardiology) has been there and done that as a veterinary technician, and then some. His career is in its' sixth different decade and he gives us a glimpse into some of what he has seen and done along the way, including the infamous Phoenix Heart Event in 1985, cath lab work at the University of Missouri under the tutelage of a world renowned veterinary cardiologist, and the creation of the cardiology subspecialty VTS credential. We didn't even get to many of his other accomplishments such as the cardiology book he edited and many others. This is the kind of conversation you could have around the campfire and one that we hope to continue in the future. We hope you enjoy it-let us know what you think!
Links:
Cardiology for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses | Wiley
Happy Sunday Caffeinators!! Wishing you a warm and thawed Sunday night. For our next episode of the Vet Tech Cafe we interviewed Arantxa Lasa, an RVT at Oklahoma State University. She previously spent time in the food production department, but has now found a home in the anesthesia department. She discusses what it has looked like to navigate the pandemic at the academic level and she hopes 2021 will look like. She talks about her work both in the US and abroad with different spay/neuter clinics. Arantxa has a very fresh perspective on being a veterinary technician, and we also discuss how she balances her workload to avoid many of the pitfalls of being a veterinary technician as she is right at that time in her career where many veterinary technicians move on to another field. Make no mistake, she's not going anywhere any time soon.
https://visitingveterinarians.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/291288878209353/?ref=share
Hello Caffeinators!! One of our goals for 2021 was to start having discussions about the veterinary technician profession on a more global scale. We aim to see what similarities or differences exist between those of us in the US and our colleagues in other countries, and to see how we can exchange ideas and work together to keep moving forward. So for the cup of coffee for this episode, we're headed north of the border of the US to Canada and pouring up some Tim Horton's! Andrea Steele, MSc, RVT, VTS(ECC) joined us recently to talk about RVT life in Canada. We explored how licensure across the provinces compares to that across states in the US, public perception, and something many of us are very jealous of here in the US-RVT MONTH!! This is the first of these conversations for us and we hope you find it as fascinating and beneficial as we do. In which country would you like us to bring the Vet Tech Cafe to next?
Links:
https://andreasteelervt.ca/
http://oavt.org/CMFiles/News/2016PosterLowResPDF.pdf
http://oavt.org/membership/what-is-an-rvt-
When you think back to your time as a veterinary technician student, how much career guidance or career counseling did you get? If you're like us, it was very little to none. That's a huge part of our mission here at the Vet Tech Cafe-shining light on every aspect of the profession so you can see what all is out there. Somehow, it's taken us a year to come up with the idea to actually interview somebody who does exactly this-but we were finally hit over the head with the idea and we're so happy to bring you our first (hopefully more!) episode with Rebecca Rose, CVT. Rebecca is a Certified Career Coach and has published a book called Career Choices for Veterinary Technicians, and is currently working on a second edition (we wonder if veterinary podcast host will be in there?)! She is also the founder of CATALYST Veterinary Professional Coaches-check them out on social media for some great content and inspiration! We hope you enjoy this one!
Links:
https://catalystvetpc.com/veterinary-teams-living-well-symposium/
https://www.amazon.com/Career-Choices-Veterinary-Technicians-Opportunities/dp/1583261966
Welcome to 2021, Caffeinators! We've got some big ideas for this year, but we plan to keep our format the same and keep having important, thought-provoking discussions. As such, we're starting off strong with Deborah Calantropio-Covington, BA, RVT, LAT, LATG, VTS-LAM. Lab animal medicine is often a difficult or sensitive topic to many in our field. We often learn in school that lab animal medicine exists, but it's often glossed over and not given its fair due. What we hope to bring to light is that not only is this a viable career path, but that we're all veterinary technicians with a common goal-to give the best care possible to the patients under our care. The patients might look a little different, but the people are very similar. We invite you to come inside the Vet Tech Cafe, order a gingerbread spiced tea, and join us for this conversation and learn about the field of laboratory animal medicine with an open mind. We think you'll enjoy it!
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