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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.
Episodes
Sunday Jul 25, 2021
Sunday Jul 25, 2021
Caffeinators, this is an important one. Are you a member of your state veterinary technician association, or VTA? Or perhaps the State VMA if a VTA doesn't exist? Are you active and engaged in what the association is doing? We can't stress strongly enough the important work these Board and Committee members do, strictly on a volunteer basis, to make sure your profession is well represented in the legislative arena. We recently sat down with Nicki Castagna, RVT, who is the President of the Maryland VTA to talk about the importance of these associations, and moreover, your membership. The more members an association has, the larger contingent it represents, and the greater likelihood it can effect change. We hope after you hear this episode, you'll join your local VTA if you haven't already! And while you're at it, join a committee and get involved-it's incredibly rewarding work! All the best, Caffeinators!
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast
Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/
Links:
https://mdvta.wildapricot.org/
https://www.facebook.com/mdvt.org
Sunday Jul 11, 2021
Sunday Jul 11, 2021
Hello Caffeinators! One of the more emerging areas of our field is cannabis and how these compounds exert effects on the body, and the numerous maladies cannabis-containing compounds may help. There is of course a lot of ground to cover and a long way to go, but the early returns appear promising. Previously, our third episode with Stephen Cital gave us a lot of background info on veterinary cannabis, and we invite you to listen to that episode if you haven't already, or want to brush up on the subject. For this episode, we took a little different direction with our close friend April Bays, CVT, VTS(ECC), as she recently became certified as a Veterinary Cannabis Counselor. We talk at length about that process and certification and how that certification can be utilized in practice. She has also recently started Elevative Veterinary Training Solutions, and we talk about that as well! It's Sunday, it's hot, so let us get you an iced coffee and join us for the discussion!
Links:
Contact info: elevativevts@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/elevativeveterinarytrainingsolutions
https://www.vetcannacademy.com/
https://www.instagram.com/elevativevts/
Sunday Jun 27, 2021
Sunday Jun 27, 2021
If you asked us the question, "What episodes of the Vet Tech Cafe should I listen to?", this is an episode that would be right up near the top of the list. We always say, "the guests make the episodes", and Melody Martinez certainly made this one. In light of recent events, this episode is very timely. We discuss her work with the Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association, MCVMA, and several of their current and future projects. We also take a look at systemic racism in veterinary medicine and and how that affects all of us. We could've continued this conversation for hours and we sincerely hope Melody will join us again in the future to do just that. Let us pour you some coffee for your commute and join us for the conversation. You'll be glad you did.
Links:
Website: mcvma.org
Facebook: Facebook.com/MulticulturalVMA
Facebook Group (where folks can connect with other MCVMA supporters): https://www.facebook.com/groups/744631108918352
Instagram: @multiculturalvma
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
As the calendar turned from May to June, the initiatives and message turned from Mental Health Awareness Month to Pride Month. Both of these are vitally important to many of our friends and colleagues, and for some, probably both equally so. As such, we wanted to have a discussion about Pride Month as it relates to our professions. We sat down for a cup of tea with Erin Spencer, M. Ed, CVT, VTS(ECC), and Treasurer of PrideVMC. If you're not familiar with PrideVMC, click the link below and check it out. Erin explains why it is a VMC and how that is different than a VMA, what membership looks like, events and collaborations they are working on (SPOILER ALERT we'll be talking about this in our next episode too!), and also allyship. We discuss all the rainbows you're seeing this month and get her thoughts on those as well. We really learned a lot in this one about how to better support our colleagues and we know you will too.
Links:
Sunday May 30, 2021
Sunday May 30, 2021
Hello Caffeinators! As we approach the end of May and #mentalhealthawarenessmonth, it's easy to turn the page and move on to the next thing. But mental health is something that needs constant attention. So while the calendar may turn to June, please keep your mental health calendar stuck squarely in the month of May. To that end, we are bringing you one final episode in this series. When you hear the phrase "workplace violence", what do you think of? Perhaps a confrontation or physical altercation with a client? Perhaps physical violence between staff members? There is sooooo much more to it than that, and thankfully we had Sarah Stowman, CVT, CCFP, CTP, come by the Vet Tech Cafe to break all this down for us and she COMPLETELY blew our minds. This conversation was thought provoking on so many levels, and we really think you'll feel the same way. We promise you will have a new perspective on workplace violence and workplace trauma. So let us pour you a cup of our cafe du jour and listen to what Sarah has to say-we think you'll find it to be a very helpful hour of conversation.
Links:
Sunday May 16, 2021
Sunday May 16, 2021
Have you been impacted by the suicide of a veterinary colleague? For too many of us, the answer is yes. Many can say that they have been on more than one occasion. Because of this, Not One More Vet and Not One More Vet-Support Staff exist. In this episode, we sit down with Karla Fernandez, RVT, and Board member for NOMV to talk about resources and the goals of this organization. We discuss everything from the movement itself to the resources that are available to those who are struggling. These episodes are sometimes difficult to listen to, but they are as real as it gets. Even if you feel you are in a good place and this type of discussion doesn't apply to you, it may apply to someone you know or work with and it may very well apply to you someday. Now is the time to learn about it and learn how approach these topics, and this episode with Karla is a great place to start. Be well, Caffeinators.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NOMVSupportStaff/
Sunday May 09, 2021
Sunday May 09, 2021
If someone close to you texted you a single pineapple emoji, would you understand what that meant? If not, give this episode a listen. We talked to Kelly Deselms about Code Pineapple and we believe it's something you should hear. This is a tremendously personal episode, but we think there is a little bit of Kelly in many of us and her words should give us pause. We highly recommend you check out the facebook link below and follow along. It is pretty amazing what our friend and colleague has started, and we're honored to tell her story and share her message. Let us pour you a cup of coffee from Sip of Hope, or perhaps a pint of Things We Don't Say IPA (visit www.hftd.org for participating breweries near you) and join us for this poignant discussion.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/codepineapplemovement
Sunday May 02, 2021
Sunday May 02, 2021
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
Sunday Apr 18, 2021
Sunday Apr 18, 2021
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:
Sunday Apr 04, 2021
Sunday Apr 04, 2021
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!