#144: Stop Fighting Your Software: Tech Tools That Actually Help Veterinarians. With Dr Caleb Frankel

You can think of a bunch of things that make your working day (and career!) as a veterinarian more frustrating than you’d like it to be, right? But have you ever considered the role of the software that you use in how frazzled you feel at the end of the day?
And beyond the pure frustration of ‘too many clicks’ and that spinning wheel of doom when you have ten other things to do - have you considered how the very software that feels like it's holding you back could actually help solve some of the systemic challenges that feel like they’re just baked into the vet profession, like low clinical confidence, medical errors, and even burnout?
In this conversation, we speak to emergency vet and tech entrepreneur Dr Caleb Frankel , founder of Instinct Science, about what’s broken in vet tech, what good software should actually do, and why the future of practice might depend on getting this right.
In this episode:
- Why building good vet software is so damn hard (and how to spot the tools worth your trust)
- What to look for (and avoid!) when choosing new software for your clinic
- Reducing the trauma of introducing a new tech tool to the team (yes, even the dreaded PIMS change!)
- How software design impacts clinical confidence, patient safety, and mental health
- AI in clinical decision-making - why it’s more than just a productivity tool
- Must-have tech tools for 2025 (that aren’t just another app)
If you’ve ever felt like your tools are working against you, this is the conversation that might just change the way you practice—for good.
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Episode topics and timestamps: 05:55 Why veterinary software is so challenging
11:15 What to look for (and avoid!) in veterinary software
14:26 Cloud vs server-based software?
34:08 Unexpected ways where tech can help with the main challenges in veterinary medicine
37:07 AI in veterinary medicine
48:09 Must-have tech tools for 2025
55:14 Advice for new graduates
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