Episodes

Hazell Mullins is young and energetic and a little bit glamorous, but she’s also a very hardworking hardcore cow vet in her home country of Ireland. She shatters the stereotype of the tweed-hat-wearing bearded farm vet and is one of the fore-runners of what is the next generation of leaders in the large animal veterinary field. We chat to her about how things have changed for female farm vets over the last few years. Hazell tells us about the day to day life of an Irish farm vet, why spring is s...

It’s not every day you get to interrogate one of your friends, but in this episode, that’s exactly what Hugh gets to do. Dr Ruan Bester has chosen a career journey that is a bit different to that of most of his classmates: instead of opting for a career at home or in one of the ‘normal’ choices like the UK, Aus or the US, Ruan was drawn to working in Asia, where he eventually started his own practice in Macao. (If you’ve never heard of Macao before you’re probably not alone: Macao is a small isl...

In this bonus episode we answer some listener questions. One of our listeners brought it to our attention that, because of Covid, many people who are considering studying veterinary science are not allowed to see practice. How are they supposed to know what life as a vet is like?! They have some questions: What does the day to day life of a vet look like? What do you look for in a veterinary student that makes you think they will become great vets? What do you wish you'd known when you entered t...

ECC specialist Dr. Rob Webster gives a beautiful explanation of the key principles of fluid therapy for shock patients, with a focus on the ‘dry’ hypovolemic patient.

Victoria Johnson is a specialist veterinary radiologist and the founder and director of VetCt, a global leader in teleradiology and telemedicine. We dig deep into diagnostic imaging as a career choice: the how’s, the why’s and the why not's, and everything else you wanted to know about it. Victoria tells us her secrets to maintaining a healthy relationship when your significant other is not only a vet, but also your business’s partner - a situation that is not at all rare in our profession. And ...

Roz Lindsay’s career started as a veterinarian. After several years of working in clinical practice in both the UK and Australia, she transitioned into a career in human pharmaceuticals. This is where her interest in business, management and leadership was peaked, with a particular focus on the inner workings of teams within the healthcare professions. Fast forward to the present: these days Roz is an accomplished trainer and facilitator in her learning and development company for healthcare tea...

In this episode of our business and leadership series with Dr. Shibly we speak to Dr. Zach Lederhose. Zach was about 2 years out of university and just 26 years old when he took the plunge into practice ownership. Ownership is a long term goal for many vets, but most of us feel that we need a certain level of age or expertise before we can even begin to consider it. But is that necessarily true? In our conversation we cover career progression, plateaus, pivots, and taking the road less travelled...

In this episode, Alice talks about imaging of the gi tract when you suspect gastrointestinal bleeding, and specifically the use of capsule endoscopy. This is not an entirely new technology, but for a long time, it’s been very limited in it’s usefulness to veterinarians. However, in recent years advances in tech in this field has significantly increased its utility. Alice talks us through when to use it, how to use it, what it’s not good for, and what it’ great for. Our guest for this episode is...

Professor Alice Defarges is a professor of small animal internal medicine, and in this episode, she tells us how to work up and successfully diagnose cases with non-haemolytic anaemia, and specifically, GI bleeding. Our guest today is brought to you by ALICAM. ALICAM is the world’s first veterinary capsule endoscopy unit. ALICAM is distributed in Australia by Fourlimb Surgical Solutions. To find out more about Alicam and to get a listener discount on your first order, go to www.Fourlimb.com.au/A...

If you’re anything like us you might have some preconceptions about surgery and surgeons. Our guest for this episode, Dr Bronwyn Fullagar, will flip those ideas of yours on their heads. Bronwyn is a board certified specialist surgeon who has a different take on what it means, and what it takes, to be a surgeon. When there is not a global viral pandemic she travels the world as a locum surgeon, and in between work stints she shares her skills at several charity organisations in some pretty awesom...

In part 2 we cover secondary coagulopathy, including the coagulation cascade. Bruce gives us the most simple and memorable explanation of that Y-shaped beast that you’ll ever hear, and we learn how and when to use the tests of secondary coagulation: Activated clotting time, APTT and APT. We get deep into the weeds of the most commonly seen causes that will disrupt the coagulation cascade, and Bruce also clarifies some of the ‘unusual suspects’ - the congenital factor abnormalities. This episode...

In our two-part series on coagulation, we talk to Prof. Bruce Parry, a former clinical pathologist from the University of Melbourne. In part 1 we cover primary coagulation. We talk everything platelets: how to accurately pick cases of thrombocytopaenia, pro-tips to make sure you get to the right answers, and common pitfalls. We also look at the buccal mucosal bleeding time test: how to do it, and what information it will provide. We’re also excited to introduce you to our first-ever sponsor: ou...

Paul Ainsworth is the founding director of the Lincoln Institute, which is a leadership and development organisation for veterinarians and veterinary teams. He is a highly sought after executive coach, facilitator and key note presenter. Paul is a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales, the Royal Military College Duntroon and was awarded the prestigious Sasakawa Leadership Scholarship by the Australian Graduate School of Management’s Executive MBA program...

What do you do when you are facing something overwhelming? That surgical procedure, that difficult conversation, that business idea... are you spurred into action, or do you feel paralysed? In this quickie Dr Rob shares his thoughts on facing up to the scary and sometimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles on the road to success.

Our guest for this episode is a true veterinary virtuoso, so much so that’s it’s hard to pick just one single job title for him. Dr. Adam Christman is a practicing small animal veterinarian in the same practice where he started his veterinary career as a 14 year old kennel hand, as well as at a local animal shelter, but his veterinary journey has taken him on many interesting paths. These include completing an MBA, regular public speaking, a career in media, social media influencer, published au...

If you did a little victory dance - and let’s face it, we all did - when it was announced that vets are an essential service during the early days of the covid outbreak, then perhaps we should talk about how you value yourself and the services you offer? Dr. Shibly joins us again to talk about value: how most vets shoot themselves in the foot on a daily basis when it comes to demonstrating value to our clients, and strategies to fix this. Listen carefully for the two words you should never use i...

Dr. Alex Hynes is a force of nature: whether she’s on the floor in the emergency hospital, leading her team as a company director, showcasing our profession to the world on the Bondi Vet television show, mentoring the thousands of young vets who look up to her, or taking care of her daughter, you can’t help but be inspired by her passion and energy when she crosses your path. In our long awaited episode with Alex we talk to her about where she finds her motivation and whether she ever has bad d...

Dr. Brooke gives some fantastic advice on finding confidence, even when you don’t necessarily feel it, and how to deal with ‘looking too young to be a vet.’

Dr. Dan Phillips earned his veterinary degree from North Carolina State University in 2011 and then completed an internship focused on small animal emergency and internal medicine at Tufts Cummings College of Veterinary Medicine. Since then he’s been working as a small animal practitioner near Chicago, and for the last 4 years has served as the primary extern and preceptor director for his group of practices. I had to look up what a preceptor is, and google summarises it as someone who teaches, ...

We talk COVID government bail-outs, financial strategies and HR do’s and don’ts in another business and leadership episode, with Paolo Lencioni - vet turned accountant and veterinary financial management guru. Paolo’s company - APL accountants, helps veterinarians manage every aspect of their business through through careful financial monitoring and tailor-made advice, so he has his finger on the pulse of veterinary business and has a wealth of knowledge to share. He gives us his insights into h...

Welcome to the Vet Vault business and leadership series with veterinary practice owner and business coach Dr Shibly Mustapha. In this series we’ll explore ways to make veterinary practice sustainable and profitable. Shibly is an owner of a multi-practice group in Australia. He is actively growing his business, and shares with us the same up-to-date lessons and a no-excuses approach that inspires his own coaching clients. In our first episode of this new series we start with the elephant in the...

One message that we hear time and time again from our guests here at the VetVault is that success, or happiness, or fulfilment or performance or whatever you want to call it, starts in your head. In this episode we explore what’s happening inside that head of yours, and how we can influence it for the better. Veterinarian, public speaker and coach Dr Katie Ford graduated from the University of Liverpool in the UK in 2012 and gained her certificate in medicine in 2016. Externally she was very suc...

We strive for that elusive 'work-life balance', but are you sure what exactly you're chasing? Nigel Marsh points us in the right direction in this week's quickie.

The first time you meet Dr. Charles El-Hage, you’ll think to yourself: “who the heck was that guy?! There’s something about him that makes me want to speak to him a some more.” And then, when you ask someone about him you’ll see their face light up with a smile, and they’ll say, “oh that’s Charlie, he’s great. Let me go introduce you.” So, let’s introduce you... When he’s being Dr. Charles El-Hage he is a Lecturer in Veterinary Clinical Medicine and Surgery at the University of Melbourne. After ...