Episodes

In this episode we tackle a subject that is not necessarily directly veterinary related, or is at least not limited to our profession, but still a critical topic to discuss because of the impact that it will have on all of us, and more importantly, because of the impact that veterinarians can have on it: climate change. If you’ve ever looked around your workplace and thought to yourself: “ This can’t be good for the environment. I really should do something about it.”, or if you are concerned ab...

We revisit our very first guest with a story from Louisa about the early days in her career that demonstrates a vital career lesson.

We were introduced to Dr. Dan Markwalder when we interviewed to Dr. Cody Creelman, who kept referring to him as one of the best mentors out there. Seeing as we’re all about mentoring here we knew that we had to have him on the show, and Dr. Dan certainly has the experience to make him an absolute mentoring guru: He founded his first hospital at age 28, and has grown that business into an eighteen practice success story with the help of good partnerships and through fantastic mentoring relatio...

For people who are feeling overwhelmed: that’s normal. One of the main messages I want to get out to the vets is to normalise the enormity and the depth of emotion that they’re going to experience. Because it’s new. And to not pathologise it. We live in a world where when we have an emotion we almost want to give it a Broadway musical: “Why am I feeling sad today? Let’s focus on that sadness.” But in actual fact - it’s not a healthy way to deal with day tot day emotions. So when people are go...

Welcome to our third and final episode talking about dealing with trauma, loss and grief in a crisis situation, and specifically as it relates to the bushfire catastrophe that we are currently experiencing in Australia, with our super-star social worker Liz Crowe. In this episode Liz speaks to us about the weeks and months after the firestorm has passed: what happens once the crisis has abated and the world has stopped talking about it, but the victims, and those who went to help them, are left ...

Welcome to the next installment of our bushfire special series with Liz Crowe. In part two Liz tells us how we can best support someone who is caught up in a challenging situation, like the fires that our Aussie vets and thousands of other workers are currently dealing with. Watching our friends an colleagues give so much of themselves is inspiring, but sometimes we feel powerless to help if we aren’t right there on the front lines. Liz gives us the best answer I’ve heard so far on how we can b...

This is a special episode that we’re rushing out as a resource to our colleagues who are caught in the apocalyptic bushfire crisis that Australia is currently experiencing, but also for anyone who wants to support those in the crisis but feel unequipped to do so. Beyond the current crisis - we also believe that the advice from this episode’s spectacular guest will be a valuable resource to anyone who ever finds themselves in a crisis situation, or regularly deals with traumatic situations that p...

Carolyne Crowe worked for 11 years as an equine vet both in the UK and in New Zealand before deciding to shift her energy from primarily helping animals to helping people by becoming an award winning personal performance coach, mentor, international speaker, researcher and lecturer.She has a Master's degree in Workplace Health and Wellbeing and continues to research this field. She is a master trainer in DISC behavioural profiling, a CPCAB trainer in Stress management and Wellbeing, a certified ...

Helga Kausel, better known as the Travelling Vet, is best known for her inspirational Instagram account, where she shares her veterinary journey and real life journeys. When Helga is not being the travelling vet she is an equine vet in Germany, and when she is travelling she uses her skills, influence and the money that she generates through her social media accounts to improve animal welfare wherever she can. Check out her incredible adventures and the impact that she’s had at travelling_vet on...

Dr Olivia James is one of the leaders in the field of equine dentistry. She is months away from finishing her diplomate examinations, which will make her a specialist, and the highest qualified equine dentist in the Southern Hemisphere. Olivia has worked in veterinary practices in regional Australia both in mixed and equine hospitals since graduating from the University of Sydney with honours in 2003. In 2010, when her second son was just one year old, she started her own equine practice, sold i...

Since starting the podcast we’ve had some amazing feedback from some of our listeners. I love hearing about how other people are inspired by our guests, but one question that pops up time and time again is some variation of: “I don’t feel like I can focus on my career, because I have young kids.” And I totally agree - I often feel torn apart in the tug of war between career and parenting. So here at the Vet Vault we’ve made it one of our missions to speak to vets who are finding ways to create f...

For this episode we're trying something new. We've had so many valuable insights from our guests that we thought it would be well worth it to review some of our favourite bits. Join us as we dig deeper into the topics that we think can make a big impact on your career. In this episode we explore some important themes from Dr Oliver Liyou, our guest from episode 4. Oliver shared some hard-earned wisdom that can be career-, or even life-saving . If you missed Oliver the first time, or if you ne...

When we started organising this episode with our guest he was neck-deep, or shall we say shoulder-deep, into clinical cow practice. However, the last few weeks have seen some major changes in the life of Dr. Cody Creelman, Cow Vet. Up until about 3 weeks before we recorded this episode Cody Creelman was a veterinarian, multiple practice owner, and digital storyteller based in Alberta, Canada. Cody shares his story in real-time on social media by creating entertaining and educational videos of hi...

Dr. Justine Lee, the one and only VETgirl, is best known for the hugely popular on-line veterinary education resources that she produces through the vet girl on the run website, podcast, and pretty much anywhere where you find your continuing education. Currently, Dr. Lee is one of approximately 450 board certified veterinary specialists world wide in emergency and critical care, and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. She is also board-certified in ...

I’ve been a big fan of guest for today’s episode ever since seeing him deliver a keynote speech at a big-ticket vet conference. I knew immediately that I wanted to hear more about what he had to say. His message resonated strongly with me personally, and with the entire audience of vets there that day. It’s a message that we here at the Vet Vault think will be very valuable to all of you, our listeners, so we were thrilled when he agreed to spend some time with us. Nigel Marsh is a Management...

Most vets would agree that excellent communication skills are one of the most important tools that we need to develop for a happy veterinary career, and it's a topic that we've always wanted to feature here, so we were thrilled when one of the leading minds in veterinary communication training agreed to join us on the Vet Vault. Cindy Adams is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences at the University of Calgary, where she teaches in the Clinical Communication...

We’ve always known that as part of our guest list we wanted to talk to vets from outside of clinical practice to provide us with some insights about parts of the profession that neither of us knows anything about. When it came to choosing who we should interview from the world of industry, today's guest was at the top of both of our lists. Dr. Mina Hamilton is a smiling bundle of energy and enthusiasm who took her talents out of clinical practice and into life as an industry vet a few years ago ...

James Greenwood is a practicing veterinary surgeon living and working in Bristol in the UK. Originally from a farming family in Yorkshire, James inherited the family trait and devoted himself to a life spent in the company of animals. Since graduating from Bristol University in 2007, James has worked in mixed, equine and then for the last few years in companion animal practice. Throughout his life he has shared his passion for science with his passion for art. Although taught originally to pa...

Dr. Rob Webster is an emergency and critical care specialist and one of the founding members of Animal Emergency Australia, a group of emergency clinics in southeastern Queensland. Outside of his clinical and leadership roles within the practice he has also trained and mentored large numbers of vets and vet nurses, inspiring them with his boundless energy and infectious enthusiasm. We pinned him down in his garden in far northern Queensland to see if we could extract some of that wisdom for our ...

Our guest today is a successful businessman who, in his free time, likes to put on a skin-tight black neoprene suit and use his special skills and unique equipment to save lives. No - it’s not Batman, but it may as well be. Dr Craig Challen has become an Australian icon for his role as a rescue diver in the Thailand cave rescue that captivated the world in late 2018. For his efforts in the rescue, Craig was awarded the Star Of Courage award in Australia, nominated as a Companion of the Most Admi...

Dr Nadine Hamilton is a psychologist, but she’s not just your everyday psychologist - she’s OUR psychologist. After nearly 35 years of experience in a variety of industries she is now a leading voice and helping hand for the veterinary profession. Through her practice, Positive Psych Solutions, she works exclusively with vets, helping them to be the best they can be for their patients and themselves. However, Nadine was not satisfied with small scale solutions: her recently published book “Le...

In this episode we speak to a vet who, in his 26 years in the veterinary profession, has experienced some fantastic highs , but also some of the very darkest lows. His journey has taught him crucial lessons on how to not only survive, but thrive in this sometimes challenging profession of ours, and we are very fortunate that he is happy to share those lessons with us with such honesty and openness. Dr Oliver Liyou graduated from the University of Queensland in 1993 with first class honours. He i...

When Gerardo first suggested today’s guest to me I must admit that I was slightly sceptical. If our aim with this podcast is to pick the brains of successful people in the veterinary profession to see if they can share some of their acquired wisdom with us, then surely our guests will need years of experience? Or so I thought. Let me assure you that you do NOT need years of experience to have serious focus and have the right mindset. Dr Brooke Schampers is an emergency veterinarian in Brisbane,...

In today’s episode we chat to a vet who in her relatively short career has managed to encourage and inspire tens of thousands of vets through her popular veterinary instagram account, louisa_the_vet. After our interview I can count myself as one of the many people who have benefited from her infectious enthusiasm. Dr Louisa Graham is a UK based small animal veterinarian. Because of a childhood that she describes as “surrounded by animals” she always knew that she could only ever be a vet. Sin...