Roles

Happy clients stay with your practice and promote your services to others. Use these tips to please pet owners and build a good vibe on the grapevine.

The clinic cat may be sweet, but she's also a safety hazard.

"I'm not the doctor" isn't a reason to not know the answer to these common client concerns. Here's a look at some of the facts everyone should know.

The following tip is brought to you by a member of the Veterinary Leadership Group (VLG), a group of 20 management-savvy practitioners and hospital managers from across the country who meet twice a year to discuss business improvement, personal growth and social development issues for their practices.

Here you are, stuck in the middle again. It's easy to feel hopeless when you've been gnawed on, chewed up, and spit back out. Use these tips to break free from the tug of war between your bosses.

How you deliver information may be overriding your message-and preventing colleagues and clients from taking you seriously. Learn how to improve your presentation and earn their respect.

Some team members consistently resist the policy and procedural changes I make for our practice, but their peers get them on board with no problem. How can I change this?

Talking to pet owners about separation anxiety.

Whether I'm helping pets heal or helping their owners say goodbye, my job in veterinary oncology brings special patients and their families into my life who remind me why I love pets-and my work.

I'm an office manager for a practice with 26 doctors and team members. Because the owner hires personal friends, I can't effectively discipline team members who don't meet expectations. One problem employee has known the owner for more than 20 years. She's not a team player and her poor performance frustrates others. What can I do?

Q. In the past, I occasionally gave discounts to friends and family. Now they expect the same generosity every time they visit. What do I do?

Move over, Steelers, there's a new team in town.

Hosting special events for team members and their families can build better working relationships and strengthen the support system in your practice, says Debbie Allaben Gair, CVPM, a Firstline Editorial Advisory Board member and president of Bridging the Gap in Sparta, Mich.

It doesn't hurt Dr. Craig Prior's feelings when a client is hesitant to take out a pet insurance policy: "I tell them, 'Try it for a year. If you don't like it, cancel it. I won't mind.'"

Team members with different roles answer the question, "What can your team do to make your job easier for you?"

Tracey Nowers, CVT, takes you on a guided tour of her experience with Project Samana, a volunteer program that runs spay and neuter clinics in the Dominican Republic.

Evaluate receptionists at your clinic and others with this downloadable Excel document.

Evaluate receptionists at your clinic and others with this downloadable Excel document.

Evaluate receptionists at your clinic and others with this downloadable Excel document.

Evaluate receptionists at your clinic and others with this downloadable Excel document.

Evaluate receptionists at your clinic and others with this downloadable Excel document.

Evaluate receptionists at your clinic and others with this downloadable Excel document.

Indianapolis - 3/4/08 - Indiana Lawmakers are moving to modernize the state's Veterinary Practice Act by amending language not touched in at least 30 years.

Everyone's bound to disagree sometimes, but it becomes everyone's problem when issues aren't resolved quickly, says Pam Weakley, a Firstline Editorial Advisory Board member and the practice manager at Dickman Road Veterinary Clinic in Battle Creek, Mich.

Will the pressures of being a boss be balanced out by the joys of self-determination? Will you mind longer hours if you know you'll hold on to the financial rewards? These are the questions that can cause an eager associate to wake up late at night in a cold sweat.

I've recently won a lawsuit. What's my next step?

Answers to "What's your generational IQ?"

You must watch what you eat. You can't drink the water or even brush your teeth with it. Nothing is sterile. And yet, my experiences at a spay and neuter clinic in the Dominican Republic have been among the most rewarding in my career.

I had just come in from a walk when my phone rang. As any veterinarian knows, getting a call this late at night could mean only one thing: a sick animal.

Are you in tune with Baby Boomers? All-knowing of New Millenniums? Savvy with Generation X? Up to snuff with Traditionals? Take this quiz and test your generational know-how.