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Florida Practitioner Dr. John Mitchell Leads the AAEP in 2012
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Out of the Starting Gate
Follow the journey of Dr. Jennifer Selvig as she experiences the ups, downs and surprises of life as a new equine veterinarian.
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With the country facing an economic downturn that has affected veterinary medicine negatively – at least equine practice in our neck of the woods – it’s been a good time to reflect on strategies for improving practice methods, professional development and ways to generate new revenue. I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time lately thinking about goal-setting in my equestrian career: I recently achieved my long-term goal of completing a long-format “Classic Training 3-Day Event.” I’ll spare you the gory details as I tend to prattle on for too long about riding endeavors, but suffice it to say this was a goal that was more than two years in the making – and not only did we achieve it, but we excelled: My horse and I placed 5th in our very competitive division of 34 starters, and Spoofin is now enjoying a well-deserved break until January 2011. So now that my competition season is over, I’ve shifted my focus to professional development. The economy in our community has been tough on our practice – we are primary care providers and also handle referral work. Breeding was down significantly again this year, and my track practice didn’t thrive as it did in years past due to multiple factors. Our beautiful surgery suite isn’t used nearly as much as we’d like. Even our trusty, well-to-do sports medicine clients are starting to think twice about spending on state-of-the-art therapies such as IRAP and shockwave. So it’s time to do some serious thinking. As I woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow approximately six inches deep (the first of the season here in Minnesota), my first thought was to open a new branch of our clinic located in a more temperate climate, such as south Florida. Due to extensive overhead costs, this probably isn’t going to happen any time soon. But what do I enjoy doing – that can be done even in the dead of winter – that could help expand my practice? I’ve made a short list of career goals to start working on. 1. Surgical experience. We don’t have the caseload to support hiring a full-time board-certified surgeon yet. But we do plenty of minor surgeries and we could expand that. As it is, we perform cryptorchid surgeries, neurectomies, check ligament desmotomies, tumor removals and the like. We also have a board-certified surgeon with whom we schedule more advanced procedures – arthroscopies, tie-backs, etc. But what’s to say I couldn’t start learning more techniques myself? I think it’s time to try to schedule some surgical CE. 2. Complementary and integrative therapy. We already have a doctor certified in acupuncture, but we refer all our chiropractic cases to a colleague. Even in a troubled economy, clients have been very responsive to this low-overhead treatment. While it’s an initially large investment to go through the necessary training, I’m ready and willing to take on a challenge like this. 3. *GASP* Other species. Historically I’ve not been one to expand my practice to species other than horses. One of our practice’s small animal doctors has headed the effort to cover the random assortment of pet goats, pot-bellied pigs, etc. But I’ve always had a casual interest in exotics, and now seems to be the time to step up to the plate. So I’ve found myself on several calls seeing pet pygmy goats, a pot-bellied pig or two, and even some alpacas. My own expanding zoo (which includes a wallaby and a giant Flemish rabbit among other critters) has forced me to learn more than I ever thought I would about macropods, camelids and caprines! 4. FEI certification. A goal I’ve had for some time is to become a certified FEI veterinary delegate. Of course I’d want to focus on eventing, but show jumping, dressage and combined driving seem like natural fits for me too. This type of certification isn’t necessarily a major money-maker, but I’m including it because I’ve now gotten to see first-hand FEI vet work in motion: first at the World Equestrian Games and second at my own three-day event, also held at the Kentucky Horse Park. I’m always in awe at the credentials some of these hard-working veterinarians possess, and it makes me eager to learn more and join the ranks of vets working to protect the welfare of the horse. 5. Marketing, marketing and more marketing. With horse owners’ many choices for veterinary care in our area, I need to make sure I’m doing my part to let them know the quality and value of the care our practice provides. We pride ourselves on providing compassionate, top-notch care focused on achieving our clients’ desired outcomes. We also want them to know we’re listening to their suggestions. So I imagine a bit of my “down time” this winter will be spent writing educational articles, giving or organizing educational seminars and keeping up with our clinic’s Facebook page and website. My professional history includes several years working at a daily newspaper – time to dust off those editing and layout skills and put them to work for us. So there you have it. The snow is flying, but that doesn’t mean veterinary medicine needs to hunker down all winter, even in the frozen tundra. I unfortunately will not be able to start on my list at this year’s AAEP convention – it will be the first one I’ve not attended in 8 years. So I’ll miss seeing all of you there, as well as the always-spectacular Baltimore Aquarium. But maybe that means I’ll be able to head to a different CE this year, one where I can learn more about alpacas, wallabies, pet snakes – or a new laser surgery. Bring it on! |
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American Association of Equine Practitioners |
