My Veterinary Life

Welcome to another special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We are so excited to bring you the final installment of our mini-series focused on Women Leaders in the Pet Health Industry. Today’s guest is Dr. Laura Pletz. Dr. Pletz is the Scientific Services Manager, Eastern Region for Royal Canin. She also helped develop the Royal Canin Women’s Veterinary Leadership Forum. We talk about what inspired the creation of the forum and what our major takeaways were from our experience in Washington D.C. Dr. Pletz has so many great ideas and insights and we can’t wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“I think I was sort of Vice President of the class. And my primary role senior year was setting up the vet school happy hour and so I think I took it on mostly because Kinkos was right next to Dairy Queen and Thursday was dollar blizzard night and that’s when I would go up and get blizzards and photo copy the signs to paste all of the vet school that showed where we were to get together on Friday nights”Our guest today is Dr. Billy Griswold. Dr. Griswold is a member of the University of Florida’s class of 1999. If you’ve been with us from the beginning, you know that we are a huge fan of this class and have had several of its members on our show before. If you missed those episodes be sure to check out the ones with Drs. Mia Cary, Kemba Marshall, Lauren Davidson, Craig Fletcher, and Stephanie Jones. They all have incredible stories and Dr. Griswold is no different. We had a blast hearing about his career and why connections and networks are so important. He shares so many great insights throughout the conver

“The future is unknown in terms of my career there, but I’m actually very excited about it. It’s also very nerve-racking, you know like we mentioned before income is always good and I always need something to do. I’m not an idler at all” Our guest today is Dr. Kelly DeBaene. Dr. DeBaene is a 2011 graduate from the University of Illinois. Since graduation she has had an incredible career. She completed her Master’s in Public Health through the University of Chicago. After that she moved to the west coast where she has held various clinical roles, started an organization to help homeless and low-income families care for their pets and pursued positions in the Public Health space. Her current roles include Manager of Santa Cruz County Public Health’s Communicable Disease Unit, Veterinarian and founder of Healthy Pets for All and relief veterinarian at various clinics in the Santa Cruz area. We dig into all of this and learn so much through our discussion. Dr. DeBaene truly inspired us throughout this episode. S

Welcome to another special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We are so excited to bring your part two of our mini-series focused on Women Leaders in the Pet Health Industry. Today’s guest is Dr. Carolyn Henry. Dr. Henry is currently the Dean at University of Missouri College of Veterinary medicine. We had an incredible conversation with her and gained so many tips and tricks about navigating a professional career. So much of what she shared really resonated with us and we can’t wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“So, I think from a very young age, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian. There was this weird year where I decided I wanted to be a taxi drive and I don’t know where that came from, but there was that off year where I put my veterinary dreams on hold to pursue being a taxi drive.”Our guest today is Dr. Jeff Olivarez. Dr. Olivarez is currently a first-year resident in the Vet Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine field at Iowa State University. During his time in veterinary school, Jeff was served as SAVMA president. He shares with us how he decided to pursue these roles and what he has learned along the way. This episode is full of a lot of insight, a lot of fun and a lot of laughter! We are so excited to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“There was an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 associated with people eating tiger meat sandwiches or cannibal sandwiches. It’s not actually tiger, it’s not tiger meat but that’s what we heard, so when we are at the health department, we saw some lab report coming in of the same strain of O157:H7 and that triggers us to initiate some kind of investigation” Our guest today is Dr. Abbey Canon. Dr. Canon is a 2011 graduate from the Iowa State University. She is currently the director of communications for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. Throughout this episode, we talk about her time on a dude range, how she earned her Master’s in Public Health and spent some time as a ‘Disease Detective’ with the CDC. She shares with us lessons from her time as an instructor at Iowa State University and what is was like to have an amazing role with the Center for Food Security and Public Health. We even touch on how motherhood has changed her outlook on her career. Dr. Canon is full of so many great stories and word

This is a special episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast. We are embarking on a three-part series focused on Women Leaders in the Pet Health Industry. Today’s guests are two truly inspiring women. We are so excited to share the stories of Dr. Jennifer Welser and Kamie Eckert. Dr. Welser is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Mars Veterinary Health and Kamie is the President and General Manager of Royal Canin USA. We learn what brought them to their current roles and their views on leadership. This episode is full of great advice and insights. We had a blast chatting with them and are so excited to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcastThroughout the episode we reference an article about Kamie that was featured in Authority magazine. You can find it here: https://medium.com/a

“You just develop a sense of confidence, that you’ve handled a lot of really big complicated problems in the past and you develop a sense of confidence that no matter what you run into, you’ve got a good network of people you rely on, to call on for advice, and you kind of trust yourself, you’re going to be able to figure it out.”Our guest today is Dr. Robert Trimble. Dr. Trimble is a 2013 graduate from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. Since graduation he has been extremely busy, moving across country, working as a clinician, or co-founding a company and most recently stepping into the role of Director at the Veterinary Entrepreneurship Academy. He’s fit a lot into just a short amount of time, and he is happy to share the lessons he has learned along the way. We are so excited to share this journey with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org Yo

“I said I’m a veterinarian. And so then I asked ‘Does everyone know what that is?’ And then I looked at the girl and said, ‘If I brought my dog to you would you play with him?’ And that frown turned upside down and she smiled. And when I tell you the lightbulb turned on for me. I immediately left and went over to the director and I was like ‘Do you guys do career day here what do you do? I need to come and talk about veterinary medicine and bring my dog’.”Our guest today is Dr. Stephanie Jones. Dr. Jones is a member of the University of Florida class of 1999. We have heard from previous classmates of hers about their incredible careers and hers is no different. She shares about her journey throughout veterinary medicine and what it was like to found and start an organization, Pets Help the Heart Heal which helps introduce veterinary medicine to diverse communities. Her stories make us laugh and at times almost cry and we cannot wait to share this journey with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be

“That night we all had headlamps on as we’re going around trying to do the things we were doing with the patients… and we came together”Our guest today is Dr. Erick Mears. Dr. Mears shares with us insights and wisdom he has gained throughout his very fulfilling career in veterinary medicine. We cover everything from internships, mentors, relationships with veterinary colleagues and even hurricanes. We pack a lot in and cannot wait to share this journey with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. It really does help others find our show. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcastInterested in reading Dr. Mears’ article on hurricane preparedness? Follow this link: https://www.tampabay.com/hurricane-guide/Hurricane-2018-What-a-veterinarian-learned-from-Irma_168126406/

“Then I work up on a Sunday Morning, about five weeks ago and something that I was doing outside of my job that was giving me that sense of purpose and that unparalleled sense of happiness was the road trip that I had been taking with my now 89 year old grandmother around the United States. That story, much to my surprise much to my grandma joy’s surprise, that story went viral.”Our guest today is Dr. Brad Ryan. Dr. Ryan has been featured in many news stories recently about his travels with his Grandma Joy. He has had an incredible career and it is only just beginning. He has big goals for the impact he will have on the veterinary profession. While he has had his ups and downs throughout his career, he always walked away with a valuable lesson and proof that he was stronger than he ever imagined. This is a fun and incredible interview and we cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and revie

“When I realized that I couldn’t be an alligator my Dad had sort of introduced me to the idea of veterinary medicine through my great uncle” Our guest today is Dr. Mike Robbins. Dr. Robbins’ current role is as Scientific Communication Specialist with Hill’s Pet Nutrition. We had a blast getting to know Mike and how he arrived at this particular job. We learn about his residency in nutrition and what steps he took to get there. We cover everything from alligators to platypus to nutrition to cars and we cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“I loved horses and I wanted to ride and my parents convinced me that if I became a veterinarian I would have time to ride, which was so not true” Our guest today is Dr. Jennifer MacLeay. Dr. MacLeay is the Medical Director for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. She has a fascinating career filled with a lot of research and a lot of credentials and get this, she isn’t done yet! At the time of the recording she was weeks away from earning her MBA. We really enjoyed our chat with Dr. MacLeay and learned so much. We cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“I had a lot of farm animal experience, so I wanted to be a pig vet. That didn’t last very long” Our guest today is Dr. Forrester. We were so excited to catch up with her on our visit to Hill’s headquarters where she is the Director of Global Scientific Affairs. We had a great time hearing about her role and what her career has been like to date. There were a lot of laughs and a lot of learning! We cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“I’m sure I’ve done some things to get myself where I am today, but it does feel like a lot of it just sort of happened” Our guest today is Dr. Karen Shenoy. Dr. Shenoy is the Associate Director of Veterinary Affairs with Hill’s Pet Nutrition. She’s held several roles throughout her career, including one as a full-time wildlife veterinarian. Karen is so much fun to chat with and has some pretty incredible stories about her hobbies outside of veterinary medicine. We were so lucky to have the opportunity to record this at Hill’s headquarters and that she was able to fill us into her busy schedule! We know you will love this episode and cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed and leave us a ratings and review on Apple Podcasts. You can contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“Veterinary medicine is about curiosity” Our guest today is Dr. Dave Granstrom. Dr. Granstrom is one of our colleagues at the AVMA. His current role is the Assistant Executive Vice President and Chief Accreditation and Certification Officer. If you think that is a lot, wait until you hear about all his other accomplishments. We had the best time chatting with him and cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

"I got a telephone call that changed my life"Our guest today is Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz. Dr. Natterson-Horowitz was the keynote speaker at the 2019 AVMA Convention. We were so fortunate to record this episode with her the day before her presentation. She was incredibly generous with her time and sharing her story. She is an MD and was focused on cardiology and cardiovascular disease in the first part of her career but in recent years has discovered a new passion which builds upon some of her studies in undergraduate. You will have to listen to this episode to hear all her amazing accomplishments including being the author of two books. She also covers how she wouldn’t be where she is today without the support of her friends and family. She is a HUGE fan of the veterinary profession. We were honored to speak with her and cannot wait to share this journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed and leave us a ratings and review on Apple Podcasts. You can conta

“Life has a way of turning you on your head.” Our guest today is Dr. Jen Stevens. Dr. Stevens has faced more than her share of obstacles but has come out on the other side with an incredible career. One which she admits is not what she expected all. We had the best time chatting with her and cannot wait to share this journey with you!Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast

“Keep an open mind and an open heart and don’t listen to the negative people around you.” On this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast, we chat with Dr. Farrah Monibi. Dr. Monibi currently works at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC which is a human orthopedic hospital. This is definitely not what she thought she would be doing when she decided to attend veterinary school. There have been a lot of steps that led her to where she is today, and we can’t wait to share her journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcastTo learn more about Be The Change Volunteers, visit their website: https://www.bethechangevolunteers.org/

“There’s definitely a lot of Trello Boards, planners and to do lists”On this episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast, we chat with Dr. Kristina Baltutis. Dr. Baltutis is a 2017 graduate from North Carolina State University. During this episode, we only scratch the surface of all the different hats she wears, which coincidentally includes owning a hat company. She’s had an amazing adventure so far in veterinary medicine full of many twists and turns and we can’t wait to share her journey with you! Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast