PAIN POINTS AND CHALLENGES

• According to practice management consulting company Sterling Management, the top three pain points for veterinarians in terms of running a clinic are the following:
•  Finding good staff 
•  Monitoring staff performance 
•  Training staff 
• Veterinarians also have to select a practice information management system (PIMS) and choosing one that is the best fit for the clinic can be challenging.
• Jive, a VoIP provider, mentions that pain points for veterinarians include staffing, student/practice debt, and loss of clientele, which is often the result of poor communication and customer service.
• According to Veterinary Practice News, the top challenges facing veterinarians when running a clinic are the following:
• The consolidation of clinics, which is placing independent clinics in the hands of "nonveterinarians, which is not a good thing for [veterinarians] in the trenches."
• Along with the consolidation comes the loss of control for many independent veterinarians who find that banks, suppliers, and other industry players favor large, established clinics over small startups and independent clinics.
• Veterinarians are often faced with clients who are unable to pay for services, which means they must decide whether to treat the animals anyway or turn them away.
• There is a wide cultural division between rural and urban clinics.
• The veterinary profession is typically conservative and white, and it struggles to attract veterinarians who "hail from nonwhite backgrounds and less traditional cultures." This challenge is creating inclusivity problems between veterinarians, their staff, and their clientele.
• Veterinary medicine is highly unregulated, but this is changing as pet owners become more willing to "take the profession to the mat" when their animals are harmed due while under the care of a veterinarian.
•  Case management is inefficient and sometimes ineffective.
• For veterinarians just entering the field, "student debt is a major concern," and large veterinarian companies are offering six-figure salaries to start. This makes it very challenging for smaller clinics to compete for staff.
• Moreover, large companies are able to "offer comprehensive benefits packages that smaller, private practices may not."

DAY IN THE LIFE

• Morning:
• In the morning, all animals that are brought in from an overnight emergency clinic are examined by a veterinarian.
• Animals that require surgery or hospitalization are admitted.
•  Morning rounds are made during which all patients currently in the clinic are examined.
•  Owners are updated on their pets with progress reports.
• Veterinarians discuss upcoming procedures with owners.
• Technicians (and sometimes veterinarians, in small clinics) draw blood samples from the animals and perform other pre-surgery procedures.
• Depending on the day, appointments will take place next. On surgery days, surgeries will follow instead of appointments.
• Lunchtime
• Typically, no appointments are held for 1-2 hours over lunch.
• Staff members often "take this time to finish the surgery, return phone calls, check on animals recovering from anesthesia, check on hospital patients, occasionally see an emergency appointment, and hopefully eat lunch at some point."
• Larger clinics with multiple veterinarians may stagger lunch breaks so appointments can continue over lunchtime.
• Afternoon
•  Appointments continue after lunch.
• Animals that are not ready to go home with their owners are evaluated for stability.
• Those that appear critical or require overnight monitoring are referred to an overnight emergency clinic.
•  Transportation of the animals to the emergency clinic must be coordinated with the owners.
• Late afternoon is for "hospital cases, returned phone calls, and final notes before the day ends."
• Closing Time/Overnight
• Veterinarians often use this time to prepare for the next day.
• Typically, a veterinarian is on call for emergencies, but this will vary based on the structure of emergency procedures and the number of veterinarians on staff.
• In a standard clinic, there will typically be someone on duty overnight to check on animals and provide routine care.