Carriacou Animal Hospital with Nadine Cerny, a Swiss in Grenada
Dead animals at Zurich University weren't going to deter Nadine from becoming a vet when she was only a tween. If anything, it encouraged her more. But after a few turns in her career, she wanted to go back to the roots of veterinary medicine. Welcome to Carriacou Animal Hospital, a veterinary charity in the Caribbean country of Grenada.
Nadine tells us how the project started and how it works. The charity hospital welcomes veterinary volunteers to enjoy a working holiday on the fascinating island of Carriacou, only a few steps from the beach. As she puts it, they are the heart of the project. She talks about the endemic diseases you would encounter on the island and how these can be treated and prevented.
We also have a thoughtful chat about mental health and how she sees the working demands of clinics as one of the causes of mental health deterioration in today's for-profit practice.
Resolving Conflict and Staff Burnout with Emily Shiver, Florida USA
Emily’s career as a practice manager shows her dedication and love for the veterinary profession. She puts her heart into it when she talks about important issues such as team building and burnout: Issues that often we ignore in favour of more pressing clinical duties. But as she puts it, ‘I make it a priority. You’re nothing without the team’.
In this episode, Emily talks about how she has worked as a practice manager of a 40 staff facility before becoming a regional director of a veterinary group that spams five sites across the US. She talks about team building, how to deal with toxic behaviours and environments, staff burnout and her dream of helping foreign veterinary doctors integrate into the US.
Have you ever wondered if your manager cares? It wouldn’t be a question if you had Emily. I had a lot of fun chatting with her, so I hope our conversation interests you.
Disease Surveillance, Animal Welfare, and Pet Owner Education with Maurice Frank, Trinidad and Tobago
Maurice works in disease surveillance in Trinidad and Tobago and he’s very aware of the socioeconomic factors that lead to animal poaching from Venezuela. In the first part of this episode, he talks about his concerns about these animals’ welfare.
Maurice also talks about mental health in the veterinary profession and we discuss the impact of some factors such as client education, treatment affordability.
Finally, we discuss his favourite local street food dish. Can you guess it?
Listen to Maurice Frank's podcast episode now or download it from your preferred podcast platform, and I promise you, you won’t be disappointed!