October 2023

AAHA board member Scott Driever, DVM, offers his take on some of the issues surrounding the staffing shortage in vet med. The Community weighs in on tips for effective bite prevention and safety training for new hires.

News briefs from across the industry and beyond. This month’s articles include: UC Davis Experimental Trial Saves Kitten with Deadly Disease; FDA Approves BIAH Anti-Parasite Drug; VHMA Names 2023 Practice Manager of the Year; Nonsurgical Contraceptive Alternative for Cats; and more!

Compassion fatigue and burnout are rampant among veterinary technicians. Some techs are taking to social media to promote wellness and spread encouragement to others.

Using a credentialed technician in the role they were designed for increases the number of cases the team can see, and it can increase overall revenue. In this article, we will cover some of the many ways that trained technicians can contribute to dermatology appointments.

Optimal utilization of trained and educated credentialed veterinary technicians brings benefits to veterinary teams and to the veterinary industry as a whole. These new guidelines include practical tools to implement and evaluate credentialed technician utilization in individual practices.

October is when the country celebrates technicians with National Veterinary Technician Week—and the Trends photo contest. This year we renamed it Teams@Work to reflect that veterinary assistants are also featured.

In this hypothetical case, our patient, Teddy, is at a free clinic where you are volunteering for the morning, and you will have to communicate all the options to the owner without making her feel like the best ones are financially out of reach.

Technician retention and good leadership are inextricably tied, as we discuss in this Central Line podcast episode with Natalie Boursiquot, RVT, and Liz Hughston, MEd, RVT, CVT, VTS (SAIM, ECC). From the role individuals can play in systemic change to insights into how leadership can show technicians—and other employees—they truly matter, this conversation was full of helpful ideas for increasing tech retention.

This month’s prize winner is Client Care Specialist Tana Rafter, of Edmond East Animal Hospital in Edmond, Oklahoma!