S2 Week 14: Clinic Start-up vs Acquisition, Abdominal Imaging, and Picnic Day's Canine Frisbee Contest!
This week we dove straight into the gastrointestinal system, and it feels like we are moving roughly 1,000 miles per hour towards the end of the semester. Monday started off with five lectures covering GI regulation, pathophysiology of mucosa and the esophagus, and an overview of gastric physiology. During lunch we had an awesome talk from Dr. Saum Hadi on how to start your own clinic and build a superstar team.
Dr. Hadi is an Organ State graduate and owner of Nibus Pet Hospital which he started from scratch just a few years after graduating! During his talk, Dr. Hadi explained the advantages of practice ownership and then gave us an outline on how he made his clinic extremely successful in such a short amount of time. There are multiple ways to become a practice owner as a veterinarian. You can start a clinic from scratch, or you can acquire a clinic from a veterinarian that is retiring. The second scenario is more common, but it was interesting to hear the financial potential of the startup is much higher. Startup clinics typically increase their revenue about 25% each year for the first five years whereas an established clinic that was acquired by a new owner only increases around 6% per year. This means that even though starting a clinic from the ground up is riskier, the profitability may be much higher when it is all said and done. A few other benefits of starting your own practice includes the ability to build everything exactly how you would like it to be including your team. You have complete autonomy and control meaning that you can choose everything to fit perfectly with your values and create your own brand. You are not inheriting any “bad fish” and get to hand-pick everything. This talk brought up a lot of good information about the different pathways to practice ownership and his information is definitely something that I will be coming back to if I decide to pursue this route of veterinary medicine.
The rest of Monday was spent working on a histology lab and the evening was spent teaching the UC Davis undergraduate class (KLOHC) how to perform subcutaneous and intramuscular injections.
Tuesday started off with an awesome run with Churro and then we had a few more lectures on gastric physiology, an introduction to metabolism, and an imaging lecture focused on the interpretation of abdominal radiographs. The rest of the afternoon was spent reviewing the case for this week’s case-based discussion and that evening the SAVMA Symposium planning team had a meeting with Dr. Rowe to discuss our planning progress.
Wednesday started off with an awesome hot yoga session followed by two radiology lectures and a lecture on the hormonal control of metabolism. During lunch we had a great talk on social media strategies in the veterinary industry by Dr. Eric Lewandowski. Dr. Lewandowski discussed the most relevant social media platforms for veterinary professionals and client interactions. Google was a clear winner for clinic-level reviews and ratings, Facebook was the winner for clinic-level insight, and LinkedIn was used frequently to look at the capabilities of specific veterinarians. Some platforms that were used less frequently include Twitter and Instagram. The rest of the talk focused on the things / topics that were typically addressed on these platforms and that breakdown can be seen below:
Staff: 35%
Pet care treatment: 31%
Vet experience: 15%
Appointment: 11%
It was also important to note that having someone dedicated to checking the social media and review platforms is crucial. A faster response time will allow for any issues to be addressed and will prevent potentially new clients from finding a different clinic due to a lack of responsiveness.
The rest of the afternoon involved a few group meetings to go over and discuss the information that we had come up with after looking at the different cases that we had been given for the week. This week’s group of cases all had some sort of swallowing issue which was purposely chosen to help solidify information that we had learned earlier in the week. The evening ended with a nice swim and a walk with Churro.
Thursday began with a run with Churro and then we had three lectures. These lectures focused on glycolysis, fluoroscopy and upper GI radiographs, and some stomach pathology. Fluoroscopy is a tool that can be used to help visualize different aspects of the gastrointestinal system. One common case where fluoroscopy is used is if there is a suspected foreign body in the GI tract. This can be done by taking some initial radiographs and then feeding the dog some food mixed with a contrast medium that is radiopaque (meaning it will be visible on radiographs).
*A series of radiographs will be taken following these approximate guidelines:
Three/four views (R and L lateral, VD and DV) immediately after the consumption of the contrast food mix followed by two views (lateral and VD) at 15-, 30-, and 60-minutes post-consumption and then every 30 minutes until the contrast material has made its way into the colon. This allows for the veterinarian to examine the GI tract and make sure things are moving smoothly. If the contrast does not seem to move during the series of radiographs, they will have a better idea of where the issue or blockage is and can plan their next steps accordingly. Another way that contrast material can be used is through videoflouroscopy. This is a real-time video that analyzes the animal’s ability to swallow and have food move from the mouth through the esophagus and into the stomach. Unlike the series of radiographs, you are getting a real-time video and can look for any structural or functional abnormalities in the swallowing process.
That afternoon we were reunited with our cadaver dog “Dobby” and got to explore the abdominal cavity and all the organs that reside there. This was a great way to bring all of the two-dimensional images that we had seen during lecture to life! The rest of the afternoon consisted of a long walk with Churro and a SAVMA board meeting.
Friday started off with a lecture on liver anatomy and pathology followed by a group discussion on the pathophysiology of mucosal immunity. This discussion was run by Dr. Joie Watson and while immunology is never simple, she explained everything like a story and made the difficult concept much easier to understand. That afternoon we had a lunch talk on dentistry and then closed out the afternoon with our case-based discussion. This discussion was a group review of the cases that we had been assigned at the beginning of the week and was a great way to flush out any misunderstandings from the week’s material. The afternoon ended with a bike ride and some quality time with Churro!
Saturday began with a sunrise run with Churro and then I had the opportunity to be a judge at the Picnic Day Canine Frisbee Contest. Picnic Day is an annual celebration filled with activities and events that represent UC Davis and was its 110th year! The UC Davis Canine Medicine Club is responsible for the frisbee contest and this year we had a wonderful turnout! There were two categories, beginner and advanced and everyone did an amazing job! The scores were super close, and it was awesome to watch the bond between the owners and their dogs.
The rest of Saturday was spent getting some things done around the house and spending time with Churro.
Sunday started off with a nice run with Churro followed by some studying. That afternoon Churro got an all-inclusive spa treatment. He got a thorough combing, nail trim, ear cleaning, teeth brushing, bath, and blow-dry. The rest of the day was spent studying and preparing for the upcoming week!
Quote of the week: “I’ve seen a number of these because zero is a number, people!” Dr. Pesavento
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