Caffeinators, pack your bags and fasten your seatbelts. We're going to where the water spins backwards. We're headed back to the Southern Hemisphere, specifically New Zealand! We met a wonderful Kiwi at IVECCS last year, Ashleigh Walsh, at the AVECCTN pinning ceremony. When we learned she was there from New Zealand we knew we had to have her on as a guest. It took until THIS WEEK to figure out the logistics as she's 19 hours and 16 hours ahead of Jeff and Dave, respectively. What an awesome conversation! We learned some things that blew our minds-did you know New Zealand doesn't have snakes? W ..read more

We got lots to talk about in this Taproom Episode!  We've got outside sources criticizing our profession and we think you know who we're talking about.  We also dive into the concept of CPR/DNR policies  What is your hospital's CPR policy?  When do you bring that up with the client?  Do you have a flat fee for CPR? Who has that discussion with the owner?  Let us know in the comments ..read more

Caffeinators, are you ready to have your mind blown? We've long thought it's time to rethink veterinary technician education, and many out there agree. Thankfully, Jennifer Gunther is someone that is out there doing it. She's been an educator at Denver Community College's vet tech program for 20+ years, and they have recently started an apprenticeship program that exists separately and in addition to their standard, 2 year AVMA accredited program. But here's the deal: It's not an alternate route/alternate pathway. They still graduate with a 2 year degree, it's still AVMA approved, they just wo ..read more

Caffeinators, have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a traveling veterinary technician? Maybe have a home base, but otherwise constantly on the road traveling to all corners of the US and working relief? Then have we got an episode for you! Our friend Simon Chavez recently stopped by one of our locations-it may have been Chicago, Boston, or Anchorage, we're not sure-but we had a very interesting conversation on what life and a career look like as a locum technician! We talked about how Simon built his network of hospitals he does most of his relief at, how he builds his schedu ..read more

Hello from Phoenix!  Our second "staff meeting" trip to Phoenix.  We recap our trip and have a discussion about "Things we don't do anymore".   ..read more

Caffeinators, if you've been listening in a while, you've heard several guests recommend Doc Jim when we ask who they think we should talk to. And guess what?! We got him! We don't often have veterinarians on our podcast, but there are those who are integral to our development as a profession and Doc Jim is certainly one of them! Holy cow was this episode fun! He is such a huge supporter "of our amazing profession" and we talk extensively about how he gave up practicing as a small animal veterinarian over 40 years ago to blaze the path of being involved in veterinary technician education. It's ..read more

Caffeinators, anchors aweigh, it's time to set sail! Have you heard of Vet Tech Life? Have you heard of CE on the Sea? If so, then you know Kelly Cronin. We know her from our VTS(ECC) study group days over 10 years ago, and she came by the Vet Tech Cafe recently to talk about this amazing CE event, which recently sailed, along with so many other topics! She talked a lot about management and transitioning to that role, we talked a lot about financial fitness and how we can achieve that in our field **SPOILER ALERT**-it is possible, and also her consulting business. We also touched on her vacati ..read more

Caffeinators, it's time for our monthly checkin from the Vet Tech Taproom. Have you checked in with yourself lately? We got together to discuss a couple things for this episode, mostly what happens when an owner has a bad experience or negative outcome at the hospital and threatens to go "public"-meaning social media or the news? How do you or your hospital respond? We give our analysis of what we see happen most frequently, and then openly discuss what we think should happen. What do you think? We cover other ground here too, so download today and join the conversation!  ..read more

Caffeinators, fasten your safety belt because this episode is taking from the US to British Columbia, to Ontario, Canada, to India. Yah. Recently, Marina John, Vice President of the British Columbia Veterinary Technologists Association reached out to us and we had a discussion about soooo many important topics ranging from title protection, association work, charity work, involvement, and boundaries, and acupuncture, and just so much more! She also talks about this importance of representation in our field. You don't want to miss this one, and there is so much to unpack in this episode, you mi ..read more

Caffeinators, we need more personality in our field. We need young minds and fresh faces with big goals to grow into the roles many of us currently occupy, and Ralia Cortinas may just be one of those people that checks those boxes. Ralia is currently a student in the Distance Learning program through Purdue University, but the credentialing process is clearly very important to her. We talk a lot about her being an OJT assistant in Texas and some of her DVM colleagues views of that, while also looking forward to the future. Ralia reminds us how important it is to have hobbies OUTSIDE of vet med ..read more