"What one thing can help our profession and colleagues that would have the greatest impact long-term?"
This is the question that woke me (VIN co-founder, Paul Pion) at 4 a.m. on the last day of 2008, so I started calling colleagues. Those phone calls had 2 recurring themes: (i) all felt that in recent years we have lost some of our feelings of local collegiality; and (ii) all agreed that we need to learn to address our issues as a "system" - meaning that all colleagues need to work together toward solutions for the profession as a whole. So my request to you: Pick up the phone, get in your car, or take a walk down the block. Go visit your local colleagues. Share with them your thoughts and the thoughts of your VIN colleagues about the issues we face. Brainstorm medical, management, local and global issues with them. Make plans to visit and talk more often. Read the full text of the letter and share your thoughts and ideas . Happy New Year to you and yours!
Posting on the Message Boards:
Know Your Folders!
One way to get faster responses to your posts is to post in the most specific folder. For example, one of the busiest folders on VIN is Internal Medicine. If you have a problem diabetic, try posting in the Endocrinology folder. If you have a painful Dachshund, post in the Neurology folder. Posting in the most specific folder directs your question to the VIN Consultant/Editors, and Associate Editors most dedicated to your particular concern. And remember, you don't have to have your name on a folder's About Page to jump in and share your experience. VIN welcomes the viewpoints of all colleagues, so feel free to give the help you'd like to get!
Stay Safe at Work and at Home!
Sometimes bad things happen to good people. These VIN resources were created to help you, your staff, your clients and your patients avoid some of those bad things:
New in VeterinaryPartner:
Texas Farm Radio
Comparative evaluation of two ivermectin injectable formulations against psoroptic mange in feedlot cattle
Despite similarities in their pharmacokinetic profiles and formulations, the clinical efficacy of the two injectable formulations of ivermectin differed significantly in their therapeutic efficacy against psoroptic mange in feedlot cattle up to 25 days after treatment: this difference in response was reflected in an incomplete clinical and parasitological response in Group 2 and a slower growth rate.
Local breeds, livelihoods and livestock keepers' rights in South Asia
Based on selected case studies, this paper argues that development strategies using locally adapted breeds and species are much more likely to benefit livestock keepers whilst also maintaining domestic animal diversity and bearing a smaller ecological footprint.
Is it time to reconsider centralized hospitals?
Certainly we have to be able to get our answers easily and time efficiently, and proceedures have to have a place to be done, but do we all have to be duplicates of each other? I don't think so. I also look at my replacement cost - new grads without the value of experience have on average 119 k in debt. so they will need at least 65 k in salary to have any kind of a decent living wage, retire debt, and save a bit for urgent situations. We do not want to set up new grads to fail. Industry can find the ways to pay new grads a salary that will fill these needs, why not private practice. We need to address what we are - businesses.
Pulmonary emboli
The clinical signs on presentation are mainly an expiratory dyspnea and effort. The dog is not coughing at this time and there are no crackles or wheezes on auscultation. The interesting point about this great dog is that he was first diagnosed with hepatic lymphoma 7 years ago, he underwent a full series of chemo treatments and has been off all meds for almost 4 years now without any clinical signs or recurance of the lymphoma.
Understanding complementary and alternative veterinary medicine
As Research Chair of the AHVMA, I work toward getting more research done and also in finding people that can explain topics in ways that allow for others to understand them. Clients keep asking about modalities used in CAVM, and practitioners who don't know how to respond or answer with either "it's dangerous" or "it doesn't work" lose credibility with clients who have used these things successfully on themselves.
Client complaint about cost of medications: ways to explain prices to clients
It costs XXX dollars to keep this hospital open. We make it off of our services and the products we sell. We stock things here so that you don't have to run all over town getting what you need after you see me. Eventually the online pharmacies and $4.00 Walmart scripts will put an end to this, and I won't be able to keep things stocked here. It will still cost XXX dollars to keep the hospital open, so our office exam will go from $45.00 to $145.00, like your MD, and when we're done you'll have to run all over town to pick up the medicine, food, and shampoo I prescribed.
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 Virtual Coffeehouse
Tuesday, January 6, 9:30 p.m. ET
(Wednesday, January 7, 2:30 a.m. GMT)
Share your New Year's Resolutions!
How To Use VIN: Part 1
Wednesday, January 7, 9:30 p.m. ET
(Thursday, January 8, 2:30 a.m. GMT)
Learn how to use VIN's Knowledgebase.
Email Nate@VIN.com for more information about this free, three-session course.
AAFP Rounds
~POSTPONED~
Join Ilona Rodan, DVM, DABVP; Jeanne Pittari, DVM, DABVP; and Gerry Beekman, DVM, for Feline Senior Care Guidelines.
This Week's Rounds Schedule
Use the Rounds link to join these discussions. Want to See What You've Been Missing?
Click the Rounds button on VIN's main navigation bar and read the transcripts of the last few Rounds, click the complete list of Rounds to get to the list of the last 300 Rounds transcripts or click on Rounds and Discussions in the VIN Library. Rounds are also searchable via the Search button. Just remember to choose Rounds (under the Clinical Resources tab) as the "Source" in your search parameters. For All You Multi-Taskers:
Download VINCasts to your MP3 player and listen to previous Rounds sessions while you run errands, exercise or steal a few minutes of me-time. Recent Rounds
@ = VINCast available for this session The Obama Tax Plan Resistant Bacteria and Novel Therapies Elephant Medicine @ Using the Media Effectively @ Feline Holiday Hazards ~ AAFP Guided Tour: VIN Message Boards 2.0 @ NCVEI & VBMA Discussion @ Neonatal Resuscitation @ Feline Ophthalmology ~ AAFP Office Space And Equipment Leases @
 Member Benefit:
Got Staff?
The Veterinary Support Personnel Network was created specifically for your technicians, practice managers and other staff members to have access to their own message boards, chats and CE. Have your staff go to www.vspn.org to register! It's free!
Get More From VIN
"How to Use VIN" resources:
The three-part "How To Use VIN" course can be taken live (on the first three Wednesday nights of each month), or you can do it as self study. If you'd like to take the live sessions, e-mail Nate at Nate@VIN.com, and tell him you'd like to sign up for the How To Course. To keep up with VIN's growth, take the time to explore the Front Page at least once a week, read the VIN This Week (VINTW) newsletter twice a week, explore the VINDEX (VIN's Front Page, right hand column) and click all the buttons on VIN's navigation bars.
Funny Bones:
Coincidence? I think not!
"Many will recall that, on July 8, 1947, witnesses claimed an unidentified object, with five aliens aboard, crashed just outside Roswell, New Mexico. "
What's Your Diagnosis?
* Archives of the Challenging and Fun Cases
* Ophthalmology Fun 72
Associate - Updated and New:
* Esophageal neoplasia in dogs
* Explore the rest of Associate!
Book Review of the Week
BSAVA Manual Of Canine And Feline Thoracic Imaging
Purchase it in the VIN Bookstore! Website of the Week
Herbs At A Glance and more... eVetsites Tip of the Week
New CAPTCHA Feature on All Forms
Upcoming Conferences
Looking to attend or contribute a paper to a veterinary conference? Check out the On The Road With VIN folder, or the Press Releases folder, to see what conferences are coming up and to visit their Web sites! Links to information about upcoming conferences include: NAVC, WVC and EAAV.
These courses are now open for enrollment. Click on the links below to see the details, register and find more upcoming CE.
Intermediate Fish Medicine
February 26 - March 26, 2009
This intermediate fish medicine course is designed to further your experience with fish medicine. The basic concepts will be expanded and applied to case examples. The instructors are experienced fish practitioners who will provide important tips on running a fish practice as well as the important issues facing aquatic medicine. Veterinary Dental Techniques Module 1
March 9 - April 20, 2009 This course in Veterinary Dental Techniques is designed to allow discussions of current techniques used in veterinary dentistry. Veterinarians practicing all levels of veterinary dentistry are invited to participate, from the veterinarian just interested in getting more information in veterinary dentistry to the Board Certified Veterinary Dentist. Pharmaceutical Regulatory Review Course
March 30 - April 13, 2009 Participants will be able to evaluate their current practices and, if needed, implement improvements that reduce the risk of theft, diversion or prosecution for failure to maintain an adequate system of security and accountability for controlled substances. For information on other CE courses check out the Course Catalog on the CE Main Page. Please visit How-To's Of Online CE for details about how to register and participate in online CE courses. If you're looking for information on CE opportunities for veterinary technicians, receptionists or practice managers, please visit the VSPN CE page. VSPN offers courses tailored to veterinary support personnel, and certain VIN courses also are open to VPSN members.
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