Do you want to own your own practice?

[Electrophile]

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Do you want to own your own practice in the future? Why or why not?

 

[ri23]

I don't want to own a clinic, rather I would like to specialize and work in a referral clinic/vet school. My reasoning is mainly that I want to specialize, and also better hours, less responsibly as to the business aspect. If I did not specialize I would be interested in at least becoming a partner.

 

[chris03333]

Do you want to own your own practice in the future? Why or why not?

Nope because:
1. I am specializing.
2. If I decide I am miserable, I do not want to do life altering changes to make myself happy.

 

[ShelterGirl]

Yes, because I enjoy business too (I already have my MBA). However, I'm not sure it will be financially feasible to buy a practice unless I move away from northern California.

 

[Pennvet]

Yes, because I don't want to negotiate my salary.

 

[StealthDog]

No way... I have no desire to be a business owner, deal with personnel issues, handle complaints, or do any of the other extra work required of an owner. I'll happily take a lower paycheck for a better quality of life 🙂

 

[Electrophile]

Yes, because I enjoy business too (I already have my MBA). However, I'm not sure it will be financially feasible to buy a practice unless I move away from northern California.

I don't enjoy accounting and book keeping... 😴 But I do enjoy other business stuff and I've got a pretty good business sense. I've kinda thought about the MBA too, but my hubby wants to go back for his (he's got a bachelors in marketing), so I don't know if that would be redundant or not. He says he doesn't want to be my office manager though. 🙁 But then again, he's allergic to cats. 🙄

I'd like to own my own eventually if I do a residency in nutrition. I would like to own a multi doctor practice with everyone have a somewhat different focus (some could do small animal, some exotics, some food animal, some equine, but it could be flexible) but everyone could have a holistic and/or "natural" mindset. Not like crystals, light energy, everyone sing kumbaya holistic but holistic with a mostly science/evidence based Western viewpoint. I would like to do mostly nutritional and behavior consulting (although I don't want to be a boarded vet behaviorist) and some just general practice stuff too.

I would have two main rules: no baby talk to the patients and no cutesy flowery/cartoony scrubs. I've always been a fan of embroidered polos for the receptionists and embroidered plain dark color scrubs for everyone else. Doctors don't have to wear lab coats either. I like them, but I know some patients do not.

 

[reefervet]

Definitely. It's more work but it's more rewarding.

 

[twelvetigers]

I would have two main rules: no baby talk to the patients and no cutesy flowery/cartoony scrubs. I've always been a fan of embroidered polos for the receptionists and embroidered plain dark color scrubs for everyone else. Doctors don't have to wear lab coats either. I like them, but I know some patients do not.

I would get fired in about five seconds. The baby talk just... HAPPENS. However I'm not as bad about it as some people. I just talk about the "cute puppy" and his "baby kisses" rather than, say, the "ittle puppy wuppy wuvvy" and his "kissy wisses"... that was as near to a direct quote as I could get to what an owner was spouting off in the waiting room...

And, I like patterned scrubs. I have a pair of hot pink scrub pants, too. I don't wear tweety bird tops, though. the line has to be drawn somewhere.

Now, if you bought all your employees a few sets of scrubs similar to those "Grey's Anatomy" scrubs... I doubt you'd get any complaints. MAN those things are comfy!

The vet I work for wears a white vest with her name embroidered on it. Looks nice and a bit simpler than a lab coat, but people still know she's the vet.

Electrophile, how did I know you would be so particular about your possible future practice? 😉

 

[projekt]

Yes, either my own practice or a related business of some sort.

 

[Electrophile]

I would get fired in about five seconds. The baby talk just... HAPPENS. However I'm not as bad about it as some people. I just talk about the "cute puppy" and his "baby kisses" rather than, say, the "ittle puppy wuppy wuvvy" and his "kissy wisses"... that was as near to a direct quote as I could get to what an owner was spouting off in the waiting room...

And, I like patterned scrubs. I have a pair of hot pink scrub pants, too. I don't wear tweety bird tops, though. the line has to be drawn somewhere.

Now, if you bought all your employees a few sets of scrubs similar to those "Grey's Anatomy" scrubs... I doubt you'd get any complaints. MAN those things are comfy!

The vet I work for wears a white vest with her name embroidered on it. Looks nice and a bit simpler than a lab coat, but people still know she's the vet.

Electrophile, how did I know you would be so particular about your possible future practice? 😉

Haha, yes, duly noted. 😉 Some call it being exceptionally complete, some call it being a control freak. Whatever works!

Yeah, I would buy everyone the uniforms/scrubs. Or if I didn't, at least I'd probably have a staff washing machine where you could throw your stuff at the end of the day (albeit a different washing machine from the blood and vomit soaked towels!). And lots of Oxy Clean.

There's something about the cutesy wutesy scrubs that drive me crazy. Maybe it's because they remind me too much of cutesy maternity clothes? I dunno, I just never thought they screamed "Doctor" to me. Even on nurses, I'd prefer to see a plain hot pink matched set rather than one more Winnie the Pooh ensemble with the weird kimono wraps and all that (WTH is up with those?!). And especially when the receptionists are wearing scrubs when the most they may ever get dirty or bloody is mopping up some pee in the hallway or something. I'm big on everyone looking reasonably professional because the receptionists and the techs are the first and last thing people see when they walk in, which is why I'd prefer embroidered polos and khakis for receptions and plain dark (the better to the hide the blood stains with) embroidered scrubs for the techs/assistants and the same for the docs (or lab coats and nice clothes, whatever...). I would personally prefer scrubs because as much as I like a billowing lab coat, some animals find them threatening.

With the baby talk, this one's a liability thing. It's not so much what you say, it's how you say it. Talking in a high pitched squeaky voice can make the animal too excitable or more likely to bite. A low calm, firm, and soothing voice is best.

 

[Emio]

No way... I have no desire to be a business owner, deal with personnel issues, handle complaints, or do any of the other extra work required of an owner. I'll happily take a lower paycheck for a better quality of life 🙂

werd.

 

[CookieBear]

Yes. Someday, once I know what I'm doing medicine-wise. I never thought I'd say it, but now that it's been over a year since I left my job for school, my perspective has changed. (I managed a vet hospital for a long time).

 

[CurrySpice]

I would love to work independently when I'm close to retiring, taking some great clients, but none of the pills. Not sure how this would work liability-wise.

Being able to own my own business is one of the things that drives me towards veterinary medicine. Maybe go partner? Not quite sure how it's all happening yet.

 

[projekt]

I think scrubs are good in surgery and a pain everywhere else. I would prefer to keep surgery scrubs clean by having people change into them for surgery and out again when done. More utilitarian uniforms, with real pockets and long sleeves when needed, would be used for the rest of the time. I like using the right tool for the job.

I'm a big fan of the practice providing the laundry services. When I own a practice, you can bet I will.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I definitely couldn't and wouldn't want to, even if I got into clinical medicine. My problem is that I have no PR skills. If someone gives me crap, I'll kick them out of my clinic. If someone whines, I'll tell them bluntly what they need to do. Putting on a happy face and taking annoying clients (admittedly, not all are, but some are) would drive me into the ground very quickly....I wouldn't have very good client retention rates 😉 and as owner it would be even worse. Bravo to those with better interaction abilities 😀


Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthDog View Post
No way... I have no desire to be a business owner, deal with personnel issues, handle complaints, or do any of the other extra work required of an owner. I'll happily take a lower paycheck for a better quality of life
werd.

double werd

 

[Electrophile]

I definitely couldn't and wouldn't want to, even if I got into clinical medicine. My problem is that I have no PR skills. If someone gives me crap, I'll kick them out of my clinic. If someone whines, I'll tell them bluntly what they need to do. Putting on a happy face and taking annoying clients (admittedly, not all are, but some are) would drive me into the ground very quickly....I wouldn't have very good client retention rates 😉 and as owner it would be even worse. Bravo to those with better interaction abilities 😀

I actually don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. One of my big pet peeves is seeing dogs that are clearly overweight and heading towards obese and the owners say, "but my vet says he/she is okay!" 😡 🙄 Shame on them. I don't go to a physician to get sugar coated medical advice and nor do I think we should give sugar coated medical advice just because we might offend a few and they may leave. We're being paid to give accurate and honest medical advice, not be their cheerleader for their idiotic decisions. Now, granted, one also must be diplomatic and tactful when possible and not always be a combination of House and Dr. Cox (as much as I would sometimes like to, haha) and I'm all about being compassionate, but...there's a difference between tact and just making the client feel all warm and squishy. I understand what you're saying though...

 

[Bill59]

One of my big pet peeves is seeing dogs that are clearly overweight and heading towards obese and the owners say, "but my vet says he/she is okay!" 😡 🙄

Realize that what a veterinarian says and what a client hears is not always the same. Whenever a client starts telling me what some other veterinarian said, I take it with a grain of salt. Hell, I've listened to clients tell students something I supposedly said 5 minutes earlier and I didn't recognize any of it.

 

[Makytza]

yap, i think it would be hard for me to work for somebody, i have a problem with authority...actually they have a problem with me 🙂

 

[missy25]

I'm just going to be starting my veterinarian classes next semester but in the future I do want to have my own practice somewhere.

Does anyone have any advice for me going into this?
Thank you

 

[VAgirl]

I'm just going to be starting my veterinarian classes next semester but in the future I do want to have my own practice somewhere.

Does anyone have any advice for me going into this?
Thank you

From another thread, it looks like you're going to be attending veterinary technician school. If you're going to work as a vet tech, I would suggest you look into the difference between veterinarians and veterinary technicians. I honestly am not saying this to be obnoxious. I just think it's an important difference to learn before you begin your education. It's about as big as the difference between human doctors and human nurses (all four of these are very noble professions, of course).

Good luck in your education!

 

[projekt]

I just attended a seminar with Dr. Mark Russak yesterday from Mississippi State and he talked about really interesting things related to starting a practice. Aside from the details of his practice philosophy, the really important thing he said was, "If you want to start a practice, you can do so even if you have outstanding school loans, so long as you have excellent credit. If you have been paying your loans faithfully and not not running up credit card debt, banks will lend you enough money to buy a practice and roll your school debt into the equation."

 

[rachroo]

banks will lend you enough money to buy a practice and roll your school debt into the equation.

Does that still hold true with the current economy?

 

[projekt]

Does that still hold true with the current economy?

We asked him that and he felt like they would.

 

[vesselj]

I would have two main rules: no baby talk to the patients and no cutesy flowery/cartoony scrubs. I've always been a fan of embroidered polos for the receptionists and embroidered plain dark color scrubs for everyone else. Doctors don't have to wear lab coats either. I like them, but I know some patients do not.

I'm reminded of when I took my cat to the emergency vet a while back (RIP Wagner) and the vet that saw him was absolutely amazing but he was wearing a simple pair of sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt with his name on it. I suppose being head of the emergency vets helped him get away with it. I'm not really a fan of lab coats either; I'd probably prefer to do something like hat my current boss does and just wear khaki pants, casual shoes and an embroidered polo shirt. The other vet wears her cartoony scrubs. 🙂

As for me I'd probably prefer to not be an owner of a clinic and not have to worry about all of that stuff.

 

[twelvetigers]

On the subject of what "our" vets wear, the one I work for wears really matchy-matchy clothes. She probably has 100+ pairs of shoes and matches them to her outfit (they're mostly Danskos and Merrells) and she always wears jewelry, also matching. It's funny, I much prefer my scrubs (which aren't too cartoony). She wears a white vest with her name on it when seeing clients.

 

[Electrophile]

While we are on the subject of scrubs, whether it's the draw string or the elastic band ones, I feel like both just wanna slide right off my butt when I'm bending or stooping, but if I get a smaller pair, I feel like I'm going to tear out the crotch or something at a really inopportune time. 😱 Any suggestions?

 

[twelvetigers]

Haha. Buy longer scrub tops?

I like the ones with elastic in the back and drawstring in the front. But still... one has to be careful when bending over. What's worse is when you're showing a little skin back there while trying to get a dog's cage situated and the dog decides to give you a good *slurp!* on the bit that's showing. Yeuck!

You could buy some extra long shirts or tank tops and tuck them in, if it's enough of an issue to warrant that. Personally, I just warn my coworkers. Watch out for cracks. 😀

 

[charismarl]

I don't really want to own my own business because so much of it is so far removed from doing what you were trained to do (ie. be a veterinarian) because it's not like most of us have MBAs and/or any real training in business management...however, from the cost/benefit side it is EXTREMELY more advantageous in most situations to own your own practice. I just sat through an 8-hr lecture from a top veterinary practice advisor/personal finance guru/CPA, etc. who showed figures that showed that pretty much across the board, owning your own practice is the way to go if you have any business inclination whatsoever because you end up making a ton more money....and everyone likes money.

 

[mistifical]

Watch out for cracks. 😀

Ahh... Technicians crack 😀

I miss wearing scrubs and being around live animals... ok and occasionally getting yelled at because scrub pants and I just don't agree. But in my workplace it was just a fact of life.

 

[ylrebmik]

I would love to eventually have my own clinic... but I would have no idea where to start.

 

[twelvetigers]

Maybe you should sneak in some business management courses during your undergrad?

 

[VUprevetbubsy]

Yes! I want my own clinic! I worked for an amazing vet who's clinic taught me exactly what I wanted.

I plan to specialize in Vet Rehab. Her clinic had a big huge rehab room with two hydro-treadmills, all the rehab equipment you could ever want, and a great Team atmosphere for vets, techs, and owners to focus on treatment together. She had gymnastics mats in the patient rooms rather than high,metal tables. She came to the dogs, not the other way around. Owners helped in the rehab while we swam the dogs, or we taught them exercises, prom etc...

Hope someday my clinic will be that amazing... Need to get into vet school first...🙄

 

[eventualeventer]

As they say, Crack kills. I'm probably a bit odd in that I hate wearing just a scrub top -- I always wear a polo shirt with a scrub top over it. This has the added benefit of having shirt tails x 2 to help cover up my *cough* sacrum.

Still prevet here, but I could see myself owning my own practice if I don't end up in academics. I always figured I'd work for someone else and board my (hypothetical) horses somewhere else, but I'm slowly discovering my inner control freak. I like to think of it as high standards; some would beg to differ.

 

[stinyexoticvet]

Never thought I would say it, but the closer the day actually comes the more I think YES I want my own clinic. All I need is good quality, competent staff with common sense and we can all work together as one big team...maybe I am living in a dream world...but then again, maybe I am not. What does a good clinic run for these days??

 

[rachroo]

good quality, competent staff with common sense and we can all work together as one big team

Wouldn't we all! 🙂

IMO, I think this is a huge factor in making (or breaking) a truly successful practice.