Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thirteen ten Wi b A and ask the experts brought
to you by Checkout Veterinary online check out vet dot com.
That's check out vet dot com and a chance to
visit the website. Definitely head on over there. A lot
of really good information about checkout Veterinary. What makes it
so unique, the great design, what the experience is all about.
Of course a nice thing there to bind you as
(00:21):
well that the first visit and exam is free at
Checkout Veterinary. Again, you can learn more online the website
checkout vet dot com. That's check out vet dot com.
Great day to start that relationship. Make an appointment at
Checkout Veterinary telphon number six oh eight three one eight
sixty seven hundred. That's six oh eight three one eight
sixty seven hundred. And joining us this morning is doctor
Marty Greer. Of course, doctor Reer recognized by the Westminster
(00:43):
kinnl as Veterinarian of the Year.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Doctor.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
How you doing this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I'm doing great. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's good to talk to you, and we're going to
talk about some of the things as as patients are
pets and UH and as clients at checkout vet, we
may not always see or understand, and I find it fascinating.
We've been talking the past couple of weeks. Of course,
the hours at Checkout Veterinary Monday through Wednesday and then
Friday through Sunday nine until five and soon to be
(01:10):
all seven days a week at checkout VET. Of course,
check in VET is open Monday through Friday. But you
had mentioned hiring new vets and bringing new veterinarians on
at Checkout VET. I thought, well, that's interesting, kind of
how the for those of us that don't always get
a chance to learn about this stuff what all goes
on in a VET clinic. And obviously the person that
(01:31):
most of us are familiar with is our veterinarian. But
there's a lot of support staff around. Let's got us
talk about some of the people around you at the clinic,
some of the people that make things work so well.
And of course a lot of folks may be familiar
with the term like a vet tech. What exactly, doctor Greer,
does a vet tech do?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Sure? So it's about a four to one ratio of
one doctor to four support staff, depending on who they are.
We have lots of support staff. We have people who
answer the phones that keep things rolling after hours. We
have a service that helps us to answer the phone
at the practice so that there's trained professionals that can
(02:14):
help you make decisions about how your veterinary care needs
to be provided, should you go in, is it an emergency,
those kinds of things. Of course, we have our CSR
as a receptionists. The customer service representatives will help on
the phone. We have ave Tack, a certified that tech
and that's a very specific term and sometimes gets used
(02:38):
a little casually. There is a certified veterinary technician and
this is someone who has at least a two year
degree with additional training after high school on veterinary care.
In Wisconsin, they're called certified. Some states column registered, so
there are RvTs, some state calum licensed LVTs. But it's
a very specific term meaning that they are trained specifically
(03:01):
to run anesthesia, to give vaccines, to assist the doctor,
to take X rays, to draw lab work, all kinds
of specific veterinary procedures that they're trained to do. Then
we have veterinary assistants and those are the ones who
help us with the other stuff. You have to be
(03:22):
in Wisconsin to give a ravy vaccination or to run anesesia.
You have to be a certified veterinary technician. Veterinary assistance
are not allowed to do those specific procedures. They can help,
but they're not allowed to be the person who's running
the anthesion monitoring your pet during an sesion to make
sure that they're safe. Then we have the other support staff.
(03:43):
We have a manager at practices and then so that's
going to be an office manager or practice manager. If
it's somebody that runs multiple clinics, that might be a
hospital administrator. So there's a couple of different levels of
administrative care as well as just the just the VA's
(04:04):
just certified VETTEX and the doctors. So there's a lot
of layers to it.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
The sure is I want to ask about kind of
assembling that team. I know you put a lot of
work over the years. We talk about the clinic and
the amount of work that went into kind of the
design and set up, and I know finding those right
doctors and right team around you as well at Checkout
Veterinary is really important. That's one of the great things
about taking your pet and getting into Checkout Veterinary is
it's a great location. Of course, they're real conveniently located
(04:31):
right at twenty seven to ten Prairie Lakes Drive and
sun Prarie, just off the interstate. If you can hear
our voice this morning, you are just moments away from
Checkout Veterinary. Not only is the clinic unique, the team
around around the doctor and of course the doctors at
checkout vet they are there for you. They are very
special people. Great data, start that relationship. Pick up phone,
give a call six oh eight three one eight sixty
seven hundred. That's six oh eight three one eight sixty
(04:51):
seven hundred. Doctor. I remember very early on a conversation
we had on air, and you had mentioned about kind
of the importance of the people aroun round you, and
you know, and make sure as as clients and as
as we bring in our pets that we're acknowledging. You know,
these these people do very very hard work. And I know,
speaking of hard work, you personally work very hard on
(05:13):
finding that right team of folks, whether it's the vets
or or the support staff around you. You work very
hard on finding really good fits, don't you.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Oh yeah, it's truly important that they are compassionate, caring,
want to be there, want to work the hours that
we're offering them services because working weekends, well, you know,
there's some practices and there's some professions that that's not
something that you have to do. But pets don't pick
the day of the time and the day that they
get six. So we have to be available when they
(05:47):
need us. And yes, it does take a lot of
work to get the right people together and then they
have to be compatible with each other. And so yeah,
there's a lot of layers to it, just like you
know any other team that you put together. It's not
it's not just you know, do you have a pulse.
It has to be a lot more than just that
you're breathing and that you that you show up, but
that you really are compassionate and and really care about
(06:10):
what you do.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinarian
the website checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot
com or toping number six. So eight three one eight
sixty seven hundred, that's six eight three one eight sixty
seven hundred. Let's talk about vets and this was this
is something that has surprised me, is there is a
shortage and it's it's it's sometimes quite difficult to find
(06:32):
the right vet for the clinic. And I did not
realize that what is going on in the in the
in the industry, or or in the world. That's that
we're seeing, you know, a hard you know, clinics closing
across the country. We're seeing consolidation oftentimes. What's going on
with the with kind of the the veterinarian world right
now doctor that we're that we're seeing this this reduction
(06:53):
in the number of doctors out there.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Well, COVID hit pretty hard. There were people who were
pretty impacted by that, and it changed the hours that
practices were open. A lot of practices shortened up. We
did shorten up our hours. We have never gone back
to the hours we had before. We used to be
open in Lamira until nine o'clock at night, and that
changed during COVID, and that once that disappears, it's really
(07:19):
hard to get it back. The emergency clinic and referral centers,
many of those are open twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week, but some of those have reduced
their hours again because of staffing, so it has been
more difficult to staff were but we stopped at Walmart
last night, you know, and Walmart used to be twenty
four hours a day at any of their locations, and
(07:39):
I don't think there's any twenty four our walmarts anymore. So,
you know, it certainly has been different. During COVID, some
of the places went to curbside. We fortunately never did.
We continue to serve our clients by letting them come
into the practice because I think it's really important that
your pet is accompanied by you, and that's why we
did set up practice and that drive through the way
(08:01):
we did is so that you can be present and
be with them. I think it's really important that you
see what's happening. They rely on you to know that
it's okay, that it's safe, and that you understand what
we're doing. And we can explain to you all along
the way what we're doing, what we're finding, what our
physical exam findings are, what our test results are, and
(08:21):
how we need to address your pet's care. So that's
something that we really are significantly committed to. But a
lot of practices have cut back their hours. Some are
still curve side. They just prefer it that way, and
it's just in a general way, it's just been harder
to hire staff and harder to hire doctors. There is
(08:43):
also the corporatization happening in veterinary medicine, as it is
in dentistry and some of the other professionals optometry, eptomology.
There are corporations now that own these practices instead of
it being individually owned by the local doctor and their
family member, often that worked in the practice, a husband
(09:04):
and wife, you know kids. Uh, it's really it's changed
a lot. So corporatization has not necessarily improved some of
the things that happen. In other ways it has. They've
been able to allow better staff benefits, but it's it's
more difficult because we don't have that mom and pop
feel to some of the practices anymore.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Docor this morning with doctor Mardy Greer kind of lifting
up the curtain a little bit. You ever wonder what
goes on in the world of veterinary medicine. Some really
great information from the doctor. Speaking of great information, if
you if you haven't had a chance to check out
the website for checkout Veterinary, head on over there now
checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. The
clinic very conveniently located right at twenty seven to ten
(09:47):
Prairie Lakes drive in sun Prairie. Great day to make
that appointment. Six soh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
That's six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
Between checkout Vet and check in Vet, they've got you
covered seven days a week. Of course, check in Vet
Monday through Friday and check out Vet Monday through Wednesday
and then Friday through Sunday, so they are available to
you weekends. And and doctor, what about the clinics themselves?
(10:09):
And well, I'll probably you know, Focus in Marshall is
a great example of that. A lot of clinics like
those nice community where you know, it's a smaller town
and everybody knows each other and the doctor the vet
is really convened to get in. Places like that have
have gone by the wayside, and you were able to
when the Marshall Clinic became available, you guys were able
(10:31):
to come in at Checkout Veterinary and keep that that
clinic going. Stuff like that isn't all that common these days,
is it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
No? A lot of those practices are closing, consolidating, uh,
shortening hours. Doctors are retiring and don't have anybody to
take over for them. Uh, there's a you know, generational
difference in who wants to be responsible for practice ownership.
So we've seen a change in that. Now that being
said that that isn't everybody, but it certainly is a
(10:59):
percent of people. And there are a lot of new
graduates coming to market, you know, coming out of school
that are interested in owning practices. So we want to
foster that. There are organizations that helped us support them.
There are student organizations and veterinary organizations to support the
new graduates, and in fact, we're hiring a new one
for Lamira, So we're excited about that and that's going
(11:21):
to make a big difference if we can mentor some
of these people that are interested in practice ownership, because
it is a lot of students graduate with a significant
amount of debt, but practice ownership is the fast track
to paying off your debt more quickly than just working
in a practice. So we want to foster that. We
want to support new graduates, We want to support them
(11:42):
in practice ownership and give them the opportunities that we had.
I mean, it was pretty exciting when we graduated. You know,
we did didn't really know what we were doing, but
somehow we managed to start a practice, and here we are,
you know, forty forty years later, we're still we're still
out there.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Talk to you too about about that, about obviously what
dro drew you into into veterinary medicine. And I know
there's a lot of a lot of folks with kiddos
and grandkids that may have interest in becoming vets or
working in the in the in the veterinary care industry.
I want to talk to you a little bit about that.
We'll get to uh, get to that just a moment,
doctor Gray. If you haven't had a chance, please head
(12:20):
on over to the website. Just a great one. Checkout
vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. You can
learn about checkout Veterinary what makes it so unique? As
we talked this morning and each week with doctor Marty Greer.
You can also learn more about doctor Greer on the website.
Checkout vet dot com. Great data. Start that relationship. Don't
forget your first visit that exam. It will be free.
Telephone number six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
(12:42):
That's six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
More of ask the experts. But check out Veterinary continues
next right here on thirteen ten Double U I B A.
Thirteen ten, Double U I B A and Ask the
Experts talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinary.
You can learn more online their website checkout vet dot com.
(13:04):
AT's check out vet dot com if you haven't been
there recently. I know a lot of work went into
the redesign and update of checkout vet dot com. It
really does a great job of helping understand what makes
the Checkout Veterinary concepts so amazing, so convenient for you
and your pat And we're going to talk about for folks,
young folks that may want to get into the end
of the practice, so what it's what all to think
(13:26):
about and what that's like. But first and foremost coming
up on Sunday, Oh my goodness, we're already into May. Sunday,
May fourth, You've got your Meet the Vet event going
on at Checkout Veterinary from three until five, and doctor
it's going to be a great opportunity for folks to
come in, meet the doctors, check out the clinic, get
to know everybody, and it sounds like a really fun event.
Coming up on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, we've got some fun activities planned. We're going to
have a nice opportunity to meet doctor Scheller and I'll
be there. Doctor Griffins will be there, so it'll be
fun to get a chance to see people and meet them.
Ease off. You are just a little curious about whether
this is the right place for you and your pet,
Please stop in and take a look at how we
(14:09):
do things our facility. It's really beautiful, it's clean, it
smells great, The pets are comfortable. So if you just
want to test the waters, please stop by and say
hi and get to know us, see how we practice
and what our philosophy is and how we can help
your pets. And thanks.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Coming up on Sunday the fourth, that's this Sunday from
three and till five at the sun Prairie location right
at twenty seven to ten Prairie Lakes drive in some prairie.
Really great opportunity. And Doctor we were talking earlier about
just about you know, putting that team together around you,
and you mentioned some of the other vets are going
to be at this event. I know that that's important too,
is having really good communication skills and really being interested
(14:50):
in engaging and engaging with not just the pets, but
with the people as well. So really good opportunity again.
Meet the VET coming up on Sunday from three until
five at the Checkout VET right on Prairie Lakes Drive.
Great event. I get on and say hello, check the
place out. Let's talk about I know that you know
you were talking about your experience and kind of when
(15:10):
you got started in veterinary medicine. And obviously everybody's journey
is a little bit different. But for people that may
be looking at a career in veterinary medicine, what's some
of your advice to them, What do you advise them
to be doing now and kind of what are some
of the steps they should be taking.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Sure, so for kids that are interested, and there's kind
of two subsets of people that enter veterinary medicine. One
is the subset that when they were four or five
years old, that's all they ever wanted to be or
to do, was to grow up to be a veterinarian.
They wanted to do horses or cattle or dogs, cats,
you know, whatever. So at a very very young age
people pick up on this. The other subset is in
(15:51):
late high school and early college that they realized that
this is a good career choice for them. So it's
an opportunity for us to realize that kids at a
very early age, very tender age, get excited about this career.
So if you're interested, you have to have really good grades,
and you have to realize that it's going to be
a pretty long haul. To go through veterinary school. You
(16:11):
need a three to four year undergraduate program and then
a four year degree program in veterinary medicine, and then
for sub students they go on to do an internship
and or a residency, so that can be up to
twelve years by the time you get done with everything
post high school. If you're not interested in that much
time and educational settings, then a veterinary technician can be
(16:35):
a great career as well. Like I said, that's a
two year program. There is a four year as well,
but most people do the two year program. And there
are some set of specialties now developing in that field
as well, for anesthesia and dentistry and some other aspects.
So almost any specialty that we see in human medicine,
there's a comparable specialty in veterinary medicine. So dermatology and optimology,
(17:00):
and cardiology and internal medicine and imaging, so radiology, anything
that you're interested in. We can find a subset of
skills that you can go on and develop in veterinary
medicine and it's pretty exciting. So and when you graduate,
you are qualified to do all the species. So you
can do marine animals, or you can do laboratory animals,
(17:24):
or you can do it doesn't just have to be
dogs and cats or horses and cattle, And it gives
you the chance to do all kinds of different things.
You can work in industry, you can work in practice,
you can work in research. So it's a really broad
education that opens doors to many, many opportunities. So it's
a very exciting career. And even if you decide that
(17:47):
practice is your thing, there's never two days that are
the same, never two days that are boring. It's a
great career. I mean seriously, it is the best job
in the world.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And you get to spend time with animals. I mean,
how fantastic better. Yeah, exactly, I was going to ask you,
doctor you have I think your husband worked quite a
bit with large animals, as I am, I remembering that correctly.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yes, he did day for twenty four years and then
twenty years ago decided that he was done without his
body said okay enough, so he changed career paths, went
back and did some training and acupuncture and chiropractic, so
he's qualified to do all kinds of pain management. So
he still practices, and then he also helps run the
(18:30):
financial aspects of the practice. So it's a really lifelong
career that you could stay active and physical and engaged.
It truly is we get to help people. We get
to help their pets and their other animals. It's the
best job in the world.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
It is a great it is a great career path
for the if you are a person that loves people,
love animals, loves quality of life for animals, and such
a great, great thing. And it's always great to get
a chance to spend time with doctor career each and
every Thursday here on thirteen ten Wiba speaking of spending
time getting to know the doctors, don't forget coming up
on Sunday. This Sunday, the fourth meet the vet at
(19:08):
the Checkout Veterinary Clinic from three until five pm. We're
at a twenty seven to ten Prairie Lakes Drive and
Sun Prairie. They'd love to see you. You can get more
information at checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot
com marking on your calendars. It's this Sunday from three
until five. Meet the Vet. A great opportunity to see
the clinic if you haven't seen it, yain and it'll
get to know those vets at checkout Veterinary again, open
(19:28):
Monday through Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, nine until five. You say, well,
what about Thursdays, Well they've got you covered Thursdays as well.
Check in Vet, the sister clinic of checkout Vet, open
Monday through Friday, nine until five.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Again.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
All the details available online at checkout vet dot com.
Doctor Greer, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
You have a great day and I'll look forward to
seeing you this weekend.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Thank you, and.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Again that event Sunday this Sunday the fourth, from three
until five. More information available at checkout vet dot com.
Thirteen ten Wi b A and ask the experts brought
to you by Checkout Veterinary online check out vet dot com.
That's check out vet dot com and a chance to
visit the website. Definitely head on over there. A lot
of really good information about checkout Veterinary. What makes it
so unique, the great design, what the experience is all about.
Of course a nice thing there to bind you as
(00:21):
well that the first visit and exam is free at
Checkout Veterinary. Again, you can learn more online the website
checkout vet dot com. That's check out vet dot com.
Great day to start that relationship. Make an appointment at
Checkout Veterinary telphon number six oh eight three one eight
sixty seven hundred. That's six oh eight three one eight
sixty seven hundred. And joining us this morning is doctor
Marty Greer. Of course, doctor Reer recognized by the Westminster
(00:43):
kinnl as Veterinarian of the Year.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Doctor.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
How you doing this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I'm doing great. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's good to talk to you, and we're going to
talk about some of the things as as patients are
pets and UH and as clients at checkout vet, we
may not always see or understand, and I find it fascinating.
We've been talking the past couple of weeks. Of course,
the hours at Checkout Veterinary Monday through Wednesday and then
Friday through Sunday nine until five and soon to be
(01:10):
all seven days a week at checkout VET. Of course,
check in VET is open Monday through Friday. But you
had mentioned hiring new vets and bringing new veterinarians on
at Checkout VET. I thought, well, that's interesting, kind of
how the for those of us that don't always get
a chance to learn about this stuff what all goes
on in a VET clinic. And obviously the person that
(01:31):
most of us are familiar with is our veterinarian. But
there's a lot of support staff around. Let's got us
talk about some of the people around you at the clinic,
some of the people that make things work so well.
And of course a lot of folks may be familiar
with the term like a vet tech. What exactly, doctor Greer,
does a vet tech do?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Sure? So it's about a four to one ratio of
one doctor to four support staff, depending on who they are.
We have lots of support staff. We have people who
answer the phones that keep things rolling after hours. We
have a service that helps us to answer the phone
at the practice so that there's trained professionals that can
(02:14):
help you make decisions about how your veterinary care needs
to be provided, should you go in, is it an emergency,
those kinds of things. Of course, we have our CSR
as a receptionists. The customer service representatives will help on
the phone. We have ave Tack, a certified that tech
and that's a very specific term and sometimes gets used
(02:38):
a little casually. There is a certified veterinary technician and
this is someone who has at least a two year
degree with additional training after high school on veterinary care.
In Wisconsin, they're called certified. Some states column registered, so
there are RvTs, some state calum licensed LVTs. But it's
a very specific term meaning that they are trained specifically
(03:01):
to run anesthesia, to give vaccines, to assist the doctor,
to take X rays, to draw lab work, all kinds
of specific veterinary procedures that they're trained to do. Then
we have veterinary assistants and those are the ones who
help us with the other stuff. You have to be
(03:22):
in Wisconsin to give a ravy vaccination or to run anesesia.
You have to be a certified veterinary technician. Veterinary assistance
are not allowed to do those specific procedures. They can help,
but they're not allowed to be the person who's running
the anthesion monitoring your pet during an sesion to make
sure that they're safe. Then we have the other support staff.
(03:43):
We have a manager at practices and then so that's
going to be an office manager or practice manager. If
it's somebody that runs multiple clinics, that might be a
hospital administrator. So there's a couple of different levels of
administrative care as well as just the just the VA's
(04:04):
just certified VETTEX and the doctors. So there's a lot
of layers to it.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
The sure is I want to ask about kind of
assembling that team. I know you put a lot of
work over the years. We talk about the clinic and
the amount of work that went into kind of the
design and set up, and I know finding those right
doctors and right team around you as well at Checkout
Veterinary is really important. That's one of the great things
about taking your pet and getting into Checkout Veterinary is
it's a great location. Of course, they're real conveniently located
(04:31):
right at twenty seven to ten Prairie Lakes Drive and
sun Prarie, just off the interstate. If you can hear
our voice this morning, you are just moments away from
Checkout Veterinary. Not only is the clinic unique, the team
around around the doctor and of course the doctors at
checkout vet they are there for you. They are very
special people. Great data, start that relationship. Pick up phone,
give a call six oh eight three one eight sixty
seven hundred. That's six oh eight three one eight sixty
(04:51):
seven hundred. Doctor. I remember very early on a conversation
we had on air, and you had mentioned about kind
of the importance of the people aroun round you, and
you know, and make sure as as clients and as
as we bring in our pets that we're acknowledging. You know,
these these people do very very hard work. And I know,
speaking of hard work, you personally work very hard on
(05:13):
finding that right team of folks, whether it's the vets
or or the support staff around you. You work very
hard on finding really good fits, don't you.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Oh yeah, it's truly important that they are compassionate, caring,
want to be there, want to work the hours that
we're offering them services because working weekends, well, you know,
there's some practices and there's some professions that that's not
something that you have to do. But pets don't pick
the day of the time and the day that they
get six. So we have to be available when they
(05:47):
need us. And yes, it does take a lot of
work to get the right people together and then they
have to be compatible with each other. And so yeah,
there's a lot of layers to it, just like you
know any other team that you put together. It's not
it's not just you know, do you have a pulse.
It has to be a lot more than just that
you're breathing and that you that you show up, but
that you really are compassionate and and really care about
(06:10):
what you do.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinarian
the website checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot
com or toping number six. So eight three one eight
sixty seven hundred, that's six eight three one eight sixty
seven hundred. Let's talk about vets and this was this
is something that has surprised me, is there is a
shortage and it's it's it's sometimes quite difficult to find
(06:32):
the right vet for the clinic. And I did not
realize that what is going on in the in the
in the industry, or or in the world. That's that
we're seeing, you know, a hard you know, clinics closing
across the country. We're seeing consolidation oftentimes. What's going on
with the with kind of the the veterinarian world right
now doctor that we're that we're seeing this this reduction
(06:53):
in the number of doctors out there.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Well, COVID hit pretty hard. There were people who were
pretty impacted by that, and it changed the hours that
practices were open. A lot of practices shortened up. We
did shorten up our hours. We have never gone back
to the hours we had before. We used to be
open in Lamira until nine o'clock at night, and that
changed during COVID, and that once that disappears, it's really
(07:19):
hard to get it back. The emergency clinic and referral centers,
many of those are open twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week, but some of those have reduced
their hours again because of staffing, so it has been
more difficult to staff were but we stopped at Walmart
last night, you know, and Walmart used to be twenty
four hours a day at any of their locations, and
(07:39):
I don't think there's any twenty four our walmarts anymore. So,
you know, it certainly has been different. During COVID, some
of the places went to curbside. We fortunately never did.
We continue to serve our clients by letting them come
into the practice because I think it's really important that
your pet is accompanied by you, and that's why we
did set up practice and that drive through the way
(08:01):
we did is so that you can be present and
be with them. I think it's really important that you
see what's happening. They rely on you to know that
it's okay, that it's safe, and that you understand what
we're doing. And we can explain to you all along
the way what we're doing, what we're finding, what our
physical exam findings are, what our test results are, and
(08:21):
how we need to address your pet's care. So that's
something that we really are significantly committed to. But a
lot of practices have cut back their hours. Some are
still curve side. They just prefer it that way, and
it's just in a general way, it's just been harder
to hire staff and harder to hire doctors. There is
(08:43):
also the corporatization happening in veterinary medicine, as it is
in dentistry and some of the other professionals optometry, eptomology.
There are corporations now that own these practices instead of
it being individually owned by the local doctor and their
family member, often that worked in the practice, a husband
(09:04):
and wife, you know kids. Uh, it's really it's changed
a lot. So corporatization has not necessarily improved some of
the things that happen. In other ways it has. They've
been able to allow better staff benefits, but it's it's
more difficult because we don't have that mom and pop
feel to some of the practices anymore.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Docor this morning with doctor Mardy Greer kind of lifting
up the curtain a little bit. You ever wonder what
goes on in the world of veterinary medicine. Some really
great information from the doctor. Speaking of great information, if
you if you haven't had a chance to check out
the website for checkout Veterinary, head on over there now
checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. The
clinic very conveniently located right at twenty seven to ten
(09:47):
Prairie Lakes drive in sun Prairie. Great day to make
that appointment. Six soh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
That's six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
Between checkout Vet and check in Vet, they've got you
covered seven days a week. Of course, check in Vet
Monday through Friday and check out Vet Monday through Wednesday
and then Friday through Sunday, so they are available to
you weekends. And and doctor, what about the clinics themselves?
(10:09):
And well, I'll probably you know, Focus in Marshall is
a great example of that. A lot of clinics like
those nice community where you know, it's a smaller town
and everybody knows each other and the doctor the vet
is really convened to get in. Places like that have
have gone by the wayside, and you were able to
when the Marshall Clinic became available, you guys were able
(10:31):
to come in at Checkout Veterinary and keep that that
clinic going. Stuff like that isn't all that common these days,
is it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
No? A lot of those practices are closing, consolidating, uh,
shortening hours. Doctors are retiring and don't have anybody to
take over for them. Uh, there's a you know, generational
difference in who wants to be responsible for practice ownership.
So we've seen a change in that. Now that being
said that that isn't everybody, but it certainly is a
(10:59):
percent of people. And there are a lot of new
graduates coming to market, you know, coming out of school
that are interested in owning practices. So we want to
foster that. There are organizations that helped us support them.
There are student organizations and veterinary organizations to support the
new graduates, and in fact, we're hiring a new one
for Lamira, So we're excited about that and that's going
(11:21):
to make a big difference if we can mentor some
of these people that are interested in practice ownership, because
it is a lot of students graduate with a significant
amount of debt, but practice ownership is the fast track
to paying off your debt more quickly than just working
in a practice. So we want to foster that. We
want to support new graduates, We want to support them
(11:42):
in practice ownership and give them the opportunities that we had.
I mean, it was pretty exciting when we graduated. You know,
we did didn't really know what we were doing, but
somehow we managed to start a practice, and here we are,
you know, forty forty years later, we're still we're still
out there.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Talk to you too about about that, about obviously what
dro drew you into into veterinary medicine. And I know
there's a lot of a lot of folks with kiddos
and grandkids that may have interest in becoming vets or
working in the in the in the veterinary care industry.
I want to talk to you a little bit about that.
We'll get to uh, get to that just a moment,
doctor Gray. If you haven't had a chance, please head
(12:20):
on over to the website. Just a great one. Checkout
vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. You can
learn about checkout Veterinary what makes it so unique? As
we talked this morning and each week with doctor Marty Greer.
You can also learn more about doctor Greer on the website.
Checkout vet dot com. Great data. Start that relationship. Don't
forget your first visit that exam. It will be free.
Telephone number six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
(12:42):
That's six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
More of ask the experts. But check out Veterinary continues
next right here on thirteen ten Double U I B A.
Thirteen ten, Double U I B A and Ask the
Experts talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinary.
You can learn more online their website checkout vet dot com.
(13:04):
AT's check out vet dot com if you haven't been
there recently. I know a lot of work went into
the redesign and update of checkout vet dot com. It
really does a great job of helping understand what makes
the Checkout Veterinary concepts so amazing, so convenient for you
and your pat And we're going to talk about for folks,
young folks that may want to get into the end
of the practice, so what it's what all to think
(13:26):
about and what that's like. But first and foremost coming
up on Sunday, Oh my goodness, we're already into May. Sunday,
May fourth, You've got your Meet the Vet event going
on at Checkout Veterinary from three until five, and doctor
it's going to be a great opportunity for folks to
come in, meet the doctors, check out the clinic, get
to know everybody, and it sounds like a really fun event.
Coming up on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, we've got some fun activities planned. We're going to
have a nice opportunity to meet doctor Scheller and I'll
be there. Doctor Griffins will be there, so it'll be
fun to get a chance to see people and meet them.
Ease off. You are just a little curious about whether
this is the right place for you and your pet,
Please stop in and take a look at how we
(14:09):
do things our facility. It's really beautiful, it's clean, it
smells great, The pets are comfortable. So if you just
want to test the waters, please stop by and say
hi and get to know us, see how we practice
and what our philosophy is and how we can help
your pets. And thanks.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Coming up on Sunday the fourth, that's this Sunday from
three and till five at the sun Prairie location right
at twenty seven to ten Prairie Lakes drive in some prairie.
Really great opportunity. And Doctor we were talking earlier about
just about you know, putting that team together around you,
and you mentioned some of the other vets are going
to be at this event. I know that that's important too,
is having really good communication skills and really being interested
(14:50):
in engaging and engaging with not just the pets, but
with the people as well. So really good opportunity again.
Meet the VET coming up on Sunday from three until
five at the Checkout VET right on Prairie Lakes Drive.
Great event. I get on and say hello, check the
place out. Let's talk about I know that you know
you were talking about your experience and kind of when
(15:10):
you got started in veterinary medicine. And obviously everybody's journey
is a little bit different. But for people that may
be looking at a career in veterinary medicine, what's some
of your advice to them, What do you advise them
to be doing now and kind of what are some
of the steps they should be taking.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Sure, so for kids that are interested, and there's kind
of two subsets of people that enter veterinary medicine. One
is the subset that when they were four or five
years old, that's all they ever wanted to be or
to do, was to grow up to be a veterinarian.
They wanted to do horses or cattle or dogs, cats,
you know, whatever. So at a very very young age
people pick up on this. The other subset is in
(15:51):
late high school and early college that they realized that
this is a good career choice for them. So it's
an opportunity for us to realize that kids at a
very early age, very tender age, get excited about this career.
So if you're interested, you have to have really good grades,
and you have to realize that it's going to be
a pretty long haul. To go through veterinary school. You
(16:11):
need a three to four year undergraduate program and then
a four year degree program in veterinary medicine, and then
for sub students they go on to do an internship
and or a residency, so that can be up to
twelve years by the time you get done with everything
post high school. If you're not interested in that much
time and educational settings, then a veterinary technician can be
(16:35):
a great career as well. Like I said, that's a
two year program. There is a four year as well,
but most people do the two year program. And there
are some set of specialties now developing in that field
as well, for anesthesia and dentistry and some other aspects.
So almost any specialty that we see in human medicine,
there's a comparable specialty in veterinary medicine. So dermatology and optimology,
(17:00):
and cardiology and internal medicine and imaging, so radiology, anything
that you're interested in. We can find a subset of
skills that you can go on and develop in veterinary
medicine and it's pretty exciting. So and when you graduate,
you are qualified to do all the species. So you
can do marine animals, or you can do laboratory animals,
(17:24):
or you can do it doesn't just have to be
dogs and cats or horses and cattle, And it gives
you the chance to do all kinds of different things.
You can work in industry, you can work in practice,
you can work in research. So it's a really broad
education that opens doors to many, many opportunities. So it's
a very exciting career. And even if you decide that
(17:47):
practice is your thing, there's never two days that are
the same, never two days that are boring. It's a
great career. I mean seriously, it is the best job
in the world.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And you get to spend time with animals. I mean,
how fantastic better. Yeah, exactly, I was going to ask you,
doctor you have I think your husband worked quite a
bit with large animals, as I am, I remembering that correctly.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yes, he did day for twenty four years and then
twenty years ago decided that he was done without his
body said okay enough, so he changed career paths, went
back and did some training and acupuncture and chiropractic, so
he's qualified to do all kinds of pain management. So
he still practices, and then he also helps run the
(18:30):
financial aspects of the practice. So it's a really lifelong
career that you could stay active and physical and engaged.
It truly is we get to help people. We get
to help their pets and their other animals. It's the
best job in the world.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
It is a great it is a great career path
for the if you are a person that loves people,
love animals, loves quality of life for animals, and such
a great, great thing. And it's always great to get
a chance to spend time with doctor career each and
every Thursday here on thirteen ten Wiba speaking of spending
time getting to know the doctors, don't forget coming up
on Sunday. This Sunday, the fourth meet the vet at
(19:08):
the Checkout Veterinary Clinic from three until five pm. We're
at a twenty seven to ten Prairie Lakes Drive and
Sun Prairie. They'd love to see you. You can get more
information at checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot
com marking on your calendars. It's this Sunday from three
until five. Meet the Vet. A great opportunity to see
the clinic if you haven't seen it, yain and it'll
get to know those vets at checkout Veterinary again, open
(19:28):
Monday through Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, nine until five. You say, well,
what about Thursdays, Well they've got you covered Thursdays as well.
Check in Vet, the sister clinic of checkout Vet, open
Monday through Friday, nine until five.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Again.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
All the details available online at checkout vet dot com.
Doctor Greer, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
You have a great day and I'll look forward to
seeing you this weekend.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Thank you, and.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Again that event Sunday this Sunday the fourth, from three
until five. More information available at checkout vet dot com.
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