With 27 years as a Veterinary Medicine professional, Andrea Tschakert has seen the industry change, morph, and come back. She describes the path of vet med as a figure 8. Over time she has gained insight on two big topics, Culture and Cash.

Andrea describes culture as the way veterinary clinics process people and their pets. And over the decades she has seen it manipulate, grow, shrink, and manifest into many things over time. One change we discuss is the weight of grief after losing a pet and the way we respond to that. Losing a pet has always been sad, but pets in this generation are key members of the family, and clients and staff grow to love them in a deeper way than ever before. And with that comes a deeper grief. How are hospitals changing to support their clients and handle their own grief when it comes to pet loss? Andrea says making a space and giving time to hospital staff is critical for the culture, mental health, and longevity of her employees.

Money can also be a hot-button topic, especially because clients often feel like veterinary practices overcharge out of greed. Andrea is not afraid to say, money is the measure of good medicine. Without money, veterinary practices cannot operate and with money, they have the opportunity to practice better and better medicine. She does comment on Profit Sharing which some clinics and groups are opening up to with their staff, and she views it as an important incentive to get employees involved in the betterment of a clinic where they have a direct stake in the growth. 

Andrea and I discuss all the great ways she improves her clinic culture as a practice manager, including marrying the cultures of old and new. She has a lot of great ideas and a passion for the field that is truly inspiring. You can find Andrea on LinkedIn or reach out via email.