Radiologists are feeling the pressures of Veterinary Medicine 3.0. In the dark ages of veterinary medicine 1.0 male veterinarians worked their lives away doing the James Herriot routine. There were no veterinary radiologists back then.
Female veterinarians defined Veterinary Medicine 2.0. VM 2.0 was the Golden Era where practice management consultants told us to charge more and sell more stuff to clients. Pet owners had disposable income. Specialists had a license to print money and radiologists were either road warriors or high paid specialists working in specialty practices with marble floors and big fish tanks.
The Great Recession, corporate involvement in the veterinary profession, Pet-Meds Express, Frontline at Costo, industry consolidation with tough employment contracts and sometimes lawsuits to enforce those contracts, and teleradiology ushered in Veterinary Medicine 3.0. Although we are just beginning navigate VM3.0 and we do not yet know what the future will hold, we do know that radiologists, although they are in high demand, are becoming less and less satisfied with their lives and jobs.
As the CEO of DVMinsight, a platform that dozens of radiologists, referral hospitals, equipment distributors, and universities use to conduct their business, we are in contact with large numbers of radiologists. Although not my goal, my shoulder and DVMinsight have become a quasi-support service where radiologists discuss their stories, get advice, and (sometimes) cry about their situations. Radiologists and have, jokingly, called me the “Dr. Phil,” “Ralph Nader,” and (once) “ The Oprah” of veterinary radiology.
Although I would have much preferred Scott Baio, Napoleon Dynamite, Craig Newmark, or Seth Godin, I’ll take Oprah. This series of articles titled “Finding Happiness As A Veterinary Radiologist” will discuss the topics that come up over and over again in my discussions with veterinary radiologists. I will tell some of their stories and offer some of the advice that I offer them in an effort to help us all find happiness as a veterinary radiologist.