Vetted in Vet Med: Episode 3: Diary of a Corporate Black Woman Part 3

In this conversation, Dr. Levy and Dr. Wilson discuss their experiences in corporate veterinary medicine, focusing on the challenges of high patient volumes, workplace culture, and the importance of communication. They share personal anecdotes about their journeys, the pressures they face, and the impact of leadership on their work environment. The discussion highlights the need for balance between professional responsibilities and personal well-being, as well as the significance of fostering a supportive workplace culture.

Takeaways

• May is a busy month for Dr. Levy with multiple birthdays.
• Corporate veterinary medicine can feel like a fast-food service.
• High patient volumes lead to increased stress and potential mistakes.
• Communication issues can create anxiety and misunderstandings in the workplace.
• Work-life balance is crucial for mental health in veterinary practice.
• Leadership plays a significant role in workplace culture and employee satisfaction.
• Veterinarians often face pressure to see more patients than is manageable.
• The importance of thorough communication with clients about their pets' health.
• Navigating corporate culture can be challenging for veterinarians.
• Finding a supportive work environment is essential for job satisfaction.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:36 Closing Remarks and Future Plans
• 4:26 Diary of a Corporate Black Woman: Experiences in Veterinary Medicine
• 9:46 Challenges of High Patient Volume and Quality Care
• 18:54 Negotiating Work Conditions and Financial Incentives
• 26:35 Understanding Workplace Culture
• 31:57 Experiencing High Volume Workloads
• 39:07 Communication Challenges in the Workplace
• 47:08 Managing Stress and Expectations
• 53:02 Managing Overwhelming Workloads in Veterinary Medicine
• 56:38 Outro

Transcript

Dr. Levy (00:36)
Okay, so we're back from a few weeks ago and we just been trying to get through the month of April and we finally made it and we are now in May and we're

Dr. Wilson (00:40)
you

by the skin of our teeth

haci.

Dr. Levy (00:52)
We're looking forward to the flowers that May is supposed to be bringing us.

Dr. Wilson (00:58)
Yeah, because like I told you April showers bring May Flowers. Me.

Dr. Levy (01:02)
Yes.

Yes, this is Ayanna's birthday month. So it's the whole month we're celebrating Ayanna. And this is actually one of the busier months for me because almost everyone in my house also was born in the month of May. So they are indeed. Yes.

Dr. Wilson (01:08)
Taha Ola. ⁓

Wonderful people.

Ha ha!

Dr. Levy (01:28)
So, yeah, this is when I am really busting my butt, picking up extra shifts to afford to get through the month of May.

Dr. Wilson (01:41)
That's funny.

Dr. Levy (01:42)
Because Darren is the 14th, Davis is the 11th, and then Darrell is.

Dr. Wilson (01:47)
because she's on her first year,

yes, it's her birthday.

Dr. Levy (01:49)
The 11th the 14th? The 14th, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, then, uh-huh, yeah. So, yep. Then you have Mother's Day. Mother's Day is right before that. Then Darrell's is the 29th Yes. Yes. We gonna add your, got cash up?

Dr. Wilson (01:51)
The 14th.

See? Great people.

Mm hmm. 150 K. Anybody listen? Yeah.

Yeah, I'm putting my cash up up there.

I know they won't let you give a certain amount, so just keep giving in to increment. That's fine. I'll take it.

Dr. Levy (02:16)
Just keep Yeah.

⁓ Lord, and then there, he ends it with, he's the 29th. So it's a lot. Then I want to shout out, we want to send a shout out to our first and only subscriber our monetary subscriber who happens to be Ayanna's lifelong best friend.

Dr. Wilson (02:39)
Right?

Bestie!

Dr. Levy (02:47)
Lauren O, because we're not giving out full government names. We're just going to say Lauren H dot O dot.

Dr. Wilson (02:57)
and not to be confused with hoe

Dr. Levy (02:59)
Exactly, that's why I didn't say it like that.

Dr. Wilson (03:03)
She is not, she's a wonderful person that is very supportive. appreciate you wholeheartedly.

Dr. Levy (03:04)
But thank you, thank you, thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Yes,

yes we do appreciate you. I was so excited when I saw that. I said oh we got a subscriber. So anybody can subscribe and get a shout out by visiting vettedinvetmed.buzzsprout.com. That's where you can go to listen to all of our episodes. It has our show notes on there.

Dr. Wilson (03:23)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Levy (03:35)
And then also a way to help support us is subscribing. If any amount, but they have designated preset amounts on there as little as $3 up to $10 monthly subscription, which does help to allow us to continue providing these services.

Thank you again, Lauren, and we look forward to the next subscriber.

Dr. Wilson (04:04)
Yes!

Dr. Levy (04:05)
And if y'all want to continue to see what we look like, you can also go to YouTube because we do have videos of ourselves. yeah, we cute and we would like to see more subscribers on our YouTube channel.

Dr. Wilson (04:16)
Mmm, yes.

Yeah. ⁓

Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe, press the button, it's just the button, it's just the button, it's just the button.

Dr. Levy (04:31)
Yeah, it's just a button, download, share. ⁓ So we need y'all support. But we are continuing the series of diary of a corporate black woman. So we are still talking about our experience in corporate veterinary medicine. And ⁓ the last time...

I remember ending on talking about the amount of patients that are on the schedule as a norm. Upwards of 30, I think the most I've ever personally had on mines was maybe like 33 pets But I know...

Dr. Wilson (05:04)
Yeah.

Okay. ⁓

Dr. Levy (05:23)
I don't know if I've seen more than that on somebody's schedule, but that's the most I've ever had. And I remember one time the first corporate clinic that I was working in, there was a relief vet that came in. I don't know if he just had not experienced that before, but one of his remarks leaving was, what is this, you know,

Dr. Wilson (05:44)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Levy (05:51)
McDonald's, fast food type of clinic. Like that's what he compared that clinic to was like McDonald's or fast food restaurant. ⁓ Where essentially you just getting the pets in and out.

Dr. Wilson (06:05)
You just

busting them out. I feel like I've had, I mean, on a norm, when we had good days before this surge, well, I don't want say this surge, because it's really not a surge. It's a depletion of people coming in to these particular clinics that I have been working at. ⁓

Dr. Levy (06:16)
my-

Dr. Wilson (06:32)
I would say it was probably high 20s. But we also used to do certain days that you would purposely put a bunch of pets on the books. And it would be, you get your strongest people to do certain things, or what they're really good at. And that's how the flow is.

Dr. Levy (06:44)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Wilson (06:54)
You know, it was exciting and new and all this stuff until it wasn't worth it. Because the grand scheme of things, honestly, I'm sitting here having a realization right now, like vaccines are one thing, even still, rushing through, even though I like to give thorough examinations all the time, rushing through is just not good in any...

Dr. Levy (07:00)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Wilson (07:22)
shape or form. You get all this praise for doing 40 something patients in a day, but then you turn around and they miss something. Or you couldn't have conversation about this ear infection. At the end, it's not worth it.

Dr. Levy (07:22)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think it's right. It's easier to miss things. It's easier to end up making mistakes because at some point you have to start delegating things to, you know, your assistants or your technicians. And for me, it's hard to do because

Dr. Wilson (07:51)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Levy (08:04)
I've experienced so much because the next thing you're tasking, even something as simple as vaccinating, and then somebody comes back and they're like, ⁓ he wasn't actually due for that. ⁓

Dr. Wilson (08:13)
Mm-hmm.

Yep, they

get one one mL of ProHeart instead of .15 or something you like. Okay, dang.

Dr. Levy (08:28)
Bye.

And granted, any of those mistakes can happen anytime, right to anybody. it's just the oversight. like, you're trying to oversee so many things. And at some point it's like you haven't seen that, you know? Like, you try to go back to look at the previous history or

Dr. Wilson (08:35)
Yeah.

Dr. Levy (08:56)
vaccines that they've received in the past, any alerts that they have, but when it's back to back, it's hard to even keep up with doing all of those things. so I know, yeah.

Dr. Wilson (09:06)
Yeah.

yeah. Then I was like, go ahead, do it.

Dr. Levy (09:19)
And I mean, and ⁓ that's when things happen. And at the end of the day, even though you may have trusted somebody to do things on your behalf, it always comes back to you. ⁓ Yeah, you're the doctor. Exactly, exactly. Even, like I mentioned before, I was talking about having time to do notes.

Dr. Wilson (09:33)
Mm-hmm, because you're the doctor You're responsible for that.

Dr. Levy (09:46)
⁓ So that's always the thing that has kept me behind ⁓ and even staying after is because you're trying to keep up with the pace of all the patients going in one room after the next. And then it gets down to the point where you've seen 10 pets and you know, none of the notes are complete. And then it's just like, okay, I need a break. Cause even though there's no

Dr. Wilson (10:10)
Thank

Dr. Levy (10:14)
designated time for you to catch up on the schedule. Like at some point you just have to break away. Like I need a break. Yeah.

Dr. Wilson (10:24)
Yeah, you hit the notes. Yeah.

Nah, I hear you. I remember my chief of staff, when I first started, he would tell, he told me like how important notes were because one time he got summoned to, his notes got summoned rather to court for a divorce proceeding. And he was like, ooh, I am so glad that my stuff was in the way that it was supposed to be in because

Dr. Levy (10:47)
Yeah

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Wilson (10:50)
Of course, nobody

knows what happened. Who got the dog? Who didn't get the dog? Who knows? But his stuff looked good. That was his concern, and making sure that that was complete and all the things. And I was just gonna say, as far as like the volume in which they expect you to see certain things, I can recall just going, going, going one time. And we were doing

Dr. Levy (10:54)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

I love you.

Dr. Wilson (11:18)
and I started taking out this dog's catheter and I'm just like shhhh and the nurse is just looking at me and I'm like what and she was like what happened and I'm like I don't know like what what are we talking about and she's like uh I said we didn't do a dental in this dog yet she was like no I was like why didn't you stop me I said girl

Dr. Levy (11:39)
Didn't do the dental?

Dr. Wilson (11:47)
am like in my own head just trying to be so good and perfectly good catheter. Gone. And I'm sure something else happened that day and I was just, that was in that moment and at that time in my life I was just like, ⁓ I think we are getting to the end of things because as little as that is, that couldn't been anything, that could have been any mistake, that could have been any

Dr. Levy (11:48)
Yeah.

done

Yeah.

Dr. Wilson (12:14)
situation and I'm out here taking a catheter out of a dog that hadn't even got a dental yet.

Dr. Levy (12:19)
Mm hmm.

Dr. Wilson (12:20)
and you know, in theory it's just the idea is I wasn't paying attention. I wasn't out there and I wasn't there. I wasn't, you know, focused. So that focus could have been in a number of situations. So yeah, I don't like that.

Dr. Levy (12:26)
Yeah.

Bye.

Yeah. after I started off at the initial corporate clinic that I was at, and then after I left, I had gone off to do my own mobile clinic and went back doing relief and lab animal. And so, you know, I actually was having a good time. I was enjoying that time.

And I felt like I had like the best of both worlds at that time. And you you gotta be careful when you do these relief because people just try to, they try to snatch you up. And if you don't wanna be snatched up,

Dr. Wilson (13:07)
Yeah.

Mm.

Dr. Levy (13:21)
It's additional pressure. I'm I'm just coming here to do my job, you know, and leave. I'm just here to help. I'm not trying to join a team. And I had been like that for a while, especially because of the experience I had where I had, you know, left what I knew to throw myself into small animal and then not, I had so much hope.

Dr. Wilson (13:23)
Yeah!

But I'm helping.

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Levy (13:48)
And

to not receive that, I didn't really want to go back to being a part of a team at the time. And so I was happy being free. And then again, my best friend, who now I'm about to shout her out.

She was the one when I was at the first one, she was at the same corporation and she was like, it's amazing. You should come. And I went. And then she was then at a different ⁓ corporation and she was like, it's so great. You should come. And...

Granted, at this point, we weren't even living in the same state.

Dr. Wilson (14:38)
yeah.

Dr. Levy (14:40)
So it could have been different. Eventually, it showed its true colors where she was at as well. So she did not last that long. So, but my bit...

Dr. Wilson (14:44)
Just kidding,

It ain't it, it ain't it. Abort mission, abort mission. ⁓

Dr. Levy (15:01)
but it was too late.

So, yes, so my, I have several best friends, know, best friends, but I would say my BFF is Sherrell. And so she is, so Dr. Sherrell Milligan. ⁓

Dr. Wilson (15:19)
Bye!

⁓ Sorry.

You too, hey girl.

Dr. Levy (15:29)
So, and it's funny because this same corporation, I remember when I was applying, I finished my residency and I was applying for different jobs and ⁓ specifically in LabAnimal, but it really wasn't a lot of options at that time. And so I started applying, ⁓ I applied to this same corporation and I got on and was in training and literally for two weeks.

⁓ because then the place that I really wanted to work at in Lab Animal called and ⁓ offered me the position and girl I was out of there.

Dr. Wilson (16:08)
Oops, I gotta

go. Was waiting on that one. Yeah. Sorry girls.

Dr. Levy (16:16)
And you know, like, I mean, as an adult, you just have to make the best financial decisions that you need to make for yourself. I'm like, what am I gonna do? Not work? Not, you know? So I'm like, I have to work. And so I didn't know what was gonna become of that position. Yes, I was interviewing or whatnot, but I didn't know what was gonna happen with that. So I had to start working somewhere. So anyways. ⁓

Dr. Wilson (16:23)
Okay.

You know.

on this one.

Dr. Levy (16:43)
So I got up on out of there and this was like, I'm never looking back. ⁓ However.

Dr. Wilson (16:48)
Yeah.

You know what? Looked a little too long

Dr. Levy (16:52)
I looked like

Lot's wife. I looked back.

Dr. Wilson (16:57)
Heheheheh!

Dr. Levy (16:58)
They said, don't look back. ⁓

Dr. Wilson (17:00)
all your peak, you use your peripheral and you were like it up and down.

Dr. Levy (17:06)
Lord,

I haven't quite turned into sand, but it definitely felt like it. yes, she was at that corporation again in a different state and the incentives. Like I said, I was happy. I was happy with what I was doing. But when she talked about the incentives,

Dr. Wilson (17:33)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dr. Levy (17:34)
I said, I was like, are you serious?

The amount that she was getting for her productions, the amount of like the sign-on bonus that she received.

And of course I told Darrell and he was like, see, I could never be a vet because he talking about he would just start one job, finish the time.

Dr. Wilson (17:51)
⁓ Well, Darrell you have to commit

you have to commit for at least three years I'm sure or you're gonna pay them their money back. They want their coins Yes, but the girls do have incentives Yeah

Dr. Levy (18:06)
Exactly. They want their coins.

Yes, But I'll

just be hopping all over the place. I'm like, I'm sure there's people that do that. But I mean, I don't know. It's probably easier for men to get through some of the foolishness that we have to get through. But I don't know. Like, I just get tired. And I'm like, I don't want to deal with this no more. I don't want to deal with these people. I don't want to deal with the structure of things.

Dr. Wilson (18:15)
I wish.

Yeah.

Dr. Levy (18:37)
So ⁓ anyways, and she was, she's in a different state. She's in South Carolina. Me, I'm in Texas. So the incentives are, the market and the things, the money is different here. So I said, you know what? I'm just about to bite this bullet.

Dr. Wilson (18:44)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's different.

Dr. Levy (19:03)
and it's just gonna be temporary and I'm gonna sell my soul for this temporary period  and I'm gonna get it back. I'm gonna get it back and I mean I negotiated I started off at three days because that was all I could really do so I'm like I'll do three days a week and

Dr. Wilson (19:12)
I'm excited.

Dr. Levy (19:29)
That sign on bonus was substantial. I don't even know if I'm ready to actually give out, I would tell you, but to the world, I don't know that I'm ready to give out those numbers, but it was substantial.

Dr. Wilson (19:44)
Let's just say it's good. It's really good. I think some people would not believe the amount of money that they are paying for people to join their team and sell your soul and honey. If that's what my soul is worth. For a couple of years.

Dr. Levy (19:45)
And they also

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Wilson (20:09)
if you, you know, you being temporary.

Dr. Levy (20:11)
This.

Dr. Wilson (20:11)
We may have to talk about it? Yeah.

Dr. Levy (20:13)
⁓ man. And the potential for the production is there depending on where you're at. So the hospital, I initially started off at. I wanted to go to one that was closer to home, but there was no availability at the time. So I went somewhere a little further and the potential for production was not there. It was not there. It was a hospital that was struggling.

Dr. Wilson (20:35)
Hmm.

Dr. Levy (20:40)
And

So I came, so they just, they, you know, my boss at the time, she pretty much agreed to everything that I asked for because of that, because the hospital was not doing well financially. Of course I didn't know that until I got there. I'm like, this is why she just said yes to everything.

Dr. Wilson (20:58)
Yeah, yeah ⁓

Dr. Levy (21:04)
because I was even negotiating the time that I came in, because from my experiences, I was like, you know what? I don't want to have to be at work for eight o'clock. I want to come in at nine.

Dr. Wilson (21:15)
Let's be honest, your

girl never saw eight o'clock, honey. If I had an eight o'clock meeting, I was on call, but I was not at work at eight o'clock. I was working, so yo, clock me in, sis. But mm-mm, no. For what? What we doin'?

Dr. Levy (21:23)
⁓ no.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

No.

I just, you know, I had got to a point even at that time where I wanted to not have my mornings be as stressful. I hate rushing and the frazzledness of the mornings. So if I can get to work by nine, then that means that, you know, I've already woken up, had my time, the kids together.

taking them to school and then I can peacefully drive into work, you know? Like I'm not flying down, even though I'm probably still flying anyway, but I just drive fast, but you know, I'm not like just rushing, you know, trying to get somewhere and I feel like that just kind of sets the tone for the day. So that I'm like, I can't come in no earlier than nine o'clock.

Dr. Wilson (22:07)
Yeah.

Dr. Levy (22:30)
So now, ⁓ you know, I'm at this new job ⁓ at this location that's further away from home and it was slower even there too. I would maybe see like 10 to 15 pets. It was not a lot at all, but.

what would happen would be that most of the pets would be sick. And even though it was not a lot of patients on the schedule most days, we had a skeleton crew because there were always call-outs, always. So first of all, let me backtrack. When I started, I had done a few relief shifts.

⁓ I had done quite a few release shifts with the corporation itself. And then this particular location, I did a couple before I was like, okay, ⁓ I'm okay with going ahead and joining this team. So I would recommend that for anybody that is even considering starting anywhere to maybe work a couple of shifts there first. But it was good enough from what I saw where I was just like, okay, sure.

Dr. Wilson (23:15)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Dr. Levy (23:44)
I'm fine, because again, it's not all about the money for me, but knowing that I was getting that incentive, I'm like, sure.

Dr. Wilson (23:53)
The incentive.

Dr. Levy (23:54)
I can work here, sure. ⁓ So when I started, the ⁓ technicians, nobody knew that I had actually started ⁓ working there, ⁓ only the practice manager. And so that was not communicated with them. They thought I was still reliefing So when I started, you know, like, I don't know.

need grand gestures, but like you see things that are done for other people and so in the back of your mind you want to think that you know this is standard like

Dr. Wilson (24:25)
You

yeah,

like give me a like, gift bag a welcome.

Dr. Levy (24:40)
Something cuz that's my first one. They did do that They decorated my little desk area and everything and was like welcome and got me little gifts even one of my relief shifts They've done that like Given, you know wrote a card like thank you for coming to help us out like a relief shift gave me a little tumbler some snacks. Yeah

Dr. Wilson (24:44)
Yeah!

Not a bit.

I'm sorry.

Never had a desk

You

Dr. Levy (25:06)
Yeah, mine was not a desk, it was an exam room. Well, yeah, that first one, it was shared space, but if I was there, it was my space. ⁓ But at this second one, it was an exam room that I pretty much took over, as if it was my office. ⁓

Dr. Wilson (25:09)
Okay, I was like, never had one of those.

you

Okay, okay.

Dr. Levy (25:31)
So again, when I wasn't there, would use that as, you know, they would use it as normal. But when I was there, like there's three other, three other exam rooms that you can use. We not that busy use those. that was my office. But there was nothing, nothing there. ⁓ I mean, I barely went through any real like,

Dr. Wilson (25:38)
Let's go.

Move along, move around.

Dr. Levy (25:59)
training, I had to figure out how to work the software, which I had used during my relief shift, so I knew how to use the software, but it was minimal training. ⁓ And so then I had to be the one to tell people along the way, like, yeah, I'm working here now. ⁓ I'm the new vet here. And so they didn't even know.

Dr. Wilson (26:08)
Right.

I mean, but that kind of plays into the culture piece, right? So what conversations are you having if you're not even having a conversation that you have an actual doctor starting here? You're not talking to your team about other things. That's a pretty big piece. ⁓ So those other little pieces are being neglected as well.

Dr. Levy (26:29)
And one would think that you would brief your whole team that you have a new doctor starting.

Mm, okay.

Dr. Wilson (26:57)
They're not

Dr. Levy (26:57)
Mmhmm.

Dr. Wilson (26:58)
having conversations about anything. makes sense. It makes sense. It tracks for sure.

Dr. Levy (27:01)
Mm-mm.

So anyways, started working and then I realized very quickly that, you know, we had a skeleton crew, one. And then secondly, that even the people that were there, they were burnt out. They were over it, they were done. And I have never worked at a place that had so many call-outs.

Literally, Ayanna literally, on a daily basis. At least when I, I know when I was going in and you know, you on the group chats, there was a call out every single day from somebody or they went home early because they weren't feeling well every day. I'm like, this is ridiculous. And for you to still have a job, yeah, for you to still have a job.

Dr. Wilson (27:44)
Good night.

Yeah.

Dr. Levy (28:02)
but I had never experienced that in anywhere that I've worked. And so I knew like these people are not, they are not happy. They don't wanna be here. So it just kind of set, know, me coming in new, it just kind of sets the tone for the culture of this particular location. But again, that location was struggling.

Dr. Wilson (28:02)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Dr. Levy (28:28)
Even like I said, even though it did not have a lot of patients on the schedule, it would take us so long to get through. If you only had 10 pets on there, why does it take the whole day? And all we did was drop-offs. There was some, ⁓ you know, some appointments in the afternoon, but most of those appointments were from drop-offs and it would just take the entire day.

because somebody would always have to step outside to take a break. Somebody had to go to the bathroom. Then because it was skeleton, you're doing something, working, you you're trying to have a flow in the back, but then now they have to go up to the front to do, you know, check-in.

Dr. Wilson (29:09)
Right.

I just want to see the dog. Can I see the dog? Can I see the pet on the table? That's all I want. That's it.

Dr. Levy (29:18)
Oh, my gosh So it just dragged and dragged. And I think I was there for at least a year, a little over a year. And then I finally was able to go to the location I wanted to go to initially that was much closer to home. And so I worked a couple of, kind of did a transition. And I loved that team. It was like a breath of fresh air when I got there.

Dr. Wilson (29:18)
here.

Yeah.

Dr. Levy (29:45)
You know, yeah. And I wish, you know, I don't know if things would have been different if I would have started there from the get go, but you know, you also start to wonder like, okay, why did those other people leave? You know, you wonder why there was now an opening for you when it was a four to five doctor practice. And now there's, yeah.

Dr. Wilson (29:45)
Hey, this is why I signed up.

Thank you.

Yeah, that's a lot.

Dr. Levy (30:12)
Mm-hmm. So, and there was one full-time, two part-times. One left for health conditions and the other, I think left to like go do their own thing. And then the one of the part-times eventually left to do their own thing. ⁓ So then it ended up being three of us, which myself and the other one was part-time and then we had a full-time.

And it was funny because the full time that I remembered her from when I was there those two weeks, ⁓ all those years ago.

Dr. Wilson (30:47)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Levy (30:49)
That was a full circle moment for me. She was also ⁓

Dr. Wilson (30:52)
Hey, girl.

Hey, Hey. How are you?

Dr. Levy (30:57)
even know if she had remembered me but I don't forget ⁓ you know I don't forget her face and so I'm like where do I know this girl from and then I'm like she was in training finishing up her training when I had just started my training back in like 2016 and so I was like dang she been here she was here all this time she was here

Dr. Wilson (31:17)
Eugh.

along she's been here all along okay all right bless it

Dr. Levy (31:30)
So I thought that was interesting. But we had a good, I had a good relationship ⁓ with pretty much everybody that was there, but along the way, ⁓ you start to see things about people and then you see the culture of the clinic as well. And then I realized, ⁓ this is a high volume location.

Dr. Wilson (31:57)
Thank

Dr. Levy (31:57)
And that location was always known to do very well, but I don't really know that I knew what I was getting myself into when I transferred to that location. So I went from seeing the 10 to 14 pets on the schedule to seeing, you know, in the 20s now. And...

At this location, some of the practices were different. And I was never briefed on any of the way that they practice. It was just, I would do something my way or the way it had been done at the other location. And then I would see an email from the practice manager, generalized email.

Dr. Wilson (32:26)
it.

Dr. Levy (32:46)
I was never communicated with a lot of things directly.

Dr. Wilson (32:51)
Not the passive aggressive email.

Dr. Levy (32:53)
So like you just would have to like be like, is that about me? You know, and not really know for sure. ⁓ You know, one of the...

Dr. Wilson (32:58)
Yeah!

Hey, what's up? Let's go. Let's go to my office. Let me go to exam room three. Come on, let's go.

Dr. Levy (33:04)
Is it about me? Is it me? My office.

I remember one of the things was the parking. No one ever told me where I was supposed to park. I ⁓ never parked in the front. Obviously, I'm going to save those for clients, but I would park on the side because this was a standalone. So I would park on the side. And I don't even know to this day if even that one was about me. But one of the CSCs that sent an email in regards to where to park.

Dr. Wilson (33:25)
Yeah.

Dr. Levy (33:37)
and you're not supposed to park over there with a whole map outlined of where you're supposed to park. ⁓

Dr. Wilson (33:44)
Not the diagram.

Dr. Levy (33:45)
A diagram highlighted. This is where you park. And I'm like, nobody, if they would have briefed me on these things, I'm okay with following directions, you know, but.

Dr. Wilson (33:58)
You got to give direction to follow it.

Dr. Levy (34:00)
Right. ⁓ And I remember one time, because the technicians and the CSCs, they did like to bring in their pets for me to do for whatever reason. ⁓ And I remember when I first got there, one of the CSCs brought her pet in for a dental. So we did the dental cleaning and she also had radiographs done. And ⁓ they were sent off.

Dr. Wilson (34:12)
Thank

Dr. Levy (34:29)
But I never, I don't even know that I remember the fact that her dog had the radiographs done, but also since I never received the report, it was not something that was on the forefront of my mind to know that I needed to go back to follow up with her. ⁓ And so there, was months that went by.

I never saw the report. It had been months. And then we get this email stating that ⁓ when we have associates that bring their pets in, they need to be treated with the same quality and care as

the rest of any other patient that's there. ⁓ basically talked about that there was a radiograph report that ⁓ one of the techs just happened to see and realized that it was never discussed with the receptionist. so ⁓ I didn't know if that was about me or not. I had to go back.

to know and even feel no one told me, no one told me. So I had to, I had to go back and I think I had to go back to the date that it was and realize that yeah, that was one of my days. And then I saw who the and

Vetted in Vet Med (35:48)
I need my shades. ⁓

Yeah.

Dr. Levy (36:10)
I felt terrible. I felt terrible. So what had happened was I was not, since I was still linked to receiving the reports from my previous location, they were supposed to take me off of that list and add me to the list at the new location and that was never done. So I was not receiving any emails in regards to any reports for that new location.

Vetted in Vet Med (36:22)
yeah.

So it kind of sounds like they dropped the ball and they sent an email in a passive aggressive way to make you feel bad about something that you had no control over. okay. Make sure I'm following.

Dr. Levy (36:41)
They dropped the ball.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And

right, so when I brought it up, so when I realized who it was, I got the report and I went and sat with the girl and talked to her about the results for her PET. And, you know, obviously documented that, but then I had to go back and bring it up to the practice manager because I was like, I had no idea. I had no idea. And I wish that

Vetted in Vet Med (37:13)
So apparently she does talk to you.

Dr. Levy (37:17)
Even if she didn't feel comfortable talking about it with me, she could have maybe brought it. I know the lead vet knew about it. And one of the techs even said that she knew, she saw the report, but didn't say anything. Like no one even gave me the report to go over. Like it was just so dumb. And I just went and I talked to the practice manager about it. And then that's when we realized.

Vetted in Vet Med (37:37)
Okay.

Dr. Levy (37:43)
that I wasn't receiving any of those emails for any reports. And so then we got that taken care of. But I'm like, all you had to do.

Vetted in Vet Med (37:52)
I hope there was something.

I hope, but I know there wasn't. But I hope there was even a slight end of like, I'm sorry about that. I didn't even realize that this wasn't done. Because when you have a lack of communication, the least you could do is have the formality of saying, I apologize, I'm sorry. You were part of the shenanigans.

Dr. Levy (38:12)
Hmm hmm.

Yeah.

Vetted in Vet Med (38:15)
And in

that particular situation, you were out here sending emails to start. So.

Dr. Levy (38:18)
Right, to start.

I don't remember, I mean, she could have apologized. ⁓ I don't even really remember. ⁓ But I just, that was the beginning of those types of emails. Because there were several, that was just how she communicated. It was non-direct, it was always indirect. And I was left to, and I'm not the only one that felt.

that experienced that, but I was left to try to figure out like, were they talking about me? And having to go back to try to figure it out. And in some of those other cases, it was about me. And I always was the one that would have to bring it up and address it.

Vetted in Vet Med (39:08)
Why you playing Clue at work?

Dr. Levy (39:08)
Always.

Girl. So that was stressful because that was kind of like even the beginning of, you know, anxiety associated with going there because you're out, you know, it's like even like for me, I will say that I am a perfectionist. I'm like, so for me, it's hard, you know, if I make a mistake,

Vetted in Vet Med (39:18)
Yeah!

Bye.

Dr. Levy (39:33)
I really give myself a hard time and I am hard on myself. so it's almost like, you know, and I know that I've suffered from like people pleasing and imposter syndrome. So like, it's almost the fear of like somebody else identifying a possible mistake that you made is just like crushing, you know.

Vetted in Vet Med (39:57)
You do, right?

Dr. Levy (40:02)
Yes, and if they don't address it with me because I've come to the point where if I make a mistake that I can accept it, ⁓ you know, and I'll try to do better the next time. But for me, I'm walking around before an email is sent out, I'm walking around, I'm coming in, good morning, you know, not knowing.

And the way that I now know that they talk amongst each other, I know that everybody already knows, you know, something about something that I've done. And I don't even know. So now, you know, as I look back, I just think about multiple of those experiences. And I know that, I know that they used to talk about me ⁓ because, yeah, I'm like,

Vetted in Vet Med (40:30)
Yeah!

Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Levy (40:54)
you feel the energy, you know when people are off to the side having these conversations. And I had somebody tell me that, yes, they be in there talking about you and they talk about everybody. So I don't even take it personal. They just be in there talking about everybody. So these are things that I just didn't see until later down the line. ⁓ Definitely not upfront. ⁓

Vetted in Vet Med (41:00)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Levy (41:23)
but it kind of tracks along with why people may have left.

Vetted in Vet Med (41:29)
It ⁓

Dr. Levy (41:32)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And nobody really cares as far as in leadership because the hospital number wise does really well. So it can't be that bad. So. ⁓

Vetted in Vet Med (41:47)
Mm-hmm. can't that day.

Yeah, that's, you can be a little

bit, people talking about you, that's not the, look at these numbers, performing tremendously.

Dr. Levy (41:59)
Mm-hmm.

Vetted in Vet Med (42:01)
But the best thing is a culture problem

Dr. Levy (42:01)
my goodness. And

it's a culture problem. And like the emails or the text messages that you receive, when you're not at work because again, I was part-time. So again, I started at three days. And when I transitioned to the newer location, I was like, I can't do three days no more. I can only do two. And so I backed down.

Vetted in Vet Med (42:26)
Yeah.

Dr. Levy (42:29)
to two days a week because it was just too stressful. And ⁓ so I was only doing the two. So the way that my schedule could line up, it could be close to about a week before I'm back there again, the following week. And ⁓ if you're sending me a text message or an email, I feel like some of the things

Vetted in Vet Med (42:33)
Yeah.

Dr. Levy (42:54)
do not need to be addressed by me. I'm not there, you know? And if it is something specific to me, leave me a message and I'll get to it when I get there. ⁓ Because I had to put that distinction from work and home. ⁓ And I understand in some positions, that's nearly impossible to do.

Vetted in Vet Med (42:57)
Yeah.

Dr. Levy (43:19)
because you have to be constantly answering to somebody. But I really feel like that's important that some of these things, it can wait. because I would be anxious, like if I know I'm not gonna be back there for a few days and you're texting me about a pet, that something happened, or you send me a picture of

a pet's wound that dehisced you know, and I did the mass removal. ⁓ And I'm not there till another few days. Like, what you want me to do?

Vetted in Vet Med (43:47)
Mm-hmm.

I can come in the suture right now. Absolutely. ⁓

Dr. Levy (43:58)
I'm not doing it And if the pet is there I'm off.

So why are you bringing that type of, like, it just makes me anxious because now I'm thinking about, you know, and then there was one time that that happened. I was sent a picture of a pet's wound that dehisced with no context, no information. And, you know, I...

Vetted in Vet Med (44:09)
Yeah.

Dr. Levy (44:25)
was just replaying back everything and how like whether I made a mistake, know, something that I did wrong. And then once I went back in, was due to ⁓ the pet was jumping all around at home. And so it opened and even

Vetted in Vet Med (44:32)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Levy (44:46)
subsequential times after that, was a hard incision to manage because I believe it was a mast cell tumor as well. So it was hard to even manage the pet and I'm assuming because I never saw the pet again, but I'm assuming that the incision closed at some point. But I know he was there at least two other times after that to address that same incision. But again, with no context

Vetted in Vet Med (45:09)
No,

Just people sending me pictures. See?

Dr. Levy (45:14)
⁓

So

I'm thinking like, okay, what did I do wrong? Cause I remember too, that was my first time using the cautery that they, the electric cautery that they had there too. And I'm like, even more pressure, like, did I do something wrong? No.

Vetted in Vet Med (45:25)
Hmm

I just sometimes I always think about like I'm not confrontational but I won't I'll get in my head just like that but you also gonna get in my head because we finna be here fighting why you sending me this picture right I need to know like I'm off who is this what is it

Dr. Levy (45:55)
Mmm.

Mmhmm, mmhmm.

Vetted in Vet Med (46:01)
Because the way you're aggravating me and trying to incite something, I'm going to do the same thing to you. We're going to be in it together boo. Cause now you have really tried me. That's like one of my biggest pet peeves. Like people trying me. So now we're going to try each other and let's see who wins. Let's see who wins. Because this was absolutely just left. And of course this can happen at any thing. just, but I feel like

Dr. Levy (46:25)
Bye.

Vetted in Vet Med (46:27)
I didn't get this.

I didn't get this. The chit-chatter after you leave and stuff, people gone talk, that's what they do. But I hear you on this, for sure. The nitpicking and the passive aggressiveness. I had to tell another doctor in a meeting that she was passive aggressive with me because they let stuff slide with her for so long and eventually that ended. But yeah, I just...

Dr. Levy (46:29)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Vetted in Vet Med (46:54)
I hate that you had that experience. Like people that type of anxiety in you by sending you pictures and emails and all that kind stuff because it's just a different kind of petty. Like I could be petty but it's petty with a purpose. That right? That's that's just nasty. It's what the young people say it's nasty work.

Dr. Levy (46:57)
Mm-hmm.

Mmhmm, mmhmm.

Yeah.

Yes.

And then I remember just my schedule, because it wasn't necessarily about the number of pets. Like, yes, it was a lot of pets. But the fact that we had to do surgeries, this can be anywhere from, I would say maybe six to close to 10. And that's a mixture of dentals.

Vetted in Vet Med (47:31)
No

Dr. Levy (47:48)
and the neuters. ⁓

Vetted in Vet Med (47:51)
Are you the,

like, you the surgery doctor or do you have to see rooms after this?

Dr. Levy (47:56)
So let's keep, let me keep going. Yeah. So I am the surgery doctor, but I also have drop-offs. ⁓ And in addition to that, we were also seeing rooms all in the morning, all at the same time.

Vetted in Vet Med (47:58)
Okay, okay, okay, okay. I'm gonna say.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Levy (48:18)
And that was not anything that I had experienced at the first location. It was strictly drop-offs in the morning and whatever surgical procedures. And then the afternoon was reserved for catching up with whatever drop-offs and then your room appointments. But at this one, they would try to load up the surgical procedures. And it would be anywhere.

I don't even want to exaggerate, like I'm not exaggerating. There could be at least maybe 10 to 14 drop-offs in addition to your surgeries. And then ⁓ in the afternoon, and like I said, in the afternoons, obviously, yes, you would try to finish whatever drop-off. Sometimes those surgeries lead over into the afternoon. So you'd have to go back to finish those. And then you were seeing rooms.

Vetted in Vet Med (49:06)
Yeah, sure!

Dr. Levy (49:11)
And at one point, I don't know if they always did this, but during my stay there, they opened up the rooms. So we were seeing rooms as well. And I just thought that was insane. So when I first found out that they were even talking about doing that, I spoke with the field director. So I'm like.

I know that that person is in direct control of what everybody else is doing in this clinic. And that person told me that that was not, know, if that's not what I felt comfortable doing, then that would not happen. And that was a lie, because it definitely happened. And I voiced that I...

Vetted in Vet Med (49:52)
Yeah.

Dr. Levy (50:00)
did not feel comfortable with that because I do not, granted the technician is ⁓ there, they would do a lot of the actual cleanings. ⁓ And so that's fine. However, I don't wanna be off in a room if I have a patient back here on the table under anesthesia.

Vetted in Vet Med (50:14)
Yeah

Dr. Levy (50:28)
At least if you're working through the drop-offs, you at least still back there. You know?

Vetted in Vet Med (50:32)
Yeah, but also

like you can't control if you got a extraction or what if this dog crashes under anesthesia like

Dr. Levy (50:39)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓

Exactly.

Vetted in Vet Med (50:45)
Tell your room, Go

home girl. I got lots of stuff to deal with back here. What?

Dr. Levy (50:50)
So that right there, that was just insane. It was insane.

Vetted in Vet Med (50:55)
Yeah, that sounds

chaotic on a different level.

Dr. Levy (50:58)
insane. And I'm like, I don't know, I just don't understand why anybody thought that that was okay. And I think eventually ⁓ they did away with that. But every now and then you'll still have ⁓ the rooms that couldn't drop off. ⁓ And so they will still have pets come.

come back there, but that.

And I talked to my boss about that as well and just feeling overwhelmed. ⁓ And so I remember one time I was kind of like at the, my ends, like I was at, was, I was about done. But I said, you know what, let me not, I don't want to leave without having had these conversations because I put my notice in in November.

Vetted in Vet Med (51:50)
the video.

.

Dr. Levy (51:58)
but I had already written my notice back in August. Like I had just wrote it out, you know, just to get it off of me. But prior to that, I had already had, you know, communications with the practice manager. We didn't have ⁓ like what your position was as like the area. We didn't have one of those.

Vetted in Vet Med (52:22)
another.

Dr. Levy (52:25)
⁓ so we just had to lead vet which I mean, we had a good working relationship, but she was not someone that I felt comfortable with confiding in, as far as my concerns. and so I did, just kind of release all of my frustrations to the practice manager. And she promised that.

Vetted in Vet Med (52:35)
it.

Dr. Levy (52:44)
everything would get better because it came down to the numbers for me and adjusting healthy pets versus sick pets because that was the other thing. I would see so many sick pets. I'm like the urgent care is across the street.

Vetted in Vet Med (52:51)
Thank

Dr. Levy (53:01)
There needs to be a limit.

Vetted in Vet Med (53:03)
I'm not your girl, okay? Like, I am not the urgent doctor.

Dr. Levy (53:05)
There needs to be a limit on how many.

And we will see so many sick pets. I'm like, my gosh, the scheduling for me was terrible. ⁓ It left no consideration for the doctor or anybody really working in the back with these pets because we're having back to back sick pets, double booking sick pets and

Even the healthy ones, I'm like, I've talked about it endlessly, the communication that occurs with the receptionist and the owners. Like what questions are being asked because, are the right questions being asked? Because why are so many healthy pets coming in as sick? Like they all got concerns, everybody.

Vetted in Vet Med (53:50)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Wait a minute, so you just not getting rabies? You just not getting Bordetella? Come on. Yeah, I...

Dr. Levy (54:06)
And initially,

yeah, I'm like, initially, you you feel that pressure to work all that in, but then I got to a point where I'm just like, that has to get addressed. You're gonna have to schedule a separate appointment for this additional concern because we don't have the bandwidth. We don't have the time.

Vetted in Vet Med (54:13)
I don't know.

Mm-hmm.

It's fair because they

expect you to do that in a certain time period and it's not it's not ⁓ the same as a sick visit. So that's fair.

Dr. Levy (54:31)
Yes!

So that, I started moving to that, which I know that, I don't know if that was, if I was a fan favorite, you know, for doing that.

Vetted in Vet Med (54:47)
I was definitely proud

of You know I was definitely frowned upon.

Dr. Levy (54:51)
But I'm like, I'll put together, I'll at least put together an estimate for you. These are all the concerns. However, this is the most important thing. This is what you came here for today. This is what we can address today. You can schedule an appointment to come back or drop off. Because that's the other thing they like to do is, okay, well, you don't have time, just have them drop off.

Vetted in Vet Med (54:56)
Yeah!

Dr. Levy (55:14)
Everybody can't do that. And secondly, it's still another pet that I have to tend to and I'm already overwhelmed with the current schedule that I have. So it's just another one added.

Vetted in Vet Med (55:15)
Yeah.

Yeah. ⁓

Yeah, it's not really giving me more time per se. I'm just, it's this owner is just no longer in my face. So, yeah. No you were protecting your peace.

Dr. Levy (55:31)
Right, exactly. Then I,

mm-hmm, trying to protect my peace. even when I, you know, cause they want to say, okay, well, how many sick pets you want to do? How many surgeries you want to do? And it's just like, I hate that. I hate it. I hate it. Because for one, it kind of makes you feel like, especially if there's another doctor there where they don't really have.

any preferences or whatever, they just take whatever. And I'm here trying to like advocate for what's possibly less than what they're doing. And so it kind of makes you feel a little like, I don't want to say maybe inferior or like you're not as strong, you know, as a clinician as they are because you're asking for.

Vetted in Vet Med (56:17)
No.

Dr. Levy (56:26)
less of a workload.

And it's like, okay, well, it's not that I can't do this amount. I'm like, I can, but at what cost?

Vetted in Vet Med (56:37)
Yeah,