On Writing

| Leave a comment

I turned out to be a huge Stephen King fan as an adult.  Growing up, my sister loved his horror stories, but I don’t really like horror, so I never read any King. Until, that is, I read The Dark Tower.  That sold me.  Now Stephen King is a go-to for me, particularly when I’m going on a long drive and want an audiobook I can expect to enjoy.

A few years ago, I read his book On Writing.  It guides many of my writing decisions to this day, including a post about being well-spoken in a letter.  I just re-read On Writing and wanted to share some more detailed insight I think will help you write a better letter.

Vocabulary

“One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because maybe you’re maybe a little ashamed of your short ones.”

I see this ALL THE TIME in letters of application.  I suspect it’s because the writers think that they need to use a big vocabulary to demonstrate they are intelligent applicants.  I would argue the effect is exactly the opposite.  Most of the time, I assume the writer hit the thesaurus to find a bigger word, not necessarily a better one.  King’s advice is to use the first word that comes to mind, and I absolutely agree.  Keep it simple.  Your goal is to get your point across, and the best way to do that is with straightforward language.

Adverbs and Passive Verbs

“I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing. … If, however, one is working under a deadline-a school paper, a newspaper article, the SAT writing sample- that fear may be intense.  Dumbo got airborne with the help of a magic feather; you may feel the urge to grasp a passive verb or one of those nasty adverbs for the same reason.”

As a general rule, use active words.  Avoid adverbs.

Read

“It’s hard for me to believe that people who read very little (or not at all in some cases) should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written, but I know it’s true.”

If you want to be a decent writer, you have to read a lot.  The best case is if you can read lots of letters of intent.  This is pretty difficult to do, but maybe not impossible.  At least do an internet search for examples of letters of intent to get a sense of how they should flow.

Audience

“You can’t aim a book like a cruise missile, in other words.”

You never know who will be reading your application.  Maybe they are someone like you.  Maybe they love to see a bit of an arrogant attitude in an applicant.  Maybe they are a pushover and give everyone five stars for their letter.  You don’t know what your audience wants, so you can’t tailor your letter perfectly.  Instead, make it YOUR LETTER.  Make it good, but make it something that is authentic to you.  Don’t just do what you’re told.  Write what you feel.

Revisions

“Your job in the second draft- one of them, anyway- is to make that something even more clear.  This may necessitate some big changes and revisions.”

Don’t be afraid to get a first draft just to get SOMETHING on paper, then do a serious slash and burn with subsequent revisions.  You don’t need to keep anything from your first draft- although some good snippets should probably survive.  I helped a student this year with their VIRMP application and their final version was _dramatically_ different from their first version.  And, I believe, dramatically better.  There were some ideas and specific sentences which survived from the first version, but it was almost unrecognizable.  You SHOULD make serious changes to your second draft.

Be Kind to Yourself

“Screw-ups happen to the best of us.”

It’s OK if you realize after your first draft that you forgot to include something important.  Or to realize that the whole tone is off somehow.  It’s fine.  Writing is never perfect.  Even once you have revised it and had others review it, your letter may have flaws.  Hopefully the spelling and grammar, at least, is correct.  But if you realize your letter is flawed after submission, grant yourself a pardon.  Everyone makes mistakes.  Just make sure you learn from it for next time.

What’s the Point?

“What I want most of all is _resonance_, something that will linger for a little while in Constant Reader’s mind (and heart) after he or she has closed the book and put it up on the shelf. … Most of all, I’m looking for what I meant…”

What are you TRYING to communicate?  That you’re the best applicant, sure.  But how?  By sharing stories of your qualities?  What do you want the reader to walk away thinking?  This is complicated, but it’s the path from a good letter to a great letter.  I have read numerous good letters and my feedback is often, “This is good.  It’s solid, clear, good language, etc.  You could submit this as-is and I think you would be a strong candidate.  If you want to make it better, you have to think about what the POINT of each of these sentences is, and what you want the reader to KNOW about you at the end.”  If a student takes me up on the challenge of writing a great letter, the final is often substantially different from that first draft.  And I think the major difference is asking yourself, “What’s the point of this sentence or paragraph?”

Cut

“In the spring of my senior year at Lisbon High- 1966, this would’ve been- I got a scribbled comment that changed the way I rewrote my fiction once and forever. … ‘Formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft -10%’”

Cut, cut, and cut some more.  Trim out all the excess fat.  Get rid of the adverbs.  Get rid of sentences which don’t have a point.  Cut until the product is so clean, so tight, that everything has a place and is there for a reason.  This will help you stick to the 1-page limit of many letters of intent.

Those are the lessons I noticed re-reading On Writing that I wanted to share with you.  If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to.  There’s a lot of good advice in there, particularly for those writing fiction.  But these are the gems which I think are most helpful for my own readers.

Significant Other’s Job During Academia

| Leave a comment
Image by Gabriel Ferraz Ferraz from Pixabay

With only 38 accredited veterinary schools in the US and Canada- and many of those in small rural towns- starting vet school, internship, residency, or a faculty position can be a distinct strain on a romantic partner’s ability to get a job.  Within the US, I count about 10 veterinary schools in a decent-sized city where jobs may be varied and plentiful.  Otherwise, most of the towns are college towns, often far in the countryside, where getting a skilled job may be difficult.  How do you handle your significant other’s job when you move to a town with a veterinary school?  I see three potential solutions- chime in if you have more!

1) Location-independent job.  This is probably the best option, so I’m putting it first.  Since the pandemic, many companies have realized they don’t actually need people on site to do their job.  Some jobs have become completely location independent.  So your significant other can move with you freely, wherever you want to go!  Best case scenario.

2) Local job.  This seems obvious, but can be a challenge depending on the industry/profession your significant other is in.  If they’re in banking, for example, I’m not sure any of the cities with a veterinary school would be satisfactory.  Your significant other may need to compromise on their own career progression while you work on yours.  

This happened with my best friend in college.  His wife was going through vet school, and he was working as an administrative assistant in one of the departments on campus.  The deal was that, once she graduated, he would go to school to get his PsyD.  This has all sorts of repercussions- from personal satisfaction in work to financial consequences of “starting late” for saving and retiring.  In my friend’s case, they got divorced so he didn’t get his “side” of the deal (he still went to PsyD school, it was just much more difficult financially).  My wife ended up being a lab instructor for a year- earning a pittance and far below her two-doctorate-qualifications- primarily to stay “in academia” so her CV didn’t have a big hole in it while I worked at a vet school in a new city for us.

3) Spousal hire.  This is only an option for a faculty position.  I have addressed it before, but the principle is to get a job offer at the university, then leverage that offer into an offer for your (obviously qualified) spouse.  It’s far from a sure thing, though, so I would definitely not make this “Plan A”.

Ideally, your significant other can find something they want to do wherever you are.  But I think this is harder, given the few numbers of vet schools and where they tend to be located.  Work fills an important role in many people’s lives, not the least of which is financial.  Going off to vet school, internship, or residency without your significant other is difficult.  Accommodating their job prospects is an important consideration in the whole process.

How to be Successful: Listen

| Leave a comment
Photo by kyle smith on Unsplash

I was on a friend’s video chat yesterday with people I generally enjoy speaking with, but are also a little bit much.  They tend to talk over each other and everyone is accustomed to being the star of the show.  This doesn’t bother me , as I am quiet by nature.  But it could be better.  They could spend more time listening.

It reminds me of a friend of mine in college who was impressively successful in his dating life.  One of his girlfriends said, “Andy is amazing because, when you’re talking, it’s like there’s nothing else in the world more important than you.”  You may remember the line in Fight Club that people who are dying really listen instead of just waiting for their chance to speak.  People want to be listened to.  Listening is a skill.  You can cultivate it.  Why would you want to be better at listening?  I think there are myriad reasons being a good listener would improve your life.  

First, you can learn some things.  You know how drugs periodically become unavailable or expensive?  I learned why talking to a friend of an acquaintance one afternoon.  They explained the supply chain mechanics which led to such scarcity.  It was fascinating and something I have retained ever since.

Second, people LOVE being listened to.  As evidenced by my little anecdote and Fight Club, people often don’t have the opportunity to have others really LISTEN.  I think people appreciate someone who is focused on what they are saying.  And, really, why are you talking to them if you don’t want to hear what they have to say?  This is not a gambit, this is you genuinely listening and hearing what they are telling you.  I think this will endear you to other people, and they will want you to be around them more.

Finally, communication is the key to so many human endeavors.  I see medical errors happen all the time because people aren’t listening.  I see students fail to understand something because they were browsing Facebook instead of listening.  If you don’t listen, you won’t understand.  Listening will make sure you participate fully in the human experience.

So, listening is good and valuable and I think you should be a good listener.  What are elements of being a good listener, and how do you develop them?

First, don’t interrupt.  This can be VERY HARD for some people.  Maybe they are thinking that the thing they have to say is utterly critical to the conversation.  Maybe they feel they won’t have an opportunity to contribute if they don’t interrupt.  I have told several students that they tend to interrupt, and I’m not sure anyone has ever said that to them before.  So I think it’s hard to recognize in one’s self.  Maybe ask some friends or family members.  If you’re interrupting, you’re not listening.

Second, be patient.  You will have your chance to contribute.  Maybe.  If the people you are with are VERY chatty, you may not be able to contribute.  Oh well, they clearly aren’t interested in what you have to say.  Good conversationalism is actually a skill all on its own.  It involves listening as well as asking interesting questions.  I find few people are good at conversation.  When I find them, I like to hang on to them.  If the people you’re around aren’t asking you questions or engaging you, maybe they’re not really your friends.  Your friends will appreciate your patient, attentive listening.

Third, accept that you may not get to get your word in.  Maybe you had the perfect response to something, but that time has passed.  Oh well, that’s fine, be patient and maybe you will have an opportunity to contribute in the future.  Maybe the opportunity is long gone and you’ll never get that great contribution or question in.  In the friend’s video chat I mentioned earlier, I wanted to ask about how he manages kid wrangling.  But the others on the call kept on talking over each other, so I didn’t have a chance.  Oh well, maybe if I have the chance to chat with him again it will come up.  It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get to contribute.  You are fulfilling an important role in the ecology of human interaction by being present and listening.

Fourth, ask reflective questions.  If someone says something and you immediately take off on the thing you wanted to say, OK fine.  That’s obviously the right choice sometimes.  But, if someone asks you a question, answer it and then ask THEM that same question.  It’s obviously on their mind.  This starts to broach into conversational dynamics, but listening and responding appropriately go hand-in-hand.  Once you listen to what they say, ask questions to follow up.  Hot take: people LOVE talking about themselves.

Finally, orient yourself to the person.  When someone is talking, they may not make eye contact.  But listeners establish eye contact.  You turn towards them.  You may open your body language (e.g. no crossed arms).  Smile.  Think about ways that you can demonstrate that you are interested and engaged with the person.  A large part of communication is nonverbal, so think about what your nonverbal behaviors are demonstrating.

I think listening is a valuable life skill, and I always appreciate people who spend more time listening than talking.  If you are an extrovert, this may be more challenging than for an introvert.  Regardless, consider how you can become more of a listener to improve your personal and professional interactions.

Book Review: A Doctor’s Guide to Personal Finance

| Leave a comment

I have been religiously reading the White Coat Investor (WCI) blog for a few years now.  The information I have learned there has guided a huge number of my personal and professional decisions.  I now teach personal finance to the house officers and students who take an elective practice management rotation and have gotten positive feedback on those classes.  I figured it was finally time to buy the book he wrote and recommends.

The book is short- just 150 pages, and I finished it in a few days of light reading between cases.  It was written just 3 years after starting the blog, so you can tell he hadn’t had as much experience as he has now.  Although I find the WCI blogs engagingly written, the book was slightly more sophomoric.  It read like a self-help self-published book, which I suppose is what it is.  The opening reads almost like a “get rich quick” scheme, which is unfortunate because that’s exactly the opposite message throughout the book.  Let’s look at each chapter.

Chapter 1 – The Big Squeeze.  Although veterinarians may find some relevance here- mostly in the relatively high debt:income ratio we face on graduation, a lot of this is specific to human medicine.  Worth a read for curiosity, but not much specifically for us.

Chapter 2 – Millionaire by 40.  This gives a brief description of how you accumulate wealth.  The best part is a series of short narratives given by those who DID reach millionaire by 40.  It took my wife and I until I was 43 and my wife was 38, so we were pretty close.  You, too, can earn and save and become relatively wealthy.

Chapter 3 – If I Had a Million Dollars.  He lays out the foundation for spending in retirement, how much you need, and why some people don’t reach their goals.  Good stuff.

Chapter 4 – Medical School and Your Wealth.  I wish this were required reading for everyone who wants to go to vet school.  This chapter alone is worth the cost of admission.  It sets out perfectly why an expensive school is so destructive to your future wealth and happiness.  “Congratulations, you’ve been accepted to three different schools!  How do you choose between them?  That’s easy.  Go to the cheapest one.”  I see pre-vet students all the time asking “which program has a better equine program” or “where should I go if I like exotics?”  It doesn’t bloody matter.  Get your DVM as inexpensively as possible.

Chapter 5 – Residency and Your Wealth.  This has virtually nothing for veterinarians.  As veterinary residents make ~$25-35k, much below what human medical residents make, a lot of it isn’t relevant.  Like, what veterinary resident buys a house?  None that I can think of.  Nonetheless, there are some foundational concepts every vet should learn here.

Chapter 6 – The Secret to Becoming a Rich Doctor.  Unfortunately, his advice “live like a resident” isn’t helpful since few veterinarians do residencies.  For those that do, this is great advice.  For those that don’t, I say “live like a student”.  This lays out the steps you need to take to pay off loans and start accumulating wealth.

Chapter 7 – The Retirement Number You Control.  This is all about calculating how much money you need in retirement.  Useful for anyone.

Chapter 8 – The Motorway to Dublin – This provides the basics of investing in stocks and bonds.  It’s fairly good information, but it definitely assumes the reader has some information, like why a 401k is advantageous and what an HSA is and how it benefits your finances.  Important information for anyone.

Chapter 9 – Getting Off the Motorway – These are other investment options, which are good to be aware of.  Not much detail here, but that’s good for the novice.

Chapter 10 – Paying the Help – This covers financial advisors.  I rant as often as possible about vet students, veterinarians, or my friends who just have a “money guy”.  This chapter explains why that’s terrible, and what to do if you need help with your finances.  Terrific stuff.

Chapter 11 – The Basics of Asset Protection – Not much a veterinarian needs here.  We are rarely sued and, when we are, it’s usually not for more than the value of the animal.  Still interesting things to know, as there’s always some liability in life.

Chapter 12 – Estate Planning Made Simple – Get a will.  Maybe do a living trust.  This information is important and he presents the key points you need to know.

Chapter 13 – Income Taxes and the Physician – This is the first topic I cover when I teach vet students about finances.  Although he tries to explain marginal tax rates, I think he assumes some basal level of knowledge which I find veterinary professionals just don’t have.  A nice summary of 13 ways to reduce your taxes.  I guessed 8 of them correctly, and the 5 I missed were because they are not relevant to me (e.g. having children).

Chapter 14 – Choosing a Business Structure – The basics of being your own boss.  Good if you’re interested in buying a practice or doing contact work.

Chapter 15 – Enjoying the Good Life – This is basically a summary chapter.  If you follow his steps, you get to enjoy the good life and we agree.

Chapter 16 – The Mission of the White Coat Investor – What it says on the box.

Overall, I thought this book was pretty good, particularly considering the price.  I do think it should be updated- I’m sure Dr. Dahle has learned a lot since he wrote it.  I also think it would benefit from some professional editorial work to make it sound less “home-made” and more professional.  If I could just take out Chapter 4 and give it to every high school student who wants to be a veterinarian, the world would be a better place.  If you haven’t been taught about personal finances, I strongly recommend this book.

How and Why to Do a Proper Handshake

| Leave a comment

Interacting with other humans is hard.  As a culture, we have a terrible time determining if someone is telling the truth or lying.  The handshake originated as a way to determine that the other person doesn’t have a weapon they could use against you.  In veterinary medicine, we will often shake hands when meeting someone and, sometimes, when parting.  For better or worse, some evaluators will judge your handshake skills as an indicator of how genuine, honest, competent, or otherwise “good” you are. 

The pandemic briefly interrupted normal handshake culture, but I have observed in the past few months that people have returned to pre-pandemic handshake rituals. So, learning how to do a proper handshake may help your career.

The most common problem I experience with a handshake is a very soft or limp-wristed handshake.  So the first step is to have a firm- but not crushing- handshake.  This is true regardless of your gender.  Grasp their hand and exert a fair amount of pressure, but don’t SQUEEZE.

Look the person in the eye while you shake their hand.  Again, the handshake is intended to establish trust.  In our culture, we believe that direct eye contact establishes a greater degree of trust.  Practice this repeatedly with friends and family. Shake hand, look in eye.

As you are probably aware, we have a decent number of “cowboys” in veterinary medicine.  These are generally men who typically practice large animal medicine who believe in CRUSHING your hand during a handshake.  You could try to meet force with force, but I don’t recommend it.  I imagine these guys go home to use their eagle claw strengthening devices. You probably can’t out-crushing-handshake them.

Instead, there’s a simple solution to this.  When you identify one of these individuals (they’re usually easy to spot on visual assessment), when you shake their hand, extend your index and middle finger.  It may decrease my grip strength 10-20%, but the extended fingers prevent your hand from being crushed while also transmitting a decent grip from their point of view. I learned this from a self-defense class and it is remarkably effective.

I think you should cultivate a good handshake because some people will use it to gauge your integrity and competence.  I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but it’s how the world works.  Practicing and delivering a good handshake may mean the difference between getting your next position and not.  It’s not hard to do, so go ahead and get cracking on making a good first impression.  Decent grip strength, look them in the eye.

Podcast #14: Dr. Bobbi Conner

| Leave a comment

Dr. Bobbi Conner and I had a great discussion about candidates interested in emergency and critical care veterinary medicine. Her advice to be a well-rounded “whole” person I think pertains to ANYONE interested in veterinary medicine!

Dr. Conner also interviewed me for HER podcast! You can find that here!

Three Year Anniversary!

| 2 Comments

Some pretty good improvement in the past year! It looks like the search engines are sending people this way when they look for advice on applications, which is terrific.

Three years ago, March 2019, I launched The Vetducator blog. A lot of blogs fold within a year or two, but I’m still writing and enthusiastic to support and expand the blog!

I love statistics. Numbers are so wonderfully illuminating. When I am running statistical analyses, I am in my ‘flow’ state and time just drifts by. So, the numbers first!

Visitors: 51,600 (compared with last year’s 17,622)

Visits: 132,568 (compare last year’s 51,857)

Posts: 251

Comments: 72

Podcast Episodes: 13

Definitely some growth, particularly in number of posts, even though I scaled back from my twice-a-week posting I did in the first year. That first year I definitely felt like I had a lot of content to get Out There which no one had written about. I still have plenty of topics- I’ve got 110 ideas in my inspiration file- but most of the absolutely core essential information I have already published.

It looks like the most popular posts are about the VIRMP. My Circle of Control post is #6 in popularity, which is great! I wish I had gotten that advice when growing up- it would have made life so much simpler.

I’m not going to commit to posting a certain amount this year, but I would like to do at least 1-2 posts a month. I would love to do more podcast interviews, I just need guests! I’ll continue to be active in the APVMA Facebook group and reach out to students that I know. Hopefully the word of mouth will continue to grow and intern and resident and faculty applicants will find their way here, too! Thank you for reading and I hope you have learned something by visiting.

Top 14 Reasons Academia is Awesome

| Leave a comment

I am obviously biased, but I think working in veterinary academia is the best thing since sliced bread.  I gather other areas of academia are a dumpster fire, so if you have a PhD in English or Philosophy, I am sorry.  But I feel clinical veterinary academia is a great place to be.  I’ve been there my whole professional life- except for a private practice internship- so let me tell you why.

1) By my personal definition, I work 6 months a year.  Most tenure-track faculty do 50% clinic time, so they are on clinics 6 months a year.  The rest of the time, we are teaching and doing research.  Now, I can’t lay around at home during my off-clinic time, but I can spend my time more-or-less how I like.  I don’t consider teaching and research “work” since it’s legitimately fun for me to do that.

2) The salary is plenty generous.  Most specialty faculty earn a six-figure salary. They don’t make as much as private practice vets, but I think it’s still a pretty strong salary, given the median salary in the United States is ~$60,000. Also, the “as much” is relative. If you can make $140k in academia and $160k in private practice, is it really THAT different? I expect the benefits MORE than make up for the difference.

3) The environment is intellectually stimulating.  You’re always teaching students and residents (who are challenging your knowledge), you’re working with other clever specialists in a cooperative fashion, and you have access to the latest toys and innovation.

4) The benefits are incredible.  Usually very good health insurance, good retirement options (including pensions at many institutions), and minor-but-nice benefits like free tuition for you and family and having a human medical clinic on campus to which you can go for inexpensive routine care. Not a lot of jobs offer pensions these days- it’s money FOR LIFE once you retire. A very good pillar of retirement planning.

5) Different tasks.  There’s always something new and different and interesting in my days.  If I get burned out on clinics, I have some off-clinic time to do some reading.  If I get sick of reading, I can do some research.  If I get sick of research, I can get into my teaching.  There’s always something new and different to try.  It’s not the same grind day after day.

6) Down time.  Academia encourages you to spend time just… thinking.  I sometimes stare off into space or go for walks and just Think About Things.  This time has led to dozens of research projects and different teaching approaches.  If it was go-go-go all the time, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to try out different new ideas.

7) Encourages experimentation.  I’ve always felt like I’ve had a high degree of academic freedom.  I could teach how I want to teach and pursue the research I want to pursue.  If I worked for industry, I would have to research what THEY want me to research.  In academia, I get to try out a lot of different things.  Some work and I keep them, some don’t and get discarded.

8) Rank-ordered system.  I have always been attracted to rank-ordered systems.  Martial arts and boy scouts both fit this model, with clear advancement paths, and were highly formative for me growing up.  It’s nice to have something to work towards.  First internship, then residency, then Assistant Professor, then Associate Professor, then full Professor.  It makes for a very tidy, clear professional path.

9) Young people.  Maybe having a revolving door of veterinary assistants or vet-school aspirants could achieve this in private practice, but being in a college town around young people is invigorating.  You get to stay at least a little more in touch with the zeitgeist and there’s always new enthusiastic people who lend a certain energy to a place.

10) Public Service Loan Forgiveness.  If you have a debt:income ratio greater than 2:1, paying that off will be nearly impossible.  But if you work for an academic institution, you can enter PSLF, which forgives ALL your federal student loan debt after 10 years AND you don’t have to pay taxes on that benefit.  If you went to a private school, this should be near the top of your list for strategies to effectively manage your debt.

11) Low cost-of-living area.  Not only are the salaries reasonable, but most vet schools are in rural areas with a relatively low cost of living.  There are some exceptions (Davis, Madison, Philadelphia, and Fort Collins come to mind) but, for the most part, you can live somewhere without paying an arm and a leg for a house or having to sell your car to pay for a pint of good beer.  Good luck finding that in San Diego, Chicago, or most cities with large referral hospitals which employ veterinary specialists.

12) Cultural opportunities.  Even though most vet schools are in rural areas, they are large state institutions with an energetic student body.  There are often great (and inexpensive) cultural opportunities, ranging from the student theatre company to traveling Broadway shows.  College towns are often a great combination of low cost-of-living but good exposure to culture.

13) More sources of fulfillment.  In private practice, you are probably appreciated by your clients and, possibly, your staff.  In academia, your students (which become alumni) and research colleagues also often express appreciation.  It’s great to meet a student several years after graduation who tells you how much you helped them become the vet they are today.

14) Less flash.  It’s understood that academics earn less than those in private practice, so I think there’s more acceptance of a more simple (some might say grungy) lifestyle.  I remember being over at a fellow academic’s house and noticing he had holes in his socks, too!  I think those in private practice feel more compelled to Keep up with the Joneses.  I feel most academics are more basic in their material needs, so get to focus on what matters in life.

Not everyone in academia has my experience or shares my perspective.  Some of us work very hard, with long days and thankless administration.  Private practice has its good parts, too.  But I often feel that people neglect all the great things that working in academia can bring.

White Coat Investor Podcast Spot

| Leave a comment

All my professional life, I have ended up with more money at the end of the year than I started with. I didn’t really know why or what to do with this until I found Mr. Money Mustache. I have since become passionate about personal finance, and teach the vet students and house officers at my university whenever I can. The White Coat Investor was started by human emergency physician Dr. Jim Dahle, and the resources there grew my knowledge and competency in finance tremendously. I have read all of his blog posts twice (including the comments!) and was fortunate enough to be accepted as a guest on his podcast. I encourage you all to have a listen- I think there are some valuable tips here for anyone interested in veterinary medicine. This link takes you to the podcast!

In one place I did misspeak: I said the applicant:seat ratio for veterinary medicine was 1.2:1. In actuality, it is closer to 1.6:1. Sorry about that! I didn’t research it ahead of time like I should have.