Texas Equine Veterinary Association

www.texasequineva.com • 27 IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR STRUCTURE... by Bo Brock, DVM, DABVP This is my 26th year to be a veterinarian and I am 52 years old. It dawned on me last week that I have been practicing this fine profession for half of my life. For 24 of those years, I have owned my own practice. Yep, I bought the clinic in Lamesa when I was 28 years old . . . sheesh, I had no idea what I was doing. I spent most of my time trying to learn how to make animals happy and very little time trying to learn how to run a business. Part of it was because I hate business and financial things. My mentor, Dr. Deyhle, came and spent a few days at my practice and his parting words to me as he got in his pickup to leave were, "Big doctor (what he always called me), your prosperity has masked your inefficiency." I have been blessed over those 26 years of practice to have visited and been a part of many veterinary clinics. It has always amazed me that each of them has such a different personality and such varied ways of doing the same thing. Some run a tight ship, while others seem so relaxed and spontaneous. But the end result of how that particular practice operates is a direct reflection of the person or people that own it. One of our former interns, Dr. Emily, who spent two years at our clinic, went on to do an internal medicine residency at a veterinary college. Her position put her in contact with many students and she was asked by one of them if doing an internship in Lamesa would be a good thing. Dr. Emily smiled and told the student that our practice was wonderful. But what she said next made me scratch my head and ponder what all these years of practice with no guidance on how to run a business had resulted in. "If you are looking for structure, that place is not gonna work!" were the next words she used to describe her experience at Brock Vet Clinic. Evidently Emily knew that the student was very dependent on an organized and structured regimen. When I first heard this it kind of hurt my feelings. I scratched my head again and wondered just what it could possibly mean, "no structure." It seems to me that we have fun and laugh most of the day. We put animal care and happiness as our top priority. We help each other out, arrive early and stay late. We try to keep owners updated and in the loop on treatment and prognosis. We often see 100 animals a day and none of the owners seem to complain about waiting time or a lack of sincerity. We stay current on the latest procedures and do our best to educate owners and referring veterinarians on what is best for critters. As I continued to think about this concept, it occurred to me that we have accomplished those things I listed above. But it also occurred to me that I had never put forth a structured plan on how to get that done, it just seemed to happen. When a new employee or veterinarian comes into our practice, my words to them are always the same. They are brief and to the point, but they truly give no structure. I simply point up and tell them that is the direction we are going. I then say, if you want to come with us then great. But if you weight us down or pull us down, I will get rid of you. Maybe that doesn't give an outline of all the details that explain how a person continually strives to be better, but too many details and micromanagement authority squelches a person's creativity. I would way rather someone assign me goal and let me figure out how to get there with occasional guidance than to be told every detailed description of what I have to do. The personality of a clinic reminds me that there is "a way" to do almost anything, and "the way" to do almost nothing. It is part of what makes being an owner of a veterinary clinic such fun. "If you need structure, this place is not gonna work for you." Dr. Emily was most likely right.

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