The sympathy card goes out. The next appointment comes in. But when a patient dies, who checks on the people who cared for them?

This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, turn the conversation about euthanasia toward the veterinary team. They explore why some losses hit harder, from saying goodbye to a longtime patient to losing an animal everyone worked to save, and why being experienced doesn’t mean being unaffected.

Ernie shares how making room for memories during staff meetings helped his team acknowledge those losses. Beckie discusses when support needs to happen sooner, how a shared journal can give people somewhere to put their feelings, and where veterinary social workers can help. They also consider how to share difficult news, plan around emotionally demanding appointments, and support a colleague facing the loss of their own pet.

For anyone working in a veterinary clinic, this episode offers practical ways to start the conversation before a difficult goodbye. The goal isn’t to make everyone grieve the same way. It’s to give the people supporting your clients some support of their own.

A missed call becomes a potential ER visit. An overwhelmed team becomes a business risk. And suddenly, an everyday practice challenge can feel a lot more urgent than it did five minutes ago.

This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, take a closer look at fear-based marketing in veterinary medicine and how the way a problem is framed can shape how veterinary teams respond to it.

Using a real veterinary technology ad as their starting point, they explore how messages built around loss, failure, and urgency can add anxiety to already-stretched teams and sometimes push practices toward solutions before they’ve fully understood the underlying problem.

Ernie and Beckie aren’t arguing against technology or outside support. They’re asking for a little more perspective before reacting.

Are calls genuinely being missed, and are emergency rooms experiencing an overload due to them? If so, when does this occur, and why? Is the problem related to staffing, workflow, priorities, or something else entirely?

The takeaway: look at the data, understand the problem first, and recognize when marketing may be turning up the fear.

You accepted the new job, gave notice, and walked into what you thought was a better opportunity. Then, within days, the red flags start piling up. The workload isn’t what you were promised. Training is almost nonexistent. The team feels unwelcoming. Now what?

This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, talk about what happens when a new veterinary job doesn’t match the one you interviewed for, and how to decide whether to stay, speak up, or start planning your exit.

They discuss why poor onboarding can be an early warning sign, how money and benefits can make leaving harder, and why simply “giving it more time” can quietly turn a few bad weeks into years of frustration.

Ernie and Beckie also offer a practical approach: identify exactly what isn’t working, decide what needs to change, talk with management, and set a clear timeline for action.

And for practice leaders, there’s a flip side: what happens when the new hire isn’t who you thought you hired?

A headline can do more than earn a click. It can change how veterinary professionals see one another.

This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, examine how clickbait and rage-bait framing can deepen mistrust across veterinary teams. Using a provocative article about employee theft as a starting point, they explore what happens when practical business guidance is presented in terms of employers versus employees, managers versus staff, or one part of the hospital versus another.

Ernie and Beckie aren’t arguing against audits, safeguards, accountability, or sound financial controls. They’re asking whether those measures can be discussed without treating every team member as a potential threat.

The conversation expands to other familiar divides, including front versus back, veterinarians versus technicians, and corporate versus independent practice. 

They also challenge veterinary publications, professional organizations, and social media creators to consider how headlines shape beliefs, workplace culture, and public perceptions of the profession.

The takeaway: protect the practice, address real problems, and choose language that builds collaboration instead of suspicion.

Veterinary employers have long complained about applicants disappearing during the hiring process. Now, candidates who are ghosted after an interview have websites where they can publicly report the employer. 

This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, explore what these anonymous reporting sites reveal about hiring culture in the U.S., and perhaps in veterinary medicine. 

Beckie explains why silence after an interview can create more than frustration. Candidates may put other opportunities on hold because they believe a decision is still pending. Ernie argues that while practices may not owe every applicant a personal response, anyone who has invested time in an interview deserves a clear and timely answer.

They discuss the risks of unverified online reports, when a simple email is enough, and why post-interview communication should be part of every practice’s hiring process. They also offer practical advice for candidates handling rejection without damaging future opportunities.

In a small profession, failing to respond doesn’t just end one conversation. It can affect a practice’s reputation and cost it a strong future hire.

Why can taking PTO, stepping away during the holidays, leaving on time, or protecting even one hour for yourself feel like letting down your team or the people you love?

This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, unpack the guilt veterinary professionals often carry when they step away from the clinic. Their message is simple: feeling guilty is not the same as being selfish, and discomfort does not mean a boundary is wrong.

Beckie reflects on her own evolution from a “baby technician” who felt she had something to prove to someone who learned that rest and boundaries are worth the initial discomfort. As she reminds listeners, “You can’t expect that free time to just come.” Even five, ten, or fifteen protected minutes can be a meaningful place to begin, and, after taking that time, “you do come back better.”

Ernie shares the lesson that has guided him through decades in veterinary medicine: “If I were trying to protect my time to improve my overall health, that was not selfish. It was essential.” In fact, he makes a strong case for how protecting your well-being can help you better support your family, coworkers, clients, and patients over the long term.

Our hosts also challenge practice owners, managers, medical directors, and teammates to examine the culture surrounding PTO and self-care. Comments like “must be nice” or “I wish I could do that” can turn time spent on personal growth into shame. Thoughtful scheduling, appropriate coverage, and genuine encouragement can make healthy boundaries possible, and business leaders must lead by example.

They also point out that self-care is not limited to vacations or spa days. It may be a walk, a workout, a chapter of a book, a few quiet minutes, or meaningful time with the people you love.

The goal is not perfect balance. It is returning with more energy, patience, and perspective, and building a veterinary career that leaves room for a life beyond the clinic.

Getting medications into pets sounds simple—until the patient refuses the tablet, the dose doesn’t fit, the flavor is a disaster, or the client physically can’t make the plan work. 

This week, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, talk with Dr. Rae Hutchins and Dr. Jennifer Merlo from Wedgewood Pharmacy about how veterinary compounding can support better patient care when commercially available medications are not the right fit.

The conversation covers where compounding helps most, where it should not replace FDA-approved commercial products, and why quality matters more than convenience or cost. 

The group also digs into common legal and regulatory confusion, including GFI 256, patient-specific prescriptions, office stock, and why veterinarians should understand their state’s rules. Dr. Hutchins also discusses how Wedgewood Pharmacy has transformed the treatment of Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) by providing compounded GS-441524 and Molnupiravir.

Credentialed veterinary technicians (CrVTs) get a seat at the table, too, as we discuss how technician insight can improve ordering, education, and real-world medication outcomes, along with how Wedgewood Pharmacy is recognizing CrVTs both internally and externally. 

Practical, grounded, and clinic-relevant, this episode helps veterinary teams feel more confident using compounding medications as part of thoughtful medical care.

When was the last time you felt truly appreciated at work?

This week on the Veterinary Viewfinder, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, are joined by Josh Vaisman, MAPPCP (PgD), CCFP, Lead Positive Change Agent, author of Lead to Thrive: The Science of Crafting a Positive Veterinary Culture, and founder of the Flourish Academy.

Together, they ask whether veterinary medicine took the “love languages” idea too far in workplace culture. Not because appreciation doesn’t matter, but because a survey, checklist, or favorite “language” can’t replace real human connection.

Josh explains what recent research suggests about love languages, why appreciation has to be personal and situational, and how small, consistent actions often matter more than big gestures. From noticing when a teammate is overwhelmed, to saying thank you with impact, to repairing after conflict, this episode offers a more practical way to help veterinary teams feel seen, valued, and needed.

Because appreciation isn’t a box to check. It’s a relationship to build.

What does it mean to be a veterinarian, a credentialed veterinary technician, an assistant, or a new role entering the clinical space? 

In this episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, dig into veterinary medicine’s identity problem: how comparisons to human medicine, unclear titles, internal hierarchies, and emerging roles like Colorado’s veterinary professional associate (VPA) can shape how teams see themselves and each other.

They talk candidly about why “more than” or “less than” language can create competition rather than confidence, how that trickles down through the clinic, and why role clarity matters for morale, collaboration, and long-term career satisfaction.

This conversation is especially relevant for veterinarians, vet techs, assistants, practice managers, and anyone navigating scope-of-practice debates or changing team structures. 

Ernie and Beckie make the case for being proud of your role without needing to compare it to someone else’s, and for building clinic cultures where every team member understands their value.

After-hours and urgent care have changed dramatically in veterinary medicine, but the system still has serious gaps. In this episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, look at what happens when pet owners need help after hours and there’s nowhere realistic to send them.

The conversation starts with the old model of pagers, late-night calls, and general practices carrying emergency responsibility. Then it moves into today’s urgent care boom, the difference between true urgent care and walk-in sick visits, and the strain this puts on veterinary teams.

But this episode also widens the lens beyond dogs and cats. Horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, hedgehogs, birds, and other companion animals are often left with even fewer options, especially when emergencies happen outside normal clinic hours.

Ernie and Beckie talk honestly about sustainability, affordability, team burnout, and why expanding care may be both a challenge and an opportunity for the profession.

Missed charges happen in every veterinary practice, but what happens next says a lot about clinic culture. 

In this episode, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, take on the uncomfortable reality of billing mistakes: forgotten charges, wrong invoice items, inventory mix-ups, and the dreaded follow-up call to a client.

They discuss why missed charges often turn into blame, especially for technicians, CSRs, and support staff, and how clinics can handle these mistakes without creating fear or finger-pointing. 

Beckie emphasizes the role of psychological safety, while Ernie shares how written policies, clear thresholds, and manager-led client communication helped his teams manage billing errors more fairly.

The episode offers practical takeaways for owners, managers, veterinarians, techs, and front-desk teams: make charges easier to enter correctly, define when the clinic absorbs small errors, decide who contacts the client, and stop treating normal human mistakes like personal failures.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concept in veterinary hiring. It is already here, quietly screening resumes, ranking candidates, and influencing who gets interviewed, hired, or never hears back at all. In this episode of The Veterinary Viewfinder, Dr. Ernie Ward and Becky Mosser, MPA, RVT, unpack how AI-driven hiring tools are changing the employment landscape across all industries, and it’s starting in veterinary medicine.

From automated resume screeners to algorithm-based candidate rankings, these systems promise efficiency but raise serious concerns about transparency, bias, data privacy, and the loss of human judgment. 

The conversation explores how experienced veterinarians, technicians, and new graduates may be filtered out simply for not speaking the right “keyword language,” and why this creates emotional, professional, and legal risks for practices.

The episode also examines emerging lawsuits challenging AI hiring practices, the ethical implications of data scraping and social media monitoring, and the growing pressure on clinics to adopt these tools without fully understanding how they work. 

For veterinary professionals navigating hiring, leadership, or career transitions, this discussion offers critical insight into what AI can and cannot do, and why maintaining human oversight may be more important than ever.

Western Veterinary Conference 2026 - The Bridge Club Bright Minds Award

Recognition: The Veterinary Viewfinder is honored as a 2026 Bridge Club Bright Minds as the Inaugural Industry Influencer Award recipient.

Join us: February 15, 2026, 10–11 AM, Level 2, Inside Pawp Up at the Western Veterinary Conference, for the award reception and panel discussion.