The three title items are the only things I can say I don't like on a regular basis. I'm sure there are others but when ever people ask me to list things I don't like this is what comes to mind. I've written about this topic before but it is such a constant issue for me and my thoughts and position are constantly evolving so I am writing about it again. This is one of those mildly opinionated pieces so it's mostly in the first person because I can only really speak for myself.
It's not that I don't actually like money. I am an American after all: I love money, to a point. What I don't like is when money comes between me and a patient. Actually, that's not entirely true either. I don't like it when money comes between me and my client. A common misconception about veterinary medicine for the public and veterinarians alike is that veterinary medicine is about pets and not people. This is a service we provide to people for their pets. This is a people profession and I love people. I care about your pet, a lot. If you and I have been through an illness, injury or difficult visit chances are you already understand that. I care about your small furry family member and I am one hundred percent invested in what I do. I believe every veterinarian I've ever met feels the same way.
What I might fail to impress on people sometimes is how much I care about them. I love caring for your pets; I spend hours of my time gettting better at it and sharing as much of my time and knowledge as I can. As much as I care about your pet, I care about you more. The relationships we develop with people tend to last longer than most pets live, we are forging relationships with people that may carry through several pet lifetimes. While in some ways that is sad and a difficult thing to put into writing, in many more ways it is my favorite part of the job. I love people. I love being a part of your life. And that is why the money issue is such a frustration to me. When you are standing in my exam room with a pet for a wellness exam or with a sick pet who needs care, there are a lot of things that can and should be done and all of them will cost money. While I understand that for a few of us the finances don't matter, for the vast majority of us every dollar counts. That is true for my family as well. I live in the same world you live in.
I also understand that we will all look at the same thing from different angles. Many of us will put different values on the same service, product or experience. If I had an extra $200,000 I think a tourist trip to space would be well worth the experience; many people think that's stupid. We might both be right. I even have opinions about the value of certain procedures or products offered in veterinary medicine that differ from some of my colleagues. Again, we might all be right.
Here's where I think I lose people quite frequently with the money stuff. We all have predetermined ideas about what things are worth the expense and what things are not. My job is to offer you all of the options that are relevant to your pet's health to give you the best opportunity to make an informed decision. If I think to myself that you won't want to spend money on a treatment or test, and then choose not to offer it to you because I am afraid you'll say no or that you will get the impression that I am only after your money, then I have effectively removed your ability to make an informed decision. What seems even worse to me is that I have made a judgement about you in one way or another. If I decide that you would not be willing or able to spend money on a particular service I am making judgements, whether consciously or not, about your finances, your level of concern for your pet and how you value veterinary medicine. I would effectively be saying, "While some clients can or would afford this level of veterinary medicine for their pet, this client won't or can't." That's not fair. So my job is to offer the best medical advice I can to each and every client I see regardless of my personal beliefs or ideas.
The other important thing to remember is that I offer my professional opinion and medical advice. That's what you pay for and that's what you get, an opinion and advice. Another vet may read your situation completely differently and you might get a different opinion or different advice or both. Remember please that as a profession we veterinarians do care about the relationship we have with you the client; we are always willing to work with you to improve that relationship and the services we offer to you. Just please also remember that while it is our job to offer you every option we have, just because we offer something doesn't mean you have to take it. We make a recommendation and then do our best to work with you to find the best plan that fits your expectations, personal beliefs and lifestyle. The worst thing we could do for you is not let you make the choice by not giving you all of the options.
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