Sure, you can click on my picture and get the gist of who I am and where I live but you won’t get a sense of who I am after checking out my pets and learning that I love kayaking, knitting and goats––not really, right? So think of this post as a more personal get to know you.

Because I can’t think of a better way for you to figure this out than by offering you a glimpse into what moves me when it comes to veterinary medicine, here’s a sampling of my favorite vet issues for your consideration: 

1. Medicine

You came here to dive into all the medicine, right? But if your dog requires $2,000 worth of orthopedic surgery, you don’t just want the cut and dry facts. Nope. You also need to hear what a veterinarian has to say––especially if she’s armed with opinions. Never fear, you’ll get those here. 

2. Compassion

Yes, veterinary medicine is a hard job for anyone. It’s not that it’s so impossible to get into vet school or even that it’s sad to see animals suffer and die (though both are inevitably true). No, it’s more a matter of having to give so much of ourselves emotionally as an integral part of the job. You should know that not every vet agrees with me on this, but personally, I can’t imagine practicing medicine any other way. For better or worse, my emotional life will be on display in this blog.

3. Communication

What makes a veterinarian great is not just our grasp of science and our ability to empathize. While these are crucial, getting both of these across to a pet owner is arguably the hardest part of our job. And it’s a lot tougher to do than you might think––especially after a long or particularly stressful day. After all, we’re only human. And that means we mess up, too. I like to talk about my “messing up” a lot, by the way.

4. Money

No, it’s not what you’re thinking. The financial remuneration of a career in veterinary medicine might not be what you’d expect for someone with our level of education, but it’s not so bad, either. Still, I talk money a lot. 

Sometimes it’s because I want you to know why vet medicine costs as much (or as little) as it does. Other times it’s because the economics of veterinary medicine are crucial to understanding why veterinary medicine works like it does, why some patients get rock star specialists and others get treated to the business end of the euthanasia syringe. But mostly, it’s because having an MBA means I know more about the financial side of vet med than is reasonably good for anyone.

5. Animal welfare

Got concerns about the ethics of animals? Ethics in veterinary medicine? Everything from shelter pet issues to veterinary malpractice is fair game here.

So email me (p.khuly@petmd.com) the topics you’d most like to hear about––medical, money, ethical or otherwise––and prepare yourself for my opinionated answers. 

Dr. Patty Khuly