Client Education: A Note from the MED

January is almost over and you all deserve a big round of ap"paws" 🐾 for all that you do for The Vets!! The focus for this month was The Vets Wellness Guidelines. Thank you all for taking time to review all of the MED information for this month! Please let us know if you have any questions or input for our upcoming topics!

"If you would have asked me when I started my quest in veterinary medicine why I chose this profession, I would have told you because I love animals more than people. However, veterinary medicine isn't just about the love of animals it is undoubtedly a people based business; without clients the veterinary clinic would have no patients to treat.

The assumption among the general client population is most veterinary clinics offer the same standard of care and use non-medical factors, such as customer service and communication as their basis for evaluation. According to McCurnin's Clinical Textbook for Veterinary Technicians '...clients often judge a practice on the basis of perception of value rather than true value...' We know our medical teams are continually striving for outstanding care, while our support staff is striving to offer suburb client service. This is what makes The Vets standout amongst the competition.

During my tenure as a member of the Nevada State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, I can tell you the majority of the complaints that were brought up on investigation were due to ineffective communication between the veterinary clinic, medical team, and the client. Different research has shown that clients need to hear something 3 times before there is a complete understanding. Clients also have different learning styles and sometimes, not only need to hear things; but see things and also have them demonstrated to them. It is important to understand how different learning styles can affect your client's perception of the education you provide to them during the visit." -Melissa Schalles

Client education and communication is a vital part of the veterinary visit. One must be clear, concise and courteous and remember, non-verbal cues are just as important as what you are saying. Everyone accepts information in a variety of ways and sometimes it takes multiple attempts before there is a clear understanding.

This week we have put together some resources from DVM 360 as well as from two of our DVM Board Members, Dr. Chris Pachel and Dr. Marie Holowaychuk on Client Education.