Melanie Goble, she/her: [00:00:00] VetMed draws a certain type of person, one of the types of people that it draws is people that have often been let down by humans, but were held up by animals.
I do know what I'm doing and I can do hard things, and I can do new things.
Megan Sprinkle: Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined. The nightmare we all fear starting our first week as a practicing veterinarian was Melanie Goble's reality. Her first few years in the field felt like a series of unfortunate events, veterinary edition. So how did someone who was struggling to find a good fit and feeling beaten down, become a veterinarian who now thrives in remote locations as the only vet for miles?
How did she go from surviving to mentoring early career vets in programs like Ready, vet Go Where mentors are required to must love Vet Med. You're about to find out. This [00:01:00] episode touches on the hard moments when the pressure is crushing, when compassion fatigue creeps in, and when one harsh voice drowns out a hundred successes. Melanie's story is one of raw, honesty, resilience, and rediscovered purpose. It's about being human in vet med, finding your footing when the ground keeps shifting, and learning how to show up imperfect but present for both animals and people. I hope this episode reminds you you are not alone.
Melanie was also one of the original admins of not one more vet Facebook group joining just two weeks after the group was formed in 2014. We talk about the early days of the movement, why it resonated so powerfully, and how NOMV has grown into a vital support system for the profession. A quick note before we begin this episode includes open discussion of mental health and suicide.
If these topics are sensitive for you, please take care while listening. Support resources are linked in the show notes. [00:02:00] Also, if you like this episode, I recommend checking out the episodes with Taylor Miller and Brian Bourquin, both whom were involved in NOMV, and touch on topics like mentorship, perfectionism, and resiliency.
Now, let's get to the conversation with Dr. Melanie Gobel.
when did you know you wanted to get into veterinary medicine?
Melanie Goble, she/her: Oh, that was back when I was four. I had a woman from church, we called her Grandma Gerkin, and she rescued birds that had been injured and raised them. And I was like, that is the coolest thing. I wanna be an animal doctor. I didn't know what a veterinarian was, but I knew I wanted to be one. just kind of went from there. It's, it's kind of my whole life purpose I guess.
mean, I one of five kids, so all are extremely different and I'm the only one that wanted to go into any type of medicine. I don't know. We lived in the middle of nowhere.
I just, uh, wanted [00:03:00] to, to help all the animals. No matter what happened. I was like, okay, do this. Let's fix that. And here I am.
Megan Sprinkle: One of five kids. That seems like a lot. So maybe you were outside a lot to maybe get a little peace and quiet too.
Melanie Goble, she/her: I, yeah, I mean, I was a Gen X, so we weren't in the house anyway. But yeah, I would go outside and I'd take my book and then I'd like go and like make a little bed of grass and just lay there reading, because if I was inside, then they wanted me to clean and. Everybody else wanted to do loud things and I'm like, I don't wanna do loud things.
So, you know I read Herriot,
Megan Sprinkle: Very smart.
Melanie Goble, she/her: or I read, know, pretty much whatever came in front of me and my punishment was always to take away books. I wasn't allowed to read when I got in trouble,
Megan Sprinkle: Sounds you like. You were definitely a learner, and you shared a story with me too. One of your earliest memories was [00:04:00] a trip to the doctor, and,
Melanie Goble, she/her: Yes.
Megan Sprinkle: sounded like you were getting maybe an echocardiogram or something. and you, you had a question that, Was about maybe the restraints that they had put on you because you were so young and your mom knew you, you were curious on a medical aspect of it.
So do you mind sharing that?
Melanie Goble, she/her: Yeah, so when I was born, I had a heart murmur and they wanted to keep track of that 'cause one of my aunts had recently been diagnosed in heart failure when I was born. So twice a year I would go in and I'd have an echocardiogram. I. And when I was four, it was Valentine's Day, just after my fourth birthday, and we went into the hospital and went into the room and they put clamps over my wrists and ankles so that I wouldn't flail and all of that.
And I asked my mom, I said, mom, what are these called? And she's like, well, you'll have to ask the doctor when he comes back. I looked at her and I'm like, but that's [00:05:00] your responsibility. And she just looked at me like, what are you thinking? But yeah, that was one of my earliest memories. And think the main reason was because they gave me two chocolate hearts wrapped in red foil, so I got treats and I didn't have to share.
Megan Sprinkle: Oh, there you go.
Melanie Goble, she/her: Yeah,
Megan Sprinkle: With five kids I.
Melanie Goble, she/her: right,
Megan Sprinkle: I think that's really neat that you had such early memories of this. So when you were getting ready for vet school, did you have an idea of what being the animal doctor was gonna look like? Did you know what species or did that kind of change through vet school? What was your vet school experience?
Melanie Goble, she/her: Oh, well, starting out beforehand, there was many times that I'm like, oh, I want to do ophthalmology because I had a dog that had a corneal ulcer and we don't know where it came from. or I wanted to do. behavior because I'm super interested in behavior. And other [00:06:00] than going to the vet with my family, which wasn't even that often.
I'm from one of those families where the animals maybe got vaccines but not much else. and so I really didn't know what I was getting into. Um, and even. Getting ready for vet school and undergrad. I was like, oh yeah, I should probably look and see what I need to do. In order to get into that school. As I looked up the things and I started, filling out the application stuff and I'm like, oh, I have to take the GRE. And I was like, oh, when can I do that? And I had one week before I had to take it and it was due to be in, so I was like, uhoh, guess I should do that. So I. Signed up to take it at a town about two hours away from where I went to undergrad. and then got waitlisted. So I was like, okay, well I'm just gonna do some small animal stuff. And then two weeks before school started, I [00:07:00] was accepted they called me up and they're like, you want in? And I'm like, well, yeah. But I have two weeks before school starts, so I had to quit my job pack up, go find an apartment in a university town, where there's no housing left. Uh, and I had no idea. I'm like, I just wanna be a vet. Like, that's, that's all I knew. And. Then I got into vet school and I'm like, oh, I can't be a vet. I'm like, I went from being the, the big fish in a small pond to like the minnow in the ocean. I'm like, I thought I was smart, and now I'm the dumb kid. Like like I found out during vet school I didn't know how to study. I had always been one of those people that if I listened to the teacher and I did my homework, I read the book, I did great, but I didn't know how to study, so I didn't know how to absorb [00:08:00] all of this information. So there was multiple times I went down to the dean's office and I'm like, I'm done.
I quit. I'm outta here. And she just looked at me and she was like, Melanie, go back to class. I'd be like, okay, I'd go back to class. but I really had no idea what I wanted to do. Beyond being a vet. So I just kind of kept at it and I didn't think that I had, well I know I didn't have good enough grades to get like a competitive internship or anything like that.
I'm like, I just need money at this point. So I'm like, well, I'm just gonna go into gp. And I did, well sort of, uh, my first job was actually, In an ER and I was left alone like my first weekend, was crazy 'cause it was 4th of July weekend in a [00:09:00] tourist town in Maine and it was, my fourth shift was Friday of 4th of July weekend. And I was like, okay. And I was left alone and I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing, but okay, I can do this. And that was actually the first time that I had a client tell me to kill myself, um, that I was not worth the air that I breathed, that I should never be given, have been given a license and my error. That resulted in this was I didn't do a blood pressure before, before giving per corin to an Addisonian dog. And to this day, I'm still like, why did this person think we needed to do that? Um, [00:10:00] and why were you traveling with your Addisonian dog without having a plan in place. but he was an, the owner was an orthopedic surgeon from upstate New York. And his dog was my least critical patient of the night. Like I literally had animals in cages and tied to things.
'cause we ran out of cages. I had all of my exam rooms full. I had people waiting in the lobby when he like was screaming at me. And like people in the exam rooms were opening the door and looking out and like, what's going on? And I'm just like, this deer in a headlight looking like, what, what is going on?
I don't know how to handle this. And uh, I gave him the dog, he left like, whatever, just get out of here. And I went back into the treatment area and I like broke down for like five minutes. like, I can't do this anymore. I have to get back to work because it was me. I can't remember [00:11:00] if I actually had a credentialed technician or if it was just an assistant.
Not that, not that it's just an assistant assistants are amazing, but, and a receptionist and me, and nobody was like super experienced. and I pulled myself back together and I went back to work. And the nice thing was that the rest of that night. Everybody that I talked to that was present when that happened, they just looked at me and they're like, you did not deserve that. He's a jerk. And just kind of helped me get through the night. ' and that's when I realized I didn't really wanna do emergency. I don't like the stress of it. And then that job didn't work out. It was a really poor fit altogether. and I moved back to Wisconsin and went back and went into gp. even that, it really wasn't a good fit for me. Like I loved doing it, but I just never felt [00:12:00] like I belonged to anywhere that I was working. So, nine and a half years in, I got fired from a job. No reason, no cause given, I was just like, pack your stuff, you have 15 minutes, get out. And I was just shocked. So I took three days to figure out what do I wanna do with my life, you know, what do I wanna do when I grow up? And I kind of fell into doing relief work and I it. Um. You know, I guess I don't, I love that I'm always kind of in the honeymoon phase with a clinic. Everybody's happy. I haven't gotten sick of them.
They haven't gotten sick of me, and then I leave and then they're really excited when I come back and then I leave again and it's wonderful. and now I'm taking a year to work at a clinic in Canada, in hopes that I [00:13:00] can expand my business to not only be working in the US but also in Canada doing relief because as crazy as Vet Med is in the US there's not enough vets in Canada like anywhere.
Like it's ridiculous. They're so underserved in so much of Canada and I really love doing rural work. I get to do a lot of things, but most people are like, what are you doing? Like, you shouldn't be able to do that. Or I talk to a lot of specialists and I'm like, okay, what can I do because there's no specialist within, you know, 500 miles or they need to take a plane or a boat to get to a specialist. what can you teach me to do so I can do a lot more than a lot of people feel comfortable doing.
Megan Sprinkle: That seems like such a long stretch from, when you started talking about, you know, starting on July 4th, I remember my internship right after vet [00:14:00] school and that is when we started too. I. Our first shifts were going to be July 4th weekend.
And of course it's a rotating internship, so who are the lucky interns that get the ER shifts day and night? Right. And I was one of those, I can't remember if it was, if I were, was on day or night, but they, they did warn us. They're like, you are starting on the busiest weekend of the entire year when it comes to er.
if you can do this, and they did not leave us alone. but I, I do remember, like it is ingrained in me, like they were warning us. This is the busiest weekend. and so to, to be on your own, I, I'm just so glad that at least all the other pet parents realize that, you did not deserve that and can support you through the, the rest of the night.
But, And then now it's like, you're like, oh yeah, like gimme the things I don't know how to do. I'm like, what? What can I do? [00:15:00] What can I learn? So do you mind sharing a little bit like that? That's what I'm noticing in that story. Um, where was kind of the, some, some confidence and, and where did some of this come?
From where you could kind of change to where you're, you're like, yeah, let, like what are the things that I, I can learn how to do because they, they don't have another option, and I'm excited to be able to give them that care that they need.
Melanie Goble, she/her: Oh, that's a hard thing to answer. Um, Okay, so I graduated in 2005. And I would say in 2013 I travel, or 2014, sorry. I traveled to Mongolia with Christian Veterinary Missions Okay. It was a long, trip to get there, so I left my little town in Wisconsin, drove to Chicago, well, had someone drive me to Chicago. Flew from Chicago to Seoul, [00:16:00] South Korea to La Batar, Mongolia, was like 24 hours or so in travel time. And I land in Mongolia and we're driving to the apartment that I'm staying at at like one o'clock in the morning. I'm like super jet lagged. I don't know, it felt like four days after I left because there was time zone changes and all the things and like as we were driving into town, we saw this like horrible car accident. And I'm like, what is going on? And there's people driving all over the road and I had no idea what was happening 'cause it was just. Super weird, like rules had no meaning at that point in my life apparently. And it dropped me off. And then I had to be up and at the clinic at like 10 o'clock the next morning or that morning, and I go in and someone comes up and they're [00:17:00] like, do you know how to do a cardio centesis? And I'm like, uh. Sure. So, so I, it is what, nine years out that I had been, and I still like, I can't say that I was super confident, but I was there to train and mentor other veterinarians. So I'm like, let's get the book and because I'm not always gonna be here, you'd have to need to know where to look. So we pull out one of the textbooks, and it was an old textbook, but you know, it hasn't changed much, you know, and oh no, it was just at this point. And, uh, pull out the book and we go through it together. We read it like, do you understand what it's talking about? because obviously English is not the first language for these Mongolian vets.
And I spoke like two words of Mongolian. And even that was [00:18:00] not very good. and so we go through it and we do this thoracocentesis blind on this little cat. Name was Fluffy. Whatever the, whatever the Mongolian word for Fluffy was, its name was Fluffy, but in Mongolian I was like, okay, we pull all this fluid off of this cat then like four hours later someone mentioned that they have an ultrasound.
Megan Sprinkle: Oh.
Melanie Goble, she/her: like, that would've been helpful. So we pulled the cat back out, we put on the ultrasound and had a horrible, pericardial effusion. So I did my first pericardiocentesis since vet school while jetlagged in a foreign country surrounded by people that I had no idea who they were, but I was supposed to be training them. and you know, I was there for a month and I, and we didn't have [00:19:00] access to blood work. We had a super old x-ray machine. We did have the ultrasound, but we didn't have a lot of the stuff that we rely on.
We didn't have the bells and whistles and the things that we rely on in the United States and in Canada. And I was just like, how, how do I do this? Like, how am I supposed to train these people to do the stuff we do back at home, and that's when I really had to lean into that idea that our history and physical exam is the most important part of what we do. And 99% of the time, I'll just have the history of what's coming in. And we play this game at a lot of my clinics where I'm like. We read this stuff and I'm like, okay, this is what I think is going on before the patient gets there. And then everybody else says, oh, [00:20:00] this is what they think. This is what I, you know, then we, you know, it's basically a little fun contest game thing to find out, like, what do you know?
And I think that experience in Mongolia was one of the things that taught me, I do know what I'm doing. And I can do hard things and I can do new things. and I just have to focus on those basics. So I think that is what makes me excited to do more.
Megan Sprinkle: I think that's a perfect answer. It makes complete sense. So before I, Go on to some of the other things you're involved in right now. I also can't help thinking you, like you're traveling all over, like you're in Newfoundland for a year now. You're talking about being in Mongolia for a year and because of our, our introduction.
Melanie Goble, she/her: a month? Not for a
Megan Sprinkle: Oh, oh, just a minute. [00:21:00] Sorry. you're, you were married, I know you married, in vet school. 'cause you said he proposed the first year and you're like. Not the best timing honey.
Melanie Goble, she/her: Yeah. Christmas morning of first year. What?
Megan Sprinkle: so after, of course you made him plan the wedding and everything, so you're, you have a significant other,
Melanie Goble, she/her: Mm-hmm.
Megan Sprinkle: does he go with you? How does that work with you traveling so much? I'm just curious.
Melanie Goble, she/her: Um, well that's changed over time, so. When I first started doing relief and I started my relief business in 2014, he went with me when I went down to the Virgin Islands. So I did a month each time for like five months down in the Virgin Islands to 2014 and 2015. So he came for those. I've done a couple different stents of a couple of weeks to a month in Alaska and he went to some of those, most of the time [00:22:00] until 2020. Most of the time I went by myself. He only went if we were going somewhere cool. So. That was fun. so I think at one point it was one year, I think as I was counting up stuff for taxes, I. I was from home 240 some days per year.
Megan Sprinkle: Wow.
Melanie Goble, she/her: So needless to say, absence makes the heart, heart go Fonder is a thing at times and, and then there's times when you're just like, wow, I really miss you. And there's times like, oh, okay, now we're traveling and we're with each other all the time. That can be more stressful. but he did move with me when I moved to Canada. but our big change was in 2020 when COVID hit. March of 2020. I had a client spit in my [00:23:00] face, while he was talking, and he refused treatment for his pet and said. I have a upper respiratory infection and a fever. Now you're all infected. And he left like, that was the week before those actions were considered an act of terrorism.
So like nobody cared. And got sick two days later, and ended up being in isolation for 36 days. because I was sick that entire time. I. Uh, not sick enough to go to the hospital, not sick enough to get a diagnosis, but sick enough I didn't want to expose anybody, because we had no idea, like we knew so little at the time. so trying to go 72 hours without a fever, without medication. , So we were separated for that time. even when I was at home because we were [00:24:00] isolating in our apartment. and then once I started working again, I switched my business model from kind of working at anywhere from three to seven clinics a week because, you know, I did stupid things like working eight shifts in a week. Like who does that? That was dumb. And I changed it to doing mainly like maternity leaves or like longer term things because I didn't wanna be someone going between clinics and spreading disease, potentially. when we started doing that, he started going with me. So he'd go with me for one month, two month, three month. stents, wherever I was working. So that's how that changed. Then when I started coming to Canada, he didn't come with me the first two or three times I came up and then he came up for a, a two to three month stent so he could see if he liked Canada. [00:25:00] and then I came up with another time without him, and then we came up permanently. So. yes. He traveled with me and without me, I traveled without him both.
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah.
Melanie Goble, she/her: Yeah.
Megan Sprinkle: through all of this too, like you have your personal business doing relief work, and I know you've been now involved with a couple of different things. I know, I think Mongolia was one of those that you found out how much you enjoyed teaching. And so, , how did you get involved with like, not one more vet and then in some of this mentorship capacity, like with Ready, vet, go.
Melanie Goble, she/her: so not one more vet. Nicole MacArthur started the Facebook group, not one more vet in 2014, and I actually was invited to join by a colleague, two weeks after it started. And that was also around the time [00:26:00] that I got fired that job before starting relief. So I was not in a great place mentally. Um, when I was invited to join the group. And I was active and engaged in the group. And then in 2016, someone had made a comment about they needed help with membership. And so I was like, Hey, I'd be happy to help with that. you know, I'm good at doing stuff in the background.
Like I didn't wanna be the person that was like, Hey, stop being mean. Be nice. or we have to take down your comment or your post or whatever. I'll just verify that people are vets and let them into the group. so they said, sure, come on in, start doing that. And I was included in the chat where the admins and mods would talk about what's going on and do we have to do stuff. And I'd randomly pipe up now and then and say something. but. By and large, I spent a lot of time [00:27:00] vetting vets and at one point I was adding between one and 2000 vets per week, like verifying that they graduated from vet school, but where they were licensed, like all that kind of stuff. because it was needed, like so many people were like, I need support. , Maybe not all as overt as my first weekend with that client. , But we've all had bad interactions with clients. We've all had cases go bad. We've all had really great things happened too, who were just like, oh my goodness, I wanna tell you about this, but most people don't get how cool that was, you know? having somewhere to talk about the highs and the lows of vet med was just really important. And, then as I [00:28:00] was doing that, they're like, Hey, we really appreciate all that you're doing. We'd like you to be a full admin. And help with running things. And I'm like, Ugh, fine, I guess, but this is gonna be my thing.
It's still this mentorship, but I'll help out where I can. And then we started to realize how much people needed additional support. and we started Not One More Vet inc. The nonprofit arm of things in order to provide. Financial support to people that needed it. the first grant that we gave out was actually for a veterinarian to pay for a relief that to come in so that she could actually get mental health care. Um, and it's changed Now. That's not how we do it, but that was the very first one that we, that we gave out and. That was pretty amazing. , And so we started Not One More Vet Inc. [00:29:00] And it just grew and grew and grew. And when 2020 hit, we, needed more help. So we hired our executive director and then we hired additional staff.
I ended up having to leave the board at the end of 2021. because I'd had a number of health issues come up and I just, I needed to back off now I, it's, it's so big. There's a new executive director. I think like seven or eight additional staff people like I. There was just five volunteers when we started and it's crazy how big it's grown and how much they do now. Now there's the Not One More Vet group, there's the technician group, there's a student group. They still have the grants program. They have a cyber bullying task force. They're they're in the middle of race around the world right [00:30:00] now, which is the biggest fundraiser. and there's Clear Blueprint, which is a certification that clinics can get to show that you're actually walking the walk, just not just talking the talk. and that's a living certification so you can have it taken away. and there's always room to grow. So it's not saying, oh, you, here you are, you've got it, you're done.
You don't need to do more. but it says, Hey, you're on the way, you're doing it. that's gonna change with time and this is gonna change, but you can do this and we're here to support you. So there's lots of stuff like that. and that's how I got into there. And then, Ready, Vet, Go. I think Dani had posted in one of the Facebook groups, Hey, if anyone's interested in mentoring, here we go. I had mentored a few other people, just, it just kind of happened, over the years and I was really excited to be able to do this and Dani said, yeah, come on in. [00:31:00] And here we are. I don't know, like my life is, weird because I'm like, I wanna do this. And I have had so much luck and privilege to be able to just kind of fall into the things that I do.
Like I don't actually know half the time how it's happened. But I always end up where I need to be, and that's pretty exciting.
Megan Sprinkle: Well, it sounds like you're present. You, you have to be present. You have to be doing something for that luck to find you. you were talking about adding one to 2000 people a week.
How were they getting the word out that they existed for starters? And what do you think is it about NOMV that. They're doing so well that they continue to grow, if that makes sense.
Melanie Goble, she/her: Yeah. Um, I think. It is multifold. [00:32:00] So far as people finding out about it, I think people were excited to just have some place to go and talk that didn't cost anything to join. I mean, Facebook was popular. It's not as popular with the young folks these days, but um, like it's still, we still have a lot of people coming in, like new grads and all that still coming in. , But there really wasn't anything like it. and so it was meeting a need where people were at the time. So I think that's why, and. We had at that point in time, like people would be like, Hey, I'm adding all of my classmates. So one person would add 80 people and that plays into what, how. It's [00:33:00] been successful is that this was very grassroots. it was started as a reaction to the suicide death of Sophia Yin, which really hit the vet population really hard, um, because she was such a happy and amazing woman, and if it could happen to her, like. It could happen to anybody, you know? And VetMed draws a certain type of person. And one of the things, one of the types of people that it draws is people that have often been let down by humans, but we're held up by animals. So There's a lot of grief and trauma from life, and to be able to come together with other [00:34:00] people that have experienced the same things that nobody else understands is huge, is human doctors don't treat you from cradle to grave. And after like. But we are there through the entire life. We do euthanize our pets, , and our client's pets. most of us also don't separate ourselves. Like, yes, we compartmentalize, but we are intertwined with our patients and with our clients. Like even when we try not to be, we are because you, I mean, almost every vet that I know had someone come into the exam room and just like word vomit their entire life to them. And you are just like, oh, okay. So. Scout needs [00:35:00] vaccines, but you're just like, okay, there's a lot of secondary trauma that comes from other people, and there's also the joys when people are like, oh, this wonderful thing happened and we want to include you, you know, getting a puppy or a kitten or adopting that old dog, or that middle aged cat, or that horse, or you know, having that. You know, 4-H pig you just absolutely love. Whatever it is, we're entwined with the daily lives of people and there's not a lot of professions that have that. And even though we're here for the animals, we end up being there for the people too. And. It is nice to have people that can understand [00:36:00] that.
Megan Sprinkle: That's really, really well said. And I'm thinking back by the dates you were giving and when NOMV started, that was not exactly the heightened time where we were talking a lot about. Mental health and wellbeing, if I remember correctly. So how have you kind of seen that conversation evolve over time?
Melanie Goble, she/her: I would say that in that 2014 range, we were really starting to have people talk about mental health at all, like in or out of vet Now for vet meds specifically, I mean the CDC had been researching why veterinarians have this elevated rate of suicide since the forties
Megan Sprinkle: Oh.
Melanie Goble, she/her: before social [00:37:00] media, and when people are like, oh, James Herriot. Well, James Herriot, who's the pen name Alfred Wight who took time off from vet med because of his mental health to write the books. Most people don't realize that. And the books that he wrote, they were the real stories and some of his colleagues had died by suicide as well. those parts are aren't in the book. You know, somebody made a T-shirt and said, James, Harriet lied. you know, because he made it sound like it was all so wonderful. but after you're in VetMed and you go back and read the books, you're like, oh, he did tell us. We just missed it. and think because NOMV grew so quickly, and because we [00:38:00] started to talk to the people that were actually doing those studies that were being done and the studies that have been published since, we've made a point of trying to discuss suicide and mental health issues appropriately, or at least trying to. I mean, I wish we all did it right all the time, but we don't. but I think that was a, that's a big draw as to why NOMV has done well. and then once again, being grassroots that we brought it up, we had the death of Sophia Yin, and we talk about her, but We talk more about the, the side effects. Like what did that cause to have happened within Vet Med? Like how did that change us? How can we use this great tragedy to [00:39:00] help us all learn better resilience? And then how can we actually change the parts of Vet Med that. Make this an issue. and so we, we started talking about those things and then because we were having success, other people said, oh, we wanna get in on this. And there's some other organizations that have started or that have tried to create their own thing. And yes, they have them, but they never. Played out the same. And I suspect, I don't know for sure, but I think some of it goes to the fact that we were coming at it from a, we are in this and we are, we are wanting to change things for each of us, but we're starting with changing ourselves. know, I will never say that, I am the most [00:40:00] stable person. and you know, I still struggle. I mean, the first time that I considered suicide was in fourth grade. and so being able to share those stories and not just sit in the darkness and the shame of it, but rather say I made it through. I am an example of how it, how you can make this through. And yeah, I'm not gonna be perfect and I'm gonna have little jagged edges and I'm gonna have dark humor. but I lived and so can you and I will sit with you and I will stand with you and I will fight with you, and I will cry with you that no matter what happens, you are not alone. And, Jason, who is one of our, co-founders of NOMV Inc. He, he created the little saying of We are not alone. We are all one. And [00:41:00] when you know you're not alone, it gives you that connection that keeps you tethered to life. So that's why I think it's going well.
Megan Sprinkle: Wow. And you know, back to what we were talking about with Ready Vet Go. You, you are mentoring. Usually early career veterinarians that I know. Dani, who's the, the founder of Ready Vet, go. She talked about the questions that people tended to have were not the clinical questions necessarily.
They were like the, the life questions or the communication questions or so, making this a broad question, what is something that maybe we haven't yet talked about that you feel is something that you [00:42:00] constantly are sharing when it comes to early career veterinarians that you think best supports them as human beings in this very unique role of veterinary medicine?
Melanie Goble, she/her: I would say I. What I often tell people and what I wish more people knew is one of the most important things to be ready and able to say in the manner that is, true to yourself is, I don't know the answer to that question, but I know who to ask and I'm gonna do some research and get back to you. And when you can say that to a client with confidence, I. You're set because that phrasing. for one, it shows that you're human. Two, it shows that you're humble enough to not [00:43:00] believe you know everything. Three, you have connections to figuring out the answers. And four, you care enough to go that extra step. And so if you can say, I don't know, but I'm gonna find out, the clients are gonna be so thankful and you're gonna have that opportunity to come back and say, you know what? I found out what needs to happen. I'm not the person that has that's able to do this for you, but here's where you can go. This is what you can do. or these are your options. you're gonna help more people, you're gonna help more animals. at the end of the day, most of the time, clients are going to be more accepting if you don't have that answer and can't fix them. if it doesn't, whatever it is, doesn't work out. You've already shown that you're human [00:44:00] and that you care. So they're gonna be a little bit more Understanding when and if something goes bad, because something will go bad at some point. But they already know that you care. So, I mean, we beat ourselves up enough that we don't need clients to, be all up on us as well. and sometimes they will, but when you've done everything you can. Then learning to let go of the, the bad things, is essential.
Megan Sprinkle: Well, I wanna thank you so much because I think, like you said. We are very critical of ourselves. There will be that handful of clients that are even more critical and do not help us. And it is when we can, as the community of veterinary medicine, come [00:45:00] together and support each other. Be vulnerable and share.
That's the magic. It really is. Uh. That's the, the word that comes to my mind is that's, that's the warm fuzzies that gets us through the day. That is, where people understand and we can share the good things that nobody understands how good, and also, be in the comfort of others who also understand when the bad things happen.
And, and you're there, you're, you're a part of that. And I just wanna thank you so much. Is there. I that you wanna share in addition before , I ask the final question.
Melanie Goble, she/her: the one other thing that I want the veterinary community to remember, and this is not just veterinarians, but also technicians and assistants and CSRs, is that when something goes wrong, I want you to think of the last hundred times you've done that thing. Whether it's answering the phone, giving an injection, placing an iv, [00:46:00] doing a surgery, whatever it is, think of the last a hundred times and if this one thing that's gone wrong, if that's the only one thing that's gone wrong, those last a hundred times, you still have a 99% success rate and we should not let that 1%. Ruin the joy of the 99,
Megan Sprinkle: Very well said, and when you are in that moment of the 1%, again, come find the other people who can remind you of the 99% because they've all been there too.
Melanie Goble, she/her: And it is okay to sit in the suck of that 1%,
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah.
Melanie Goble, she/her: sit there when it happens. Those feelings are valid, but they do not define who you are. That 1% does not define you.
Megan Sprinkle: Very key point. Yeah.
Melanie Goble, she/her: Yes.
Megan Sprinkle: Well, thank you again. I, I always love to end on a gratitude, [00:47:00] so, uh, it doesn't have to be career related, but, what is something that comes to mind when I, when I say what is something you're very grateful for right now?
Melanie Goble, she/her: I am grateful for a lot of things. I'm trying to think of what's the best one to name. I am thankful that I have been allowed to be a part of so many different people's lives in different ways, that I can just make little ripples, but I might only be there for just a minuscule moment. And I'm hopeful that most of those times, those moments are good. And even in the moments that are really, really hard, I. That I can be there for the people that are struggling in that moment, [00:48:00] so that they don't have to be alone. I'm so thankful that I can be a part of that for people and with people.
Megan Sprinkle: Well, goodness, this has been so good. . I just wanted to, to say that. It can be hard to know what to say sometimes in those hard moments for people, and I wanna point out what you said it, sometimes you don't need to say anything, just sit there because you just don't wanna be alone and they it, you don't have to say anything, it's just being there.
Melanie Goble, she/her: right. That I actually, have been going through the process of, becoming an educator. There's different for this, for something called ECPR, which is emotional CPR, and it basically is training people to just be present, to not have to fix and to just be, I honestly, I recommend that everybody [00:49:00] do this training.
It's like a 12 hour thing. but it changed the way I interacted even with clients. because as a doctor we go in and we're like, yeah, we have to be the fixer. We have to do this. But when I go in. I initially go in with this concept of ECPR where I'm going in just to listen and to be present for them before I go into doctor mode, so I can actually get to the true root of the problem. Because when somebody comes in with a pet with X, Y, Z problem or issue, a lot of times that's not actually why they're there. And. To actually sit down and listen to them and find out, okay, where are they coming from? And yeah, I might think that they have to do X, Y, Z thing, but if you're actually listening to them, that thing's not a possibility. [00:50:00] So when we're talking about spectrum of care, you know, sometimes I flat out ask, what are your intentions for today? Are you looking to diagnose and treat, or are you looking for someone to tell you it's okay to say goodbye and like that's, that's the fixing part. But it comes from like, before that I'm actually listening to the people and hearing them say, oh, you know, X, Y, Z happened with the dog. And you know, my. My dad's in the hospital and I'm caring for my mom in the meantime. And kid is, nonverbal autistic, and our, our house just burned down and we're living in a rental unit with only one bedroom and there's seven of us and, you know, whatever. I mean, that's, [00:51:00] it feels like that's what everybody tells us all the time. And if you're actually reading between the lines and listening and feeling what they're feeling and you're just, oh, like I feel this heavy weight. And when you're able to look at them and say, I, you know, as you say that, and my heart just constricts and I just feel like I'm under just boulders on my shoulders. Like I feel how heavy all of this is for you. I, and I'm just here to sit with you under those boulders until you have the strength to move and people are just like, whoa, you're listening because most people feel so invisible. When they're going through that, and, you know, it doesn't always have to be that dramatic. It might just be, you know, my hair did not come out right and [00:52:00] then I blew a tire on the way here and I chipped my nail.
And like, it just, it can be a little tiny things, but they build up to just a lot and you're just like, I can't do it anymore. And sometimes you just need someone to listen.
Megan Sprinkle: I hope you enjoyed this fascinating veterinary story. We can make an impact in so many places. Check out the show notes for lots of resources. Please make sure you are subscribed on your podcast app. Subscribe on the YouTube channel and follow me on LinkedIn where I hang out the most. You can contact me on LinkedIn on the website at vetlifereimagined.com and to send me a text message.
Find the link at the top of the show notes below that says. Send us a text message. I wanna thank our longtime sponsors, FYR Consulting and Will Hughes who support the podcast over on our hosting platform, Buzzsprout. You can support the podcast too. Just check out the show notes for a link, and I hope to see you [00:53:00] next time on Vet Life Reimagined.
