Megan Sprinkle: [00:00:00] Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined. Today we are resharing a conversation that couldn't be more timely, especially if you are a recent veterinary graduate, a fourth year student, or someone supporting new vets on their journey. This guest is Dr. Dani Rabin, the founder of Ready Vet, go. A powerful cohort-based mentorship program designed to give veterinarians the guidance, connection and confidence they deserve.
This episode was. First released in September of 2024, and the episode did really well. I thought it would be perfect to remaster it and share Dani's story again, as enrollment is officially open for the July and October, 2025 cohorts and spots are filling up. Whether you're a new grad looking for real support or a practice leader who wants to offer structured mentorship, this is your moment Let this episode be a reminder that you do not have to do veterinary medicine alone.
Real mentorship exists. let's get to the conversation with [00:01:00] Dr. Dani Rabwin.
Dani Rabwin: There is so much more to being a well-rounded and really happy and satisfied veterinarian that is not that clinical stuff, and that's the stuff that I really loved.
Megan Sprinkle: Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined. Today we have some themes around connection and community. If you've heard the phrase, "know your Why", then you'll understand that these themes are important Whys of our guest, Dr.
Dani Rabwin. She is the founder of Ready Vet, go a formal mentorship program that was a beautiful surprise that changed Dani's career expectations. Dani graduated vet school from UC Davis and has been a general practitioner ever since. This is a fantastic conversation that you need to listen all the way through because we talk, about finding joy in vet Med, which is something we need to hear more of.
So let's get to the conversation with Dr. Dani Rabwin. When did you know you were interested in vet medicine?
Dani Rabwin: That is such a good question, and thanks so much for inviting me to be here. I think [00:02:00] the first moment that I really remember, I mean, I, I loved animals and I liked taking our pets to the vet, but I just remember this really pivotal moment when I was a a kid, and this was in the day when it was time to let our pets go.
My dad would drive the dog to the vet and drop him off and come home. It was just a different time, but this was one of our beloved family pets, and it was time for euthanasia. And he was dropped off and my dad came home and that night we were sitting around having family dinner at the dinner table and the phone rang and it was the veterinarian.
And he called to check in on us because, you know, he knew how hard it must be for us. And he asked if he could get me on the phone. And I got on the phone with him and apparently the story goes that I talked to him and I don't really know what he said, but I hung up and I said. I wanna be like him when I grow up.
And I just, it was this feeling of like feeling like this veterinarian was almost a part of our family. He cared about us. And so for [00:03:00] me, when I look back on it, I realize that this pivotal moment was really about the connection with people. It wasn't even so much about, I love animals, I wanna save all the animals.
It was. This sort of relationship and that's kind of guided my whole career. So I think that was kind of the first moment for me. And then everything from then on was, what am I gonna do to get into veterinary school?
Megan Sprinkle: Yep. And, and just wanted to shout out to that veterinarian. I love that he understood that it was a, a relationship.
It impacts the family emotionally. And to reach out and do that is a, is a really big deal that I hope is not lost. I. Also remember the time when pets were, it was their time to go. They went to the vet and they just didn't come back, or they came back in a box and I did not have that experience. And somehow I still ended up here in vet medicine.
But to have that where the veterinarian seemed [00:04:00] so interested in the human side of things and the whole relationship, I think. It's just huge. So, you know, if somebody wants to know how to make somebody's day, just reaching out and saying, how are you? I, I think is, is so important. So
Dani Rabwin: it's such a good lesson and such a reminder.
I mean, I certainly don't do that every time I euthanize a pet. But when I tell this story, I'm reminded of it. And then I might go back when I'm next in the clinic and make that phone call. You know, I think we're, we're good in our profession about writing really heartfelt cards and they're very touching and people generally appreciate them, but sometimes just picking up the phone, it's really meaningful.
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Well especially if, if you know the pet owner at all. Well, and I just had a interview yesterday with someone and his whole kind of mission was around the community aspect of. You know, veterinary. And so he, he knows his clients very, very well, because that's so [00:05:00] important. And so, yeah, that means a lot.
'cause the veterinarian can kind of, like you said, become kind of part of the family because of that connection of beloved pets.
Dani Rabwin: Mm-hmm.
Megan Sprinkle: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I didn't realize you would get that deep, but I, I love the tip of that trip that we went there real fast meant what a great way to get introduced into this profession.
And yes, I, I think some of these things do keep coming back in your journey. And, and like you said, okay, so now you've, you made this decision and now it's all focus, focus. How do I get to vet school? Did you know what you wanted to do when you got into vet school? How did that go? Did that change at all through those four years?
What other things did you kind of experience and learn during that time? In vet school,
Dani Rabwin: I think I was always pretty much set on small animal, which is where I ended up. But I did tinker with some other species. I rode horses when I was younger and I volunteered at the barn just so that I could be around all the [00:06:00] horse people.
I did some volunteer work in a wildlife center in Southern California. I did a summer at the zoo, so I really explored lots of different species in lots of different areas, but I really was mostly just focused on small animal. I wasn't sure if I was going to specialize. That was always something that I was open to.
But what I found in school is that I loved all of it. I thought the path for me really to do everything is general medicine and to be a really good general practitioner. And you know, I did some really fun, interesting things along the way. Like I got a grant with a friend of mine to go study Yaks in Nepal, in the Himalayas.
And so there's so many amazing opportunities that you can have in veterinary school, even outside of your, you know, track or where you think you want to end up. So I took advantage of all of those opportunities. Yeah, I really was focused eventually on [00:07:00] general practice for small animals, and I would hear things, you know, especially during my clinical rotations, you know, I would be on a service and somebody would say, oh, you're so good at this.
Why don't you specialize? I thought, well, why can't we just reframe this? You're so good at this. How wonderful that you can take this into general practice and be a really well-rounded, solid general practitioner. So I, I really wanted some extra support. After graduation, I decided to do an internship and I interviewed multiple places.
It was like me interviewing them. If I come here to do an internship, are you gonna support my desire to go directly into general practice? Because I felt like a lot of the push in many of the internships was to get people ready for residencies, which is great. Um, but I found a place that was very supportive of my ambitions to be a solid general practitioner.
And so that's where I ended up and that was Michigan Veterinary Specialists. It's Blue Pearl now that's outside of Detroit, and I did my year there, and then I went into general practice and, and loved it.
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. And that was quite a [00:08:00] waste for you growing up in California and then going to Michigan. A little bit of a different weather, probably cultural changes and everything.
Dani Rabwin: It was, yeah, and I, I did it partly for that reason. You know, I thought, when am I ever going to go live in Michigan and now's the time to do it? And so it was, it was a really good fit for me.
Megan Sprinkle: And just knowing where you are now and some of the big things that are important to you when you were in that internship.
What was the mentorship like? How did you embrace that one year experience to really get you ready to go into general practice?
Dani Rabwin: The mentorship there was great. There were, you know, some things that I look back on now and I go, huh. That happened, you know, just right off the bat, starting on overnight emergency shifts, being the only doctor in the clinic for me, it worked out great.
I really took advantage of the mentorship from the experienced credentialed technicians on those overnight emergency shifts. They are just such a [00:09:00] wealth of information and I relied on them a lot. The mentorship that I received from the specialists was excellent. They had a really robust program where we would do rounds and really had an opportunity to connect with the specialists that we were rotating with.
They put a lot of emphasis on the peer connection. We had a really tight internship class that we would meet with both in and outside of the clinic, and I really loved that, but a lot of it, I really had to go out and kind of get myself. I really had to be very proactive around saying, okay, this is something that I wanna learn and I'm going to make sure that I learn this before I leave.
I really felt like this is my opportunity to soak up as much information as I can before I go out into general practice. I, I. Wanted to be ready for the every few years, GDV that was gonna come in or the every few years chest taps that I was gonna have to do in general practice. You know, these aren't things, uh, in general practice that we do regularly, but I sort of had this [00:10:00] feeling that I.
When it does come in, I wanna know how to do it. And so I really found myself gravitating towards the emergency side just so that I could be very prepared. And that turned out to, um, serve me very well. And it actually made me love emergency medicine. So even though I've been in general practice for 20 years, I have always done relief in emergency.
Just, you know, once a month or every couple months I'll pick up an emergency shift because I just love it and I always kind of wanna see. What's happening in that field of emergency medicine? So some of it I had to really go out and get myself and others was, you know, some of the mentorship was kind of structured in that internship environment.
Megan Sprinkle: That's a, a good way of approaching things too, if you're interested in lots of things or you like emergency medicine, but you know. Five days a week seems like a lot. You, you can do that as an option where you have your foot in both general practice as well as emergency. And I'm sure you learn a lot on both sides.
That can be applicable across the ways. So whether it's [00:11:00] understanding you, I don't know, you've may maybe had a client show up in emergency and you're like, oh, I know you, I know this dog. Um, or cat. That's kind of a, a neat circle as well.
Dani Rabwin: Yeah, definitely. It really overlaps and that's one. One of the things that I love about our profession so much is that with our degree, we really can kind of create the careers that we want and do so many different things.
And if we wanna pick up a relief emergency shift we can. And what I learned on the emergency shifts really influences how I practice in my day practice. It certainly influences, you know, how I mentor now that I'm in mostly a mentoring role with new veterinarians, it influences that. So it's all really connected and that is one of the things that I love about this profession and this degree, is that you can kind of move into different areas that interest you.
Megan Sprinkle: And I also, I really liked how you approach discovering which internship to go on you. You knew what you were looking for, you interviewed. As in like you interviewed them. I [00:12:00] always encourage people, don't forget that. It's like, yeah, it sounds like an interview for, like you as in they're interviewing you, but it is equally the other way around.
'cause you have to make sure it is the right fit for you. And so did you take that approach once your internship was done looking for a practice to start full-time work in? What, how did you, uh, decide? Which hospital was gonna be, right? What were you looking for and what was that experience? Yeah, it's a good question.
I was, I was pretty
Dani Rabwin: picky and it was a fun time. It was new. Veterinarians were not, as I I say, they're sort of a hot commodity right now. You know, we know there's so many open positions and only so many veterinarians to fill them. This was in, I finished my internship in oh five, and so this was a really good time still where, you know, we were in, in demand and so I was allowed to be, you know, picky in what I chose.
I had some pretty specific requirements. I wanted there to be multiple doctors. I wanted it to be busy. I wanted to make [00:13:00] sure that I was gonna have really good mentorship. Even though I had done an internship, I still had only been out for a year. I wanted to make sure that I had good mentors. I learned during my internship that I loved ultrasound, so I wanted a place that was going to be very involved with my ultrasound training.
So the practice that I ended up in, and I stayed there for eight or nine years, it turned out to be a really good fit for me. It was a group of three practices. So the main practice was a 24 hour clinic, so it was day practice during the day, an emergency overnight, and then two satellite, one doctor or two doctor practices.
And so I was able to work at all of those. And I really liked that. So sometimes I would do an overnight emergency shift. Sometimes I would work at one of the smaller satellite practices. So that was really good for me. Um, I can't imagine doing that now, mixing it up with overnight and day practice and working five days a week.
But I was in my twenties and had tons of energy and so it worked fine for me. And the other thing that was really amazing is that [00:14:00] we had an agreement, it was a three year contract. Exchange for very intensive ultrasound training for me, and so they said, you know, if we provide you with this really extensive ultrasound training, it was a 20 day course over the time of one year.
I would go to a facility and get intensive ultrasound training for general practitioners. They said, if we make that investment in you, we want an understanding that you're gonna stay with us. And so we agreed on three years. It was an amazing agreement. I became the, the primary ultrasonographer for the practice.
We had a mobile radiologist who would come in for some of the things that I didn't feel like I could handle, um, but it really allowed them to build out their in-house ultrasound program. I was allowed to pursue this special interest, and I have really maintained this kind of love for ultrasound throughout the.
20 years. So it was a big negotiation. There was a lot of discussion around what my needs were as a new grad and what the clinic's needs were, and we ended up coming up with a really good agreement.
Megan Sprinkle: You said this was a long [00:15:00] conversation, so you know, really understanding each other and what you were looking for and how it was a mutual arrangement.
And it sounds like you really liked the practice. 'cause I think you were there for eight years, so that worked out. That can be scary for some people on multiple year contracts and things like that, but. Understanding. Keep having the conversation. See, see what works. And it sounds like it, it worked really well and it allowed you to really upskill in places that you were interested in and it benefited the practice right back.
So,
Dani Rabwin: yeah, that's exactly right. And this is not to say that, you know, I would encourage most people to sign on to something like a three year contract. 'cause we hear stories about poor fits all the time. And so, you know, if you don't feel like you have the time to go into those deep conversations or do some shifts in the clinic to make sure that it's gonna be a good fit, I would not necessarily recommend a long contract like that.
Honestly, I don't even know if it was valid. It was like a handshake. You know, I'm gonna stay here for three years in exchange for, for this. I don't [00:16:00] even remember if it was written down and if it was, is it valid? I don't know. That's not really my, my area, but it ended up being a really good fit for me.
'cause yeah, like you said, I ended up staying there for, for many years and you know, I think people forget sometimes, like we, we can say as new grads and early career vets, what we want to get out of this experience and we are bringing so much to the clinic and that's why I'm always encouraging vet students and new grads to really understand their value and their worth and that they are bringing.
Such a gift really to the clinics. You know, they have so much new medical information and knowledge and they ought to be able to speak up for the things that they want out of the relationship as well that are not monetary. I'm not talking about asking for, you know, crazy high sign-on bonuses or salaries or anything like that.
You know, it takes time to be able to be producing for a clinic to earn that, you know, those large numbers. But there's lots of other ways that we can be compensated, and that might be in the area of [00:17:00] special interests or, you know, things like that.
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, and on the other side, being able to listen and understand the needs of the practice is also really important because then you can communicate in a way to show how your value fits their needs and their, their values as well.
So great skills, uh, altogether to, to know your value, but also to listen and understand other people's priorities as well. It's gonna help you get what you want when you're able to understand both sides.
Dani Rabwin: It's such a good point and so much of what we do as veterinarians is listening to our clients and just starting off right off the bat with that, you know, listening to the needs of the practice so that you can then share how you can add value in areas that they're specifically looking for.
I think that's a great call out.
Megan Sprinkle: Now, you ended up moving and you went to the Bay Area, so you found a new practice and, and so. Was that the, the move where you just like family wanted to move [00:18:00] and you were gonna have to look for a, a new job?
Dani Rabwin: Exactly. Family wanted to move and so my partner at the time had a job that needed to be relocated and you know, as a veterinarian, I knew I could pretty much work anywhere.
And I said, let's do this. Let's pick up and move. And so we did. Again, I was very picky. I had had such a good experience. It was heartbreaking for me to leave that practice in Southern California. The mentor at the time became one of my closest confidants, and he's still very much in my life today. And I loved my team members and my coworkers, and I said, this is gonna be a big move and I wanna make sure that I make the right choice.
And we moved to Oakland. And there were a couple of practices that I really wanted to work at, and none of them were hiring. And I knocked on their doors and I met the owners and I said, Hey, I'm moving up here soon. I wanna work for you. And I had two really amazing experiences at two different clinics where both [00:19:00] of the practice owners were, we're, we're not hiring, but can we take you out for coffee?
I met with them, got to know them, and they said, well, we're really, you know. Keep you in mind if something opens up, but now it's not the right time. And I said, okay. Well, there wasn't anything else in, in the area where I was living that really spoke to me, but there was a practice in San Francisco, so it was across the bay.
I was gonna be living in Oakland. There was a practice in San Francisco that was hiring. I thought, you know, this practice sounds great. It really fits the bill. And I ended up taking a job there and commuted into the city. That was not a good fit and I. Did not connect well with the practice owner. There was some things that just didn't work out very well in my favor, and it was a good experience to go through that, you know, to really understand what people say when, when they go to a practice that is not a good fit.
And I commuted by bus often, mostly public transportation. And I had a horrible day in the clinic. It was just awful. And I was on the bus, I think I was crying and I opened up my [00:20:00] phone and I went to, I. Some jobs board. And I saw that one of the practices that I wanted to work at in Oakland now had an opening.
And that day I basically called, I said, remember me? They said, yeah, we do. Come on in. So I did a shift at this clinic in Oakland and it was a great fit. And I put in my notice at the San Francisco practice, I accepted a position at the Oakland Practice, and I've been at that practice for 11 years now. So that was a, a great fit.
So in my 20 years, I've really only worked at. Three clinics, aside from all of the relief that I've done eight years and then one year and, and 11 years now at this practice in Oakland.
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Well, and the other thing I kind of noticed earlier on, when you started working for Broadway Pet Hospital in about 2013, not long, you, you started doing a little bit more in the community and this is only what I can see on LinkedIn, so, so.
But that's, that was really neat for me to see, again, know, kind of knowing what you do now. [00:21:00] You also started a, a yearly program where you would open up the vet hospital to local elementary students. I think as well, you've done your homework together because you're, you're already, you know, when we were talking about community and the importance of that relationship, and, but also you're.
Your understanding of the younger generation and the importance of letting them see the, the special part of veterinary medicine and letting them be part of it. And so I just, I loved seeing that. So I, I saw that and then like a little bit later you volunteered with the youth mentor group, so. I mean, you, you were really starting to get involved, so what was kind of your thought process in, in doing some of these things and, and how did that kind of impact you just in general?
I, that question and no one's ever asked me about
Dani Rabwin: that part of what I've done. It's always been just kind of a thing that I do and I don't necessarily really [00:22:00] talk about it, but it has given me so much meaning and joy as a veterinarian. And, you know, the way that came about really, I think started well, I love people.
I love connecting with people. I love kids. I have one who I'm sending off to college in a few weeks, but when that one was in preschool, they were always looking for volunteers and people to do interesting things in the classroom. I think A VMA had just come out with this like coloring book on ways that young children can interact with dogs.
It was like a dog bite prevention coloring book. Mm-hmm. And I thought, well, this is a really cool resource. Why don't I take this into the preschool? So I ordered a bunch of those coloring books. And I went into the preschool. I haven't even thought about this memory in so many years. So thanks for asking about this.
This is the, how this all started. I went into the preschool and I did a like a little session on dog bite prevention for preschoolers, and we filled out our little coloring books and it was so much fun. And so then as my son went from class to class, as he got older, I would always offer [00:23:00] my services to the classroom and the teachers loved it.
So in kindergarten, I brought in. Skulls that we had in the clinic, and I would talk about different skulls and anatomy and teeth and we would talk about that. And then in first grade, when he was in first grade, I went into his classroom and we did a bandaging lab, and I had all the kids bring in one of their stuffies.
I brought in bones, actual, you know, some of the bone models that we had in the clinic, and we talked about like when we would wanna set a limb or when we would want to do a bandage. And I brought in all the materials from the clinic. We did a bandaging lab and they were obsessed. They loved it so much, and this got a conversation started with the parents and the teachers and they said, how can we do more of this?
Well, the school has an auction every year. And so I decided to auction off a day with a veterinarian and I got permission from my Oakland clinic. They were very supportive. [00:24:00] The, the practice owner, you know, we really connected on his, he also was very involved in the community, so our kids went to the neighborhood school, which was right near the vet clinic and for being an urban area in Oakland, it had kind of a small town feel.
And so he was very supportive of me doing this auction event and I auctioned off. I don't remember how many seats it was, maybe four. And they sold out immediately and made some good money for the school. And that grew. And I ended up doing like three days a year. And we would have up to 10 kids at a time and I would come in on my day off because now we had so many kids, I couldn't do it on a work day.
And the staff loved it. Everyone just loved it. And other schools got wind of what we were doing. So I would donate to other schools a day with a vet. And it was a, it was a big hit and I just loved it. And it was just such a fun part of connecting with the community and connecting with kids. I had kids who were repeat, they would come year after year and then they would come with their siblings.[00:25:00]
I'm still in touch with a couple of them. They've reached out to me as they're heading off to college now, uh, for advice, and it's just, it's been amazing. That was a really fun, a fun way to give back to the community. Then I got a lot of clients out of it because you can imagine now all of these families wanted to bring their pets to me.
So I did not do it for business, but it ended up being a good way to build my personal practice within the, the larger practice where I was working. I.
Megan Sprinkle: How neat. I have talked about this before, where it would be like a open house day at veterinary clinics. 'cause I think that would be so much fun for the kids to come in and the parents get to see the clinic in a very non scary, threatening way.
I. Right. Like the worst thing is, is having, you know, an emergency situation and then that's not a good memory, but if it's like at a family affair where they can come and tour and meet the vet and the kids are all excited, I, I just see so much good coming from that. Both [00:26:00] that back to how you felt very seen and appreciated when you were a child going through something challenging in the veterinarian, you know, took that time with you.
You're doing that for other kids and I think that's. A great way to keep that enthusiasm and the interest in VetMed. So we always have this other generation who's inspired and, and feels our passion. And I, I just think it is so cool. So,
Dani Rabwin: Aw, thanks. Yeah, it is. It is so cool. And I love your idea of just like an open house and bringing people in.
'cause you're right, it's scary. Taking your animal to the vet, especially when there's is scary. And so doing it in a time where, you know, some, it's kind of like low stakes, the pressure's off. It's a great way to do it. I would always, during those days with a vet, I would choose one kid and ask them if they had a pen and let them bring their in.
And so that would be kind of like our pet that we would practice things on doing physical exams. We had somebody bring a hamster one year we had a rat, we've had dogs to cats and it's just been really, [00:27:00] really fun. That transitioned, you know, as my son got older and I would, you know, go to the, the various schools where he was, I ended up, you know, going into the high schools and one of our neighborhood high schools has sort of like, not specialties, but you know, special interests within the high schools.
And there's a health's. Sciences track within the high school. So now I'm invited in every year to speak to the students to talk about opportunities in the veterinary profession. We talk about veterinary technician school. Um, there's a local one. So we, we team up with them to really introduce the high schoolers to all of the different areas of veterinary medicine that they can explore.
So it's really opened up a lot of doors for, for me to connect with a wide variety of kids. It's been really fun.
Megan Sprinkle: So you are doing this for a while, it sounds like you're still doing it. Mm-hmm. And then of course there's the fun pandemic that hits everybody. And so I, I wasn't quite sure, 'cause I, I saw that around 2020 is when you asked [00:28:00] to be able to train a new grad and bring a new grad into the practice.
Sounds like you had to convince the, the practice owner a little bit of this. Was this before the pandemic? After the pandemic? Why were you so interested in bringing this new grad in?
Dani Rabwin: Well, that's a good question. So the, this is the, the Oakland practice where I still am. We are a sixth doctor practice and we only had five doctors, and the empty doctor seat was right next to mine in the doctor's office and we couldn't fill it because this was around 2018.
2019. Veterinarians are hard to come by. The practice owner loved new grads. He always brought on new grads. He loved mentoring, but he was at a different phase in his career where he was thinking of exiting and it just wasn't the right time for him to bring on a new grad, to be the point person for him to do most of the mentoring.
And all of us associates were so busy he didn't wanna put that on any of us. And I was [00:29:00] overworked. We needed another doctor, and we weren't looking at new grads because we needed someone to hit the ground running. I basically went to leadership and I just said, look, we have got to fill this seat. I know that being a point mentor is not in your interest right now.
He's an amazing mentor. Just, you know, he was phasing out and I said, I'll do it. I am willing to take on this extra responsibility for a period of time because it's for the good of the practice, and honestly, it's gonna be for my best interest also to take some of these cases off my plate. So we had a conversation around what that would look like, and everybody agreed and we decided to bring on a new grad.
So we made the decision before the pandemic in 2019, and we hired a 2020 uc Davis grad. So then she came and joined us right in the beginning, um, of the, kind of the, the peak. Of pandemic time. So she joined us in 2020 and we agreed that I would be her point [00:30:00] mentor. We negotiated some financial changes, you know, because I was gonna be taking even more on my plate, so I got a little bit of a raise.
We even cut back on my schedule a little bit so that I could really devote my time to really giving her the attention that she needed. The owner, our practice owner, ended up doing a lot of the mentoring for her as well. Um, we were all kind of in it together, but that was, that was the timing and that's how we came to get a new grad in 2020.
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. And then when you were thinking about how to, to do this, 'cause it, it sounds like this may have been the first time you were really taking on this type of responsibility and helping someone right outta school. What were you kind of thinking about like. How did you know how you might go about this mentorship?
Did you like stop and think about anything while you did this or kind of discover things maybe once you got there that kind of led to this actually being a little bit bigger than maybe you had initially thought?
Dani Rabwin: Yeah, [00:31:00] we, we kind of made up a lot as we went. It wasn't nearly as structured as. Things are now, you know, obviously I have a mentorship program.
It's very structured. I help practices create their own in-house mentorship programs that are more structured. We really kind of progressed based on what her needs were. We had a conversation around what she wanted to get out of this experience, so I knew kind of what some of her areas of interest were.
We talked a little bit about what our relationship would look like. How the mentoring was going to work. It was a six doctor practice and I was not gonna be the only mentor for her. And there were other people who had interests in surgery. That was a big interest that Dr. Katie, our new grad, that was, um, a big interest of her.
So there were people that she could go to for surgery questions. So we talked about who she could go to for various things. I always encourage mentees to have lots of mentors, um, and [00:32:00] not put all your eggs in one basket. So we talked about that. But we really had to pivot because everything was curbside.
And so the practice of veterinary medicine in the summer of 2020 was much different than it was leading up to it. And plus she had missed out on the last few years of her clinics and so she had a lot of making up to do I. Clinical skills. So we really put a lot of emphasis on that. We had to really talk about communication because a lot of communication was lost.
We use a lot of nonverbal communication when we're in the exam room with a client, and that was lost because everything was over the phone. And so we had to talk a lot about phone communication. Written email communication was very heavy on on that, so some of it was discussed in advance and some of it was kind of created as we went along.
Megan Sprinkle: That's a good point too, because as a new grad you have a lot of questions, a lot, you know, everything is new. You even when you're training is fantastic. In vet school it's just [00:33:00] different and getting out into, uh, the world, I think there's always that need for learning and mentorship. But during that time it was a really big deal because just like veterinary medicine and practice was changing.
They were having to adapt in academia as well. How, how did PE you start figuring out there was a huge need for additional mentorship and guidance for younger grads?
Dani Rabwin: Well, that sort of came about organically and it was just such an interesting experience because it literally changed the whole trajectory of my career being now, you know, in this mentorship space.
So, you know, Dr. Katie and I developed a really close relationship. I think partly just because we connected really well, but also partly because of the circumstances of the pandemic. And we were in our office together all day, every day and we got to know each other very well. And I got to know her cases very intimately 'cause I heard her on the [00:34:00] phone all of the time.
Um, and it was just so much fun to watch her grow. And she. After a few months of us working together would come to me with questions that were not necessarily about cases that were hers. And I knew that because I knew what all of her cases were. I said, this is not your case. Why are you asking this question?
She said, I have this friend and she doesn't really have a mentor, and I have this other friend, and so she was coming to me with questions on behalf of her friends who were out in practice and didn't really have the same type of support that she was. It was such an interesting time in the summer of 2020 when everyone was getting used to zoom and meeting virtually.
We were even having Zoom appointments with our clients and I said, you know, this is silly. You do not need to be the go-between between me and your friends. We can just form a Zoom group. Why don't we just do that? Let's just all get together. And so we formed this impromptu Zoom group with [00:35:00] myself. Some of her friends and I had a very close friend who I graduated with who was an equine practitioner and she was transitioning into small animal and she said, well, I want in on that group.
And so we formed this group and we would meet a couple of times a month after everyone got home from work and everybody would get like a tea or a glass of wine and we would just get on Zoom and everyone would bring a case that was stumping them that they wanted to talk about. And it was. Just really transformative.
I learned, I learned a lot of things from my, my work with Dr. Katie and from my work with our impromptu Zoom group. Mostly what I learned is that new veterinarians know medicine. They know it really well, and in a lot of ways they know it better than I do because, you know, I know medicine that I learned 20 years ago, and as much as I've tried to keep up with things, things are changing all the time and what they struggle with.
A lot of the time is around confidence. They [00:36:00] struggle with translating their medical knowledge into layman's terms, connecting with clients. They're really good at coming up with a treatment plan, but sometimes struggle with having clients understand the value of that treatment plan or getting buy-in to a treatment plan.
They struggle with communication. There are, you know, a lot of imposter syndrome issues that come up. Sometimes new veterinarians will be taking over a case that their colleague had previously managed, and they might wanna do something differently. Well, now how do I navigate working with a colleague who's more experienced and I wanna do something differently?
These are things that we don't really talk about in veterinary school, and these are the things that I love talking about. They thought, wow, there is really a need for this type of content. There's a, a need for supporting new veterinarians in ways that we don't really think of as traditional mentorship.
You know, it's really important that a new veterinarian has [00:37:00] somebody that they can call if they need a second set of eyes on some radiographs, or if you drop a pedicle during a spay to have somebody come in and help you or to run a drug dose by. But there is so much more to being a well-rounded and really happy and satisfied veterinarian that is not.
That clinical stuff, and that's the stuff that I really loved. And I realized that there's a need for supporting new vets with this, and it can definitely be done remotely. And so I had a lot of aha moments from that first early group that I worked with in 2020 and it really lit a fire under me. And I, I looked around to see if there was any type of remote support program to help veterinarians in this way, and there wasn't.
And so I had a little bit of a career shift and I, I, I built Ready Let Go, which is a, a remote mentorship program to support. Veterinarians in all kinds of situations, lots of different practices and it's really taken off.
Megan Sprinkle: And on that, do you mind sharing a little bit about the kind of the evolution so [00:38:00] far of maybe the initial ideas to where you are now?
Dani Rabwin: Yeah. So I initially thought, you know, I want to get this information out to as many new veterinarians as possible. And the way I'm gonna do that is with an online course. I spent the next year taking the topics that came up most commonly with our group that we met with, and I turned it into a really robust online course.
I worked with a team to help me build out an online course that was six modules. We talked about client communication, time management, being a leader in the practice, you know, all of those things that were really important and not talked about so much in veterinary school. I thought I am gonna just take all of this wisdom and information that I have.
I'm gonna disseminate it down into this course, give it to everybody, and everybody's gonna be a, a, a happy and successful veterinarian. And when I kind of beta tested this product and all the information in [00:39:00] this course, the course was really well received, but the piece that people really wanted was almost recreating what.
We had with this impromptu Zoom group and that was the connection and the community piece. And that, you know, was pretty enlightening for me to see that, you know, people are hungry for connection. So I really built on the course. So it started with the online course and now what Ready Vet Go is it is a it, it's a community.
So we have an online community which is available to everybody in the veterinary profession, vet students, new grads, practice managers. Experienced veterinarians, but our flagship program is the Ready Vetco Mentorship Program, which is a seven month program that is extremely robust. It includes the online course that I built, which is now way more extensive than what I started with two years ago.
It starts three times a [00:40:00] year as a cohort. So we enroll new and early career veterinarians from all over the country, from independent practices, from corporate groups. We put them together in a cohort, so they immediately have that connection of a, a community of people who are in a similar stage in their career as they are.
We meet seven times over the course of seven months for what we call that success workshops. These are really fun workshops. They're 75 minutes. We usually have a guest speaker, somebody very known in our field for an area that we're discussing, whether that be around client communication or technician utilization or time management, something like that.
The speakers speak for 30 minutes, and then we go into breakout rooms, and each breakout room is hosted by a Ready Vetco mentor. And I should say that our mentors are amazing. Mentors all have at least 10 years of clinical experience. They all have held a leadership role in the field, either as a medical director or a practice owner.
So they really [00:41:00] understand the business side and some of the, the nuances that take some time to learn. The breakout rooms are hosted by a Ready Vetco mentor, and this is where mentees have an opportunity to dive more deeply into that month's topic. And we always have an option for clinical case rounds.
So if a mentee comes to a Vet Success workshop. They really need help managing a case. We wanna make sure they get that need met and so they can go into the breakout room where a mentor will be able to help them with clinical cases. And then after the breakout rooms, we come back and we debrief and everybody shares what they've learned in their room.
And the mentees love this part because you can't be in every room and getting in all the wisdom of the rooms. And so they, they share those. So those are our 75 minute workshops. Those are with the full cohort. Then the next layer is we break the cohorts down into what we call pacs and pacs are groups of three to four mentees matched with a Ready Vetco mentor, and they meet twice a month throughout the seven month program.
And this [00:42:00] is really like a recreation of the whole inspiration for Ready Vetco with those Zoom meetings that we had. And these are really transformative. This is what people say really is their favorite part of this program. They get to know each other extremely well over the course of the seven months.
And they get to connect with each other. They get to learn from each other. Everybody is invited to bring a case, either a medical case or something that they're struggling with in the clinic, and they quickly learn that it's not the medicine that they need help with. You know, they learn what I learned in this initial group that I had a few years ago.
They know the medicine. They're just having trouble with some of the other things that go along with patient care. And that's where they really have an opportunity to dive deep and talk about some of the more complex things that there just isn't time to talk about in the clinic with all of the day-to-day hustle and bustle.
So it's really robust now. It's kind of those three components. It's the online curriculum that they progress through on their own time. [00:43:00] It's the full cohort monthly about success workshops, and then it's the small group meetings. And so it's turned out to be something way beyond what I had initially envisioned, and it's really resonated with people.
It's growing. I had eight mentees my first year in 2022, and we've had a hundred in 20, 24. It's growing really fast. It's really resonating with people. We lead with a, a spirit of joy and love for this profession, and people are responding to that. We work very closely with the practices. You know, we wanna make sure that what we are doing.
Bonds the new veterinarian to their practice so that they don't leave within the first year. You know, a staggering, like 30 to 44% of new vets leaving their first job within a year. I don't think this is good for the new vets. I don't think it's good for the profession. And so we really help bond the new vets to their practice.
So practice is really like that. We're making a huge dent in the turnover problem. So yeah, that's, that's the program in a, in a long nutshell, that's where we are.
Megan Sprinkle: You mentioned the word [00:44:00] joy or joyful when you talked about the attitude that you bring all of this to, and I think a lot of times as scientific problem solvers, we initial think, oh, the main thing I need to figure out is the medicine.
And then we figure out, oh, okay, maybe it's the communication or something else. And I think there's even another layer when it comes to overall. Career satisfaction, uh, and feeling like you're thriving. It is more of a joy component. Have you noticed that at, at all? Or what are you, what are you finding is what really keeps them excited and motivated?
And, and you even, you personally, you, you talked about how much you love this profession. What is it that keeps you loving the profession? What, what is it down to the, the, your why and, and what have you found that really is. The key of making a very happy doctor as well.
Dani Rabwin: It's such a good question and [00:45:00] you just nailed it when you said, you know, what is your why?
It's going to be different for everybody. And that exercise of knowing your why is something we do early in the Ready vet co mentorship program because it's unique to each person, and I think it's kind of like you're guiding light throughout your profession and it can change and morph. But to, to know what it is and to revisit it when you're feeling down around the day-to-day challenges of this profession.
'cause it's work and it can be sad. And so, you know, understanding what your why is as kind of a guiding light, I think is super important. My why is around connecting with people. I started out going into veterinary medicine and I sort of used patient care and pets as a way to connect with the humans who are attached to them because my why is around connection with people.
That has morphed now into being the founder of a mentorship program and helping the next generation of veterinarians find their why and love for this profession. So I think it, it varies from person [00:46:00] to person, and I think it's really important for everybody to kind of identify what their why is. We do lead with joy.
This profession is fun. And I think when I talk to veterinarians who are in my stage or have graduated even before me, who have been out for 30 and 40 years, they like what they do. And I think sometimes we forget that there's a lot of noise online and just sort of out there around the challenges and the frustrations, and those are real.
I don't want to dismiss them in any way. Like I said, this profession is hard, but I do honestly think that the majority of people who have been doing this for a long time and are happy in what they do, they're not out there seeing that on social media. They're just going into work and doing their day-to-day jobs, connecting with their chlorines, helping pads, being part of the community, and, and not out there vocalizing it.
And so I. Part of what [00:47:00] we're doing is really amplifying some of those voices. I think that's what you are doing is amplifying some of those voices, and we need those voices because I think they're really important and I think they're so important for people who might be struggling or worrying about struggling in this profession, to know that actually a lot of us really love what we do, and I think it's really, honestly, the majority of us.
And you know, I mentioned before what the requirements are for mentors in Ready Vet, go. I didn't mention the most important one, and that is must love Vet Med. So after being a skilled clinician for at least 10 years and having either owned a practice or been a medical director or been in a big leadership role after all that, you still need to love this profession.
And I was told when those were my requirements, oh, good luck, good luck finding that. And I said, no, I'm gonna stick to this. I, I can't be the only one. And I'm not, it's incredible who we have attracted to the mentors in this organization. I am blown away. I constantly [00:48:00] tell our mentors, I wanna sit in on your PAC meetings.
I want you to be my mentor because there are a lot of people who are experienced and still have the joy and love for this profession to, to pass on to the mentees who come through this program.
Megan Sprinkle: I think that's a really good point. Even if you don't fit into that first few years out of. Veterinary school.
I think we all need community. We all need to soak in the passion and the people who are really thriving in vet med. I think we need to surround ourselves with that because I think you're right. I, I think sometimes the loudest voice is the one that is the negative voice, and unfortunately that has gone outside of our.
Of our profession. I have parents who have reached out to me worried about burnout. I've had people who said, I've always wanted to be a veterinarian, but all I hear is that just everybody's burnt out. And like that breaks my heart that that is the message that [00:49:00] people are hearing. And, and so all the more reasons that if, if you are feeling that way.
Completely. Okay. Yes. Look for the community that can help you. And I think we do need to raise the, the positive voices because, oh my goodness. Like doing this podcast you, you mentioned, I am just. Every time I get to have one of these conversations, I'm just excited by the end. I'm so proud to be part of the veterinary industry and I want to share that.
So yes, I think community is a big part of that and making, being picky. I like, I wanna go back to your, your, uh, phrase, be picky about the community you choose. 'cause that really will influence you, your attitude, you know, and, and everything. I think so.
Dani Rabwin: I agree with you completely. The community piece is so important.
Amplifying the voices of people who love what we do. You know, it breaks my heart to hear you say that you've been reached out to [00:50:00] by these people who are just so worried and concerned, and you're like doing such an important part to kind of change that narrative, or at least make sure that there are other voices that are heard, and for people who are struggling, fortunately.
Now we have a lot of resources and we're naming it, we're talking about it, and that is really important. And so there's lots of different opportunities to join a community that you connect with. That's partly why we developed the RBG community because I did my first official cohort in 2022 of new grads, and at the time it was a six month program.
At the end of the six months, they were like, well, now what? And I was like, well, I haven't really thought about now what? I really just launched this program. Yeah. Now what? So then I created the Ready Vet, go Community and opened that up to the veterinary profession at large, so that there is a place where people can connect with like-minded people.
They can get continuing education, they can talk to people who [00:51:00] are really, you know, love this profession and, and just get a different voice and have a community. There's lots of different groups out there like that. So, you know, looking around and finding something that resonates with you, it can be scary, you know, for new grads or vet students or, uh, even a later career veterinarian who is looking for community.
Um, it can be a little bit intimidating to put yourself out there, but once you do that and, and start forming that community, I think the benefits are just so incredible.
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. And is that how you also keep so motivated and happy? Is your community, what, what's your kind of big support that keeps you happy and and thriving every day in Vet Med?
Dani Rabwin: Yeah. For me it is social connection. I. I put a lot of emphasis on that sometimes to the detriment of other areas that could probably use some attention. Like I mentioned, we have a, a guest expert who comes on in every Vet Success workshop, and [00:52:00] yesterday was month five for our winter cohort who we're wrapping up with, and that month is our wellbeing month, and we bring on Melissa Allen from Veterinary Wellbeing Buddy, and she's been one of our speakers since the beginning.
She talks about the six pillars of lifestyle medicine and of health and wellbeing. So there's all these different areas. Social connection is one, nutrition and sleep and all these other things. And as she was speaking yesterday, I was like, oh, I really prioritize the social connection over some of the other things that could probably use some of my attention.
So for me, that's really important and I've had to be extremely intentional around creating that. Now that I've cut back on my clinic time, I'm still in the clinic. Same clinic in Oakland where I've been for a long time, but I'm there much less frequently. And I'm here in my home office running a remote mentorship program, and that can be a very lonely endeavor, and that's not super beneficial for somebody like me who really thrives on social connection.
And so I've had to really make an effort to [00:53:00] join. I've joined some amazing women's business networking groups that have been crucial to my wellbeing. I have become a real conference junkie to connect with people in person for of growing my mentorship program and being an entrepreneur, which is something I never thought I would be, um, has really opened my world to a whole area of networking that, that I wasn't doing when I was in the clinic.
Going to conferences before was all about getting my CE and making sure I knew how to manage liver disease and the newest things in nutrition, and now I still do some of that, but I also am really focused on a lot of the in-person working. And so for me that's been really important and it's been really fun to really grow my, my network in a way that I, I didn't have, you know, five years ago.
Megan Sprinkle: And I'm sure a lot of this may wrap into this final question, but I, I still love to end on it. What is something that you are really grateful for? Just kind of the first few things that pop into your mind.
Dani Rabwin: Oh gosh. I [00:54:00] love that question so much. I'm really grateful for the people that I've been able to meet through this journey and experience.
I would not have met you. And there are other people like you who have come into my world that I am just so grateful for. I'm grateful for a profession that really supports innovation and supports people doing something different than just being in the clinic. We have such an amazing profession and I'm super grateful for that.
Really it's around connection and community. And I'm grateful just at this new new phase that I'm in with my career. I am grateful for the mentees who are trusting me and now are 14 amazing mentors, um, who have come onto the team and grateful to the clinics who trust their new associates with us. And again, [00:55:00] that's part of just building the community within our veterinary profession.
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 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 next time on Vet Life Reimagined.
