Season 1: episodes 1 - 25
Ep. 001
The Cairn: Marking the Trail for Veterinarians
Introduction Welcome Seekers to The Cairn: Marking the Trail for Veterinarians.
Join our host, Dr. Corinne Goldman, as she introduces the team behind The Cairn, discusses our purpose, and outlines a few upcoming episodes. Join us!
Ep. 002
Mindfulness Monday: Meeting in Mindfulness.
Meeting in Mindfulness. Dr. Laura Smallwood discusses mindfulness and how to implement it into your personal and professional life. Mindfulness Monday episode #1.
Dr. Laura Smallwood’s veterinary experience includes 36 years of practice, during which time she has experienced the veterinary profession from the perspectives of general practice, internship and residency training, specialty practice, practice ownership, and corporate practice employee. Laura was introduced to mindfulness as a methodology for cultivating stress resilience in 2016 and, after a year of study and practice, began training to become a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts. In 2020, she retired from clinical practice to continue her studies as a mindfulness educator with a focus on the development of content relevant to the veterinary profession. In the context of the veterinary profession, her interests include mindfulness as a methodology for building stress resilience in the workplace, mindful communication as a strategy for reducing workplace stress, and the role that compassion practices can play in protecting workers against compassion fatigue. As a yoga teacher and lifelong dancer, she is also interested in movement as a methodology for cultivating mindfulness, emotional resilience, and well-being.
Dr. Smallwood teaches courses for East Coast Mindfulness and Atlanta Mindfulness. She has lectured and has taught workshops for the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association, Emerald Coast Veterinary Conference, Alabama Veterinary Medical Association, Eukanuba, ACVIM Forum, and Thrive Pet Healthcare. Her current leadership roles include chair of the GVMA Wellness Committee and the Advisory Council for Atlanta Insight Meditation Community.
Episode Resources
East Coast Mindfulness Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Online
Meditation Is Not What You Think: Mindfulness and Why It Is So Important Paperback – May 1, 2018 by Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD (Author)
Falling Awake: How to Practice Mindfulness in Everyday Life Kindle Edition by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Author)
Ep. 003
How to Heal a Broken Heart with Dr. Dan Hall
Join Dr. Dan Hall as he discusses his journey to become a veterinary cardiologist, current career options for veterinary cardiologists, and helpful tips for optimizing initial cardiac workups at the primary veterinary care level.
Episode Resources:
VetGirl Podcast Episodes on Focused Cardiac Ultrasound
Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Heartsmart: Nutrition Information of Pets with Heart Disease.
Illustration of vertebral heart score, radiographic left atrial dimension (RLAD), vertebral left atrial score (VLAS), and assessing right heart enlargement:
Ep. 004
Mindfulness Monday: Meeting in Meditation
Meeting in Meditation. Dr. Laura Smallwood continues to discuss mindfulness in more detail. Specifically, we discuss what mindfulness meditation is, and is not, and introduce body awareness through connecting to the breath. Dr. Smallwood explains the importance of why we focus on the breath and how this connects with day-to-day living, self knowledge and wisdom. Finally, we conclude the podcast with tips that listeners can do now to get started.
Episode Resources
8 minute Awareness of Breath Meditation Guidance
Ep. 005
Pitfalls and Best Practices in Chronic Kidney Disease
Join Dr. Corinne Goldman as she discusses up to date recommendations for diagnosis and management of chronic kidney disease in cats and dogs. Topics covered include early screening, the importance of history and physical exam findings, following SDMA, creatinine and electrolyte trends, basic ultrasound screening, hypertension and proteinuria management, the importance of nutrition, and many more useful tips. Episode 005 Bibliography here.
Episode Resources
iris-kidney.com
Ep. 006
Specialists On The Move
Join Drs. Paige Mackey and Ashleigh Seigneur as they discuss their experiences in transitioning from full time veterinary internists to locum and mobile specialty work, serving multiple hospitals in different locations. Dr. Dan Hall also discusses his gradual transition from a full time staff cardiologist to a mobile practitioner. We explore the factors that led to our transition away from being full time associates, tips for getting started as a locum or mobile practitioner, the value of relationships with primary care veterinarians, challenges in adapting to different hospital settings, the joy of engaging with hospital staff, how mindfulness strategies help our veterinary patients relax, setting boundaries, and a surprise crash course on tax and investment strategies from Dr. Mackey! Dr. Mackey references white coat investor as an invaluable website that helped her learn more about financial options.
Ep. 007
Mindfulness Monday: Mindfulness of the Body
Join Dr. Laura Smallwood as we further explore mindfulness of the body, including techniques we can use to improve body awareness. Improving body awareness helps us to become more present, focused, and connected with the external world. Additionally, improved body awareness can help improve overall health, detect early disease and reduce the chance of injuries.
Guidance for the body scan meditation can be found here.
Dr. Smallwood will be teaching an 8 week online course in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) beginning on June 5th, 2023. Please consider registering for this course available through the link above. Spots are limited!
Ep. 008
AFAST, TFAST and VetBLUE, and What's Right For You.
Dr. Goldman and Dr. Hall discuss how veterinary point of care ultrasound techniques can be employed to benefit veterinary patients. AFAST, TFAST and VetBLUE are standardized focused ultrasound protocols currently offered through FASTVet.
They discuss several veterinary studies examining the accuracy of these techniques and how they can be used in complement with other diagnostics, in various abdominal, pulmonary and cardiac disease states. The full Episode 008 bibliography is available here.
Ep. 009
Making a “Veterinary Athlete” Part 1
Join us for Part 1 of this amazing two-part series as we welcome Dr. Tim Loonam to discuss building resiliency and leadership qualities. Dr. Loonam is a former army ranger, veterinary practice owner, and still practices as a mixed animal veterinarian while lecturing at veterinary schools across the country. We specifically discuss servant leadership, why it is so effective, and how its absence from past veterinary school curricula has hurt our profession. This is also an invaluable discussion for anyone interested in building their own resiliency and personal leadership style - if you interact with people, leadership qualities are essential.
Dr. Loonam's recommendations:
John Maxwell Leadership Resources
John C. Maxwell - Developing the Leader Within You 2.0
Maxwell Leadership Podcast
The Veterinary Leadership Institute
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership
Jocko Willink - Discipline Equals Freedom
Jocko Willink - The Dichotomy of Leadership
Jocko Podcast
Ep. 010
Reflections: A Recap of our First 10 Episodes
Join us for a brief recap as we discuss our journey so far, look forward to what's ahead, and invite our listeners to participate in future episodes! We revisit the importance of mindfulness as a foundation for daily life and work, preview future veterinary and mindfulness topics, and reflect on whether we have honored our mission so far.
We are looking for current veterinary students willing to share their veterinary school experiences on our podcast, as well as topic ideas for future episodes.
Email us at cairnvetmed@gmail.com.
EPISODE CHALLENGE! Join us on our hike! Tag us on Facebook or Instagram in your hiking photo, or a photo of a cairn that you encountered on your hiking trail. On our Facebook page @TheCairn Podcast: Marking the Trail for Veterinarians or on our Instagram page @thecairnvetmed.
Ep. 011
Making a “Veterinary Athlete” Part 2
Join us for Part 2 as we continue our leadership discussion with Dr. Tim Loonam. We explore how the specific mindset and approach of a professional athlete can be applied to those of us in the veterinary profession, and the importance of a team-oriented mindset. This concludes an invaluable discussion for anyone interested in building their own resiliency, leadership and longevity, in any profession. See Part 1 Episode notes for references.
Ep. 012
Cardiorenal Syndrome and Crazy Heartworm Cases!
Happy National Heartworm Awareness month! Join us as we discuss cardiorenal syndrome and dive into some of the unusual heartworm positive cases we have seen in April.
Before diving into our cases, we discuss pathophysiology of heartworm-induced renal disease, prevalence of heartworm disease, current treatment options for heartworm disease, and the interplay of the cardiovascular and renal systems. The full Episode 012 bibliography is available here.
Ep. 013
Mindfulness Monday: Mindfulness of Feeling Tones
Join Dr. Laura Smallwood as we explore mindfulness of feeling tones, including the three basic feeling tones that we should practice paying attention to. We discuss how learning to recognize pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feeling tones can help us respond better to life's changing circumstances.
A guided meditation by Dr. Smallwood on mindfulness of feeling tones can be found here.
Laura will be teaching two, yes two!, 8-week mindfulness based stress reduction course starting in June 2023. She will be teaching:
online for East Coast Mindfulness Monday nights at 6 pm US eastern time starting June 5th, and
in-person for Atlanta Mindfulness starting June 1st at 6pm on Thursday nights.
You can learn more by visiting her website www.laurajeansmallwood.com
Ep. 014
Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services (PAALS) Part 1
Join us for Part 1 of this beautiful two-part series as we welcome Jennifer Rogers and Melissa Payne from Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services (PAALS). Jennifer is the founder of PAALS and current director of training, and Melissa is the executive director. PAALS is the only Assistance Dog International (ADI) accredited organization based in South Carolina, and is a founding member of Animal Assisted Intervention International (AAII). We discuss the history and founding of PAALS, the extensive training that PAALS service dogs go through, matching service dogs with their new owners, and some of the specific PAALS programs. Stay tuned for Part 2, and see below to learn more about PAALS and how you can help this amazing organization!
Episode links and resources:
PAALS Homepage
https://www.paals.org/about
https://www.paals.org/support-us
Midlands Gives
Paddle for PAALS
Paddle for PAALS Facebook Page
Follow PAALS on Social Media:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Ep. 015
Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services (PAALS) Part 2
Join for us for part 2 of this amazing episode with Jennifer Rogers and Melissa Payne from PAALS. We continue discussing specific PAALS programs, and how you can get involved to support this organization through fundraisers, fun events, volunteering, and even foster opportunities for dogs that are in training. With the incredible leadership at PAALS and community support, we can all be a part of matching highly trained service dogs with individuals in need.
Ep. 016
Practice Ownership and Entrepreneurship Part 1
Join us for Part 1 of another fantastic discussion with Dr. Tim Loonam. We discuss changes to the veterinary profession catalyzed by the KPMG and Brakke Megastudy of 1999. We then go on to discuss the current landscape for veterinary practice start-up and ownership - it's easier than you think! Veterinary specific lenders such as Provide understand our profession better than typical banks, and are more flexible with loan options while requiring less down payment. Additionally, we discuss the importance of leadership, mentorship, and the 4 C's of lending: Credit, Collateral, Condition and Character. Episode resources: The E-Myth Veterinarian; MentorVet; Provide - Veterinary, Medical, Dental, and Optometry Practice Loans.
Join us as we conclude our entrepreneurship discussion with Dr. Tim Loonam. We discuss soft skills to improve staff enthusiasm, tips for networking, following your values, and how to build mutually beneficial relationships with local vendors, rescue organizations, veterinary specialists, and primary veterinarians.
See Part 1 for episode resources.
Ep. 017
Practice Ownership and Entrepreneurship Part 2
Ep. 018
Mindfulness Monday: Mindfulness of Thinking
Join Dr. Laura Smallwood as we explore mindfulness of thinking and the phenomenon of meta awareness, a characteristic unique to humans (as far as we know!). Mindfulness of thinking is the 3rd foundation of mindfulness practice, and involves observing our thoughts in a nonjudgmental way, without added analysis. We continue our journey in building upon skills learned from mindfulness of the breath, body and feeling tones. Dr. Smallwood has also provided a guided meditation on mindfulness of thinking: Mindfulness of Thinking Guided Meditation
Ep. 019
From Farm To Table: The Life of a Large Animal Veterinarian with Melinda McCall Part 1
Join us for Part 1 of this insightful, hilarious, and heartwarming episode, as we welcome Dr. Melinda McCall to discuss her career as a large animal veterinarian. Melinda discusses how her early childhood experiences on a farm encouraged her to pursue her dreams despite some discouragement from friends and family. We also discuss her experiences as a younger veterinarian, including one of the craziest veterinary stories we have ever heard! Melinda is also an author, and her first book is being released August 8, 2023:
Driving Home Naked: And Other Misadventures of a Country Veterinarian
Ep. 020
From Farm To Table: The Life of a Large Animal Veterinarian with Melinda McCall Part 2
Join us for Part 2 of this wonderful episode, as we finish our discussion with Dr. Melinda McCall to discuss her career as a large animal veterinarian. Melinda recounts how she became involved with local and state boards, animal rescue (of all shapes and sizes), and how giving back to her community has been so rewarding for her. We also discuss challenges ahead for farmers, shortages of large animal veterinarians, and having the courage to follow a calling. Don't forget that Melinda is also an author, and her first book is being released August 8, 2023:
Driving Home Naked: And Other Misadventures of a Country Veterinarian
Ep. 021
Mindfulness Monday: Mindfulness of Mental Phenomena
Join Dr. Laura Smallwood as we explore the fourth and final foundation of mindfulness. Mindfulness of mental phenomena involves learning from what we notice during our meditation practice as well as our lives, including what leads to more stress, suffering or well being. Or as Dr. Smallwood hilariously puts it: Mindfulness of "How's That Going For Ya?"
We discuss the five universal challenges, any or all of which may arise at any given moment during meditation or life: Desire, Anger, Sloth, Restlessness and Doubt. As we become more aware of these five emotions they have less power of us over time, which improves our ability to be present even during difficult periods.
Dr. Smallwood has also provided a link for the World Wide Sit, available for free every Thursday from 12:15 to 12:45 pm.
Ep. 022
Real Talk: Diabetes in Small Animal Medicine with Dr. Patty Lathan Part 1
Join us for Part 1 of this epic diabetes discussion as we we sit down with our dear friend, classmate, and colleague Dr. Patty Lathan, VMD, MS, DACVIM (SAIM), Small Animal Internist and endocrinologist, and associate professor of small animal internal medicine at Mississippi State University to discuss Bexacat™ the new SGLT2 inhibitor for use in feline diabetes mellitus management. Listen in as Dr. Lathan presents her practical approach to diabetes diagnosis and management strategies, with sensitivity to the patient and the owner’s needs. Dr Lathan is a co-author on the 2018 AAHA Small Animal Diabetes Mellitus Management Guidelines as well as the 2022 consensus statement on Agreeing Language in Veterinary Endocrinology (ALIVE): Diabetes mellitus in the Veterinary Journal, among numerous other studies and articles on thyroidal and adrenal disease. Dr. Lathan lectures nationally and internationally and is a past president of the Society for Comparative Endocrinology (SCE).
Resources and references:
International Society of Feline Medicine
Feeding Your Cat (catinfo.org)
American Animal Hospital Association
The Episode 022 and Episode 023 bibliography is available here.
Ep. 023
Real Talk: Diabetes in Small Animal Medicine with Dr. Patty Lathan Part 2
Join us for Part 2 as we finish our diabetes discussion with Dr. Patty Lathan, including practical use of Bexacat™ the new SGLT2 inhibitor for use in feline diabetes mellitus management. Dr Lathan is a co-author on the 2018 AAHA Small Animal Diabetes Mellitus Management Guidelines as well as the 2022 consensus statement on Agreeing Language in Veterinary Endocrinology (ALIVE): Diabetes mellitus in the Veterinary Journal, among numerous other studies and articles on thyroidal and adrenal disease. Dr. Lathan lectures nationally and internationally and is a past president of the Society for Comparative Endocrinology (SCE).
Resources and references:
International Society of Feline Medicine
Feeding Your Cat (catinfo.org)
American Animal Hospital Association
Please see Part 1 episode notes for list of references
Ep. 024
Mindfulness Monday: Mindfulness of Stress
Join Dr. Laura Smallwood as we move beyond the foundations of mindfulness practice and into practical applications, and explore mindfulness of stress. Mindfulness of stress involves understanding our differing stress responses to various circumstances or environmental triggers. We discuss "good" vs. "bad" types of stress, polyvagal theory, acute vs. chronic stress, the importance of rest vs. deep rest, and the four states of mind as described by Elissa Epel: Red Mind, Yellow Mind, Green Mind and Blue Mind. Most of us spend too much time in a state of 'Yellow Mind', resulting from poor coping strategies, multi-tasking, and chronic hyperarousal from too much screen time or media consumption.
This episode is an invaluable resource for any veterinarian or other professional that wants to experience a more meaningful and joyful work experience, while reducing the risk of burnout.
Episode Resources:
The Stress Prescription: 7 Days to More Joy and Ease by Elissa Epel, PhD
The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good for You and How to Get Good at It by Kelly McGonical, PhD
Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory by Deb Dana
Ep. 025
Rounds Table: Aerodigestive Disease in Dogs
Join Dr. Corinne Goldman and Dr. Dan Hall as they meet at the rounds table, reviewing recent literature from the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine regarding the role of alimentary disease in the development, progression, and persistence of respiratory disease in dogs. Well beyond a discussion of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome, this podcast delves into the recent One Health review of aerodigestive disease in dogs, and other related articles, that describe a number of additional syndromes, diagnostic tests, and clinical conditions related to the gastrointestinal tract’s impacts on the airways.
References:
Grobman M, Reinero C. A One Health review of aerodigestive disease in dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2023 May-Jun;37(3):817-834. doi: 10.1111/jvim.16661. Epub 2023 Mar 28. PMID: 36987535; PMCID: PMC10229372.
Grobman ME, Maitz CA, Reinero CR. Detection of silent reflux events by nuclear scintigraphy in healthy dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2020 Jul;34(4):1432-1439. doi: 10.1111/jvim.15798. Epub 2020 Jun 13. PMID: 32533759; PMCID: PMC7379020.
Howard J, Grobman M, Lever T, Reinero CR. Videofluoroscopic swallow study abnormalities identify aerodigestive disorders in dogs with respiratory disease versus healthy controls. J Vet Intern Med. 2023 May-Jun;37(3):1166-1178. doi: 10.1111/jvim.16685. Epub 2023 Mar 23. PMID: 36951400; PMCID: PMC10229363.