← Living Your Legacy
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I think the best thing that everyone's going to learn, whether you're a veterinarian or whatever, is that you have to do self care. You have to focus on the things in your life that are going to help you be more successful, like bringing in the AI that I've done and all of those things that are going to make you want to go to do what you've decided to do every day, you know, have a great positive environment and then.
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Dr. Elizabeth Scott is an innovative, compassionate
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veterinarian and the owner of Stringtown Animal Hospital. Drawing from experience at more than 100
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veterinary hospitals, she built a forward thinking
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practice known for personalized pet care, advanced technology and a supportive culture that attracts
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the next generation of veterinary professionals. How's AI going to change the medical, especially for in the vet side?
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I have worked with so many like early veterinarians that they just because they don't know everything, they lose that confidence, then they don't want to do it. It's too scary. But having that double check really helps to gain that confidence and obviously the pets then benefit from that the most because you know, instead of maybe having to do a trial of treatments or a trial of, you know, this test and that test, we can be more focused and you know, save the pet parents money as well as get the pets healthier faster.
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What's your goal with, with the long term education side and the clinic, I
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think just in general.
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It spans the globe like a super high cold Internet Elvis Presley. Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone.
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It's not over until I win the
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living, you're living legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy. Oh, that is sensational.
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Jordan Open Chicago with the lead. You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.
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Welcome back to another episode of Legacy Makers. Joining me today is Ellie and we share a common passion which is animals and, and she's got this really cool practice, you know, vet practice, but it's very different culturally how she leads her team and creates an amazing experience obviously for the team and clients. But, but fascinating too is leading the technology innovation side of the practice, some advanced machinery and technology that's maybe able to help even more lives, you know, pets lives with AI and really fascinated to see how AI is going to change this whole medical space. So welcome to the show.
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Thank you so much, Rudy.
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So, so let's start with a bit about you and the, you know, the practice. How long have you had it? What got you into it all? Tell us about it.
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Yeah. So after I graduated from vet school, I practiced for a couple of years and I was like, hey, you know, I think I can do this on my own. But I wasn't quite ready. So I was a relief. Vet filled in for, you know, few years, learned lots of things about lots of practices and then I took all the good stuff and I opened my own practice about 20 years ago. So.
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Okay.
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Wow, 2004. Yeah.
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Wow. And so, funny story about me. I was going to become either a sports scientist or a vet. They were my two decisions that I was going to go to university and I ended up doing sports science because I didn't need the higher science grade. It was harder, harder to become a vet. But I grew up with animals. You know, my mom was a dog breeder and stuff. So I always love the vet side. But I do know, you know, it's as a vet it can be hard, right? Like doctors too, and nurses, hard hours. And that's one thing culturally you talked about like in terms of how you've shifted that in your practice. You want to start there?
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Yeah, yeah. So when I first graduated, it was unheard of to not work every weekend and then you were on call after hours. And that's just what we did. It was expected. We all just, you know, you had to pay your dues and all of that. And I think that we're in a great place now where, you know, over the last probably 10, 15 years, we've decided we don't have to be these superheroes. We can actually be real people. That doesn't mean we don't care. And then the creation of emergency after hours hospital has taken a lot of the burden off of us. So, you know, it was scary. From day one when I bought my practice, I was not open on weekends and all my friends told me, you're crazy, you're not going to make any money. And really it never was true. You know, I was in a place that had an emergency hospital after hours and so we did that. And I can tell you that I have very low turnover, have had in staff from day one, which our profession is very, very high in turnover rate because we do kind of burn and churn people. And I do think it's because I've always focused on that work life balance. You know, everyone needs that.
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B
Well, I mean, it's funny how that's like a misconception that you weren't going to make any money because I mean, most people going to the vet is more for checkups or not non emergencies. Right. Like the client, the dog ate something. Is it going to be okay? The dog hurts foot, is it going to be okay? Right, right. And the checkups and jabs and stuff. And, and yeah, I mean, even when there's an emergency and you have to go somewhere else at the weekend, it doesn't mean you're going to then change that all of a sudden for everything else. Right, right. So. So yeah, I think it's great that, you know, that's maybe more apparent now because there are a lot of emergency vets. But it's glad. It's great that you show that wasn't the case. And it's always, I find fascinating how these misconceptions and limiting beliefs exist. Right. In an industry. So, so let's talk about now a bit. Just quickly. The, the what else makes you different? Right. Like the AI side and all the other things you're doing.
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Right. So I, when I was in undergrad, I thought I was going to be a computer scientist. So I actually started down that pathway and I've always been intrigued by computers and technology and all of that. So that's just maintained throughout my profess and it's made me be in a very early adopter of anything that comes out like that. So I remember when all practices, I mean, long, long time ago went to like digital platforms instead of hard, you know, paper charts. And I was like in the beta, you know, group and trying to get that rolled out for these companies. And so now I've just continued that. So we have microscopes that are all artificial intelligence, which just, I mean, the accuracy, the speed, speed that we get those results, it just really ups our care of our patients. You know, I don't want to say that we kind of fudged, you know, data before that time, but, you know, when you look at a microscope, annual error, right? Yeah, it's subjective, you know, but now it's objective. We either know it's there or it's not, which is great. And also our X rays are all artificially read by intelligence.
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Wow.
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So within six minutes I have differentials for what could be happening, a plan from that bank of information. I mean, it does make me a little worried that my, my profession might be in trouble.
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Well, what's great with AI, even in marketing and business, is I think it's great because it also makes the industry better because, like, if you're an expert doing it for 20 years, like I have in business, you have as a vet, you learn to read everything correctly and make the right thing, recommendations, right. But when you started 19 years ago, you probably didn't and you look back. Right. But it's a bit big now because it gets rid of that user, that error that when you have new and you lack experience, which every industry, every doctor goes through, every nurse, every.
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Right.
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You know, chef in a restaurant. Right. Everyone starts as a beginner. I think it's great because it does up level the baseline of an industry because, you know, those common mistakes, maybe AI stops them now, right?
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Absolutely.
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So how, how, let me ask you this then. How's AI going to change the medical, especially for in the vet side? How do you see it changing in 10, 20 years? Like.
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Yeah, I think what you just hit on is, is absolutely what's going to happen is accuracy and confidence.
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Yeah.
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You know, I have worked with so many like early veterinarians that they just, because they don't know everything, they lose that confidence, then they don't want to do it. It's too scary. But having that double check really helps to gain that confidence. So I think that it's just going to make us all much more efficient and as well much more accurate, you know, and obviously the pets then benefit from that the most because, you know, instead of maybe having to do a trial of treatments or a trial of, you know, this test and that test, we can be more focused and you know, save the, the pet parents money as well as get the pets healthier faster.
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And why? Yeah, because I, I feel it's always harder with pets because unlike humans, they can't talk and tell you the symptoms. Right. And the problems and you have to kind of guess. But, but what about long term? Do you see, you know, in the medical field they talk about eventually there'll be nanos that run around and cure the cancer cells. Like can you see that with AI happening?
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And gosh, I would love that. And I, I mean, I think it's definitely a plausible thing to consider. You know, I have even, you know, we use a lot of laparoscopic equipment and the fact that I can go in through these little itty bitty holes and, and do so many things, you know, remove spleens and parts of liver and, and all of that and have that pet recover within like 48 hours.
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I mean that's with AI normal, I
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mean, yeah, all drives that equipment. So it's just unbelievable what has been done that I just, I have to believe it can be done where we'll be like sending things in little robots that'll do those things for us.
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Well, and even before that I think the level before that they say that's coming quicker, at least in the human space, is just doing the operation because it's more accurate. Right. Like, because, you know, you don't have a shaky hand.
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Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I've always been amazed since we started doing the laparoscopic surgeries, like in an abdomen, how you can see absolutely everything. When I do a traditional open abdomen, everything's, you know, on itself and you kind of have to move this and that and you can't really see anything. I mean, it's amazing how much better it makes the care.
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Good. Got it, got it. So next question for you. Talk about, like your vet experience. Like, the experience when they come and, you know, bring the dog or the cat into you. Like, what culture have you created as, as a customer coming in?
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Yeah, great, great question. So, you know, I feel like there's pre Covid veterinary medicine and there's post Covid veterinary medicine. Pre Covid people were very resistant to bringing their pets and leaving them with us. They wanted to stay for everything. They wanted to see everything. And then Covid came and they couldn't. I, you know, I, from the state that I was in, they were not allowed to actually come in for, you know, health reasons. And so people got really used to just dropping their pets off. So people liked that. They learned that. They love that. So we do a lot of communications with the clients while they're in hospital with like pictures texting them. Yeah. So they know, you know, even though you're not with them, you know, we're with them and we're, you know, we're, we're doing silly faces and having fun. You know, when they're recovering or going down for anesthetic procedures, even though they're not there, they can see that their pet's okay. And I think that gives them a lot of comfort as well as I think that it gives us a lot of comfort because sometimes in the day to day we got to do this things to get done. We kind of forget to take those moments of happiness. And so it really lets my team be able to say, hey, I'm going to stop for five minutes and get a cute photo with. And that makes our whole day just lighter. And then everybody shows. Look at this cute photo I got. I mean, it's really fun.
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And what about hiring the staff and the team? Like, I've always wondered how many, you know, I think most people become vets because they love animals. Right. And do you find like a lot of people applying Some people are just doing it for the job. Or did nearly all of them love animals.
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I think 100% it's animal driven. In fact, that can sometimes be a little bit of an issue. A lot of people are introverted and they just want to be with the animals. And that's great because they're great caregivers, but sometimes they're not the best at communicating with the family.
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So that's, it's definitely a skill.
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Oh, yeah.
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You know, especially, like, obviously there's so much that can go wrong for an animal. Right. And.
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Right.
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Yeah. And it's not easy to break the news side, I imagine.
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Absolutely, absolutely. That is a, a very hard line to walk. To have such positive energy and happiness and joy with a puppy and then go in to have that same, you know, effort in a totally different way for, you know, end of life decisions and sickness.
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Yeah, especially, I mean, I guess what's hard of us as humans. A lot of the time you're, you know, with the pet, you're often electing to have it put to sleep if it's got a serious condition. Right. So having that. Is that you having that conversation?
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Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, you brought up a good point about being a little different than human medicine in that we get to see entire life. So we see these pets when they're first coming in and then we see them when they're, you know, leaving the living world. And so, you know, your regular doctor doesn't usually do that, so we have these special bonds with the families that I think they don't necessarily have with their human doctor. Yeah, yeah. And so, you know, definitely, it's, it's always the person who has built that bond that we try to have all those difficult decisions with and things.
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B
Great. Next question. Tell us about the personal brand side. Yeah, yeah. How did that come about?
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Yeah. So one of the things that I have learned throughout my career is that I talk about the same problems in lots of pets every day. And I decided, you know, there's a way to prevent these things. You know, obesity is just rampant in the pets. Just, I mean.
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Oh, really?
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Oh, yes. It's a huge, huge issue. Cause all kinds of problems. Just like in humans, if we could stop that obesity, you know, I mean, dental problems. I talk about these things, you know, so many times a day. So I wanted to be able to reach people at home where they are and kind of help them figure out what could I be doing so that I don't have to go to see the doctor at you know, with my pet, I could maybe have them healthier. Only going to see for those more wellness things. I mean, obviously some things you can't prevent, but a lot of things you can. So yeah, it's interest born.
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B
It's interesting the, the obesity, you know, side you mention it because. Yeah, I came from England. We, I grew up with between four and nine dogs my whole life. Right. I have no brothers or sisters, just dogs. But you know, we, we were, my mom was a breeder and we showed our dogs and, and all that jazz and you know, we would take them out twice a day to the fields and woods in England. And I have whippets, which are very fast running dogs and they would just run for 30 minutes twice a day. And my parents were athletes, so they'd also take them running. So we never really had like, you know, but, but now you say, and I think about it, most of America at least is you go to a dog park. Like, you know, like I see everyone in my condo where I live, they take it downstairs, stand in the dog park, the dog sniffs the tree and they go up and you know, even with our dogs, like we'll walk them for 30 minute walks because we have whippets here now. So, yeah, I guess how much of it is just that they're overfeeding and we don't feed any human food like we do. We're very str. But I see a lot of people give them their crappy, random food.
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Oh, yes, yes. Yeah, I actually, I love going to England because pets are totally different. They're all over and they're so well behaved and they're so fit and they just look great. I wish we had that in our culture, just ingrained. But yes, you hit on everything that causes that. So overfeeding, lack of exercise. And I think that people bond food with love. And so it's become so normal to just. Well, they gotta give them a treat to make them feel happy and I'll give them part of my food and all of that. So that's actually something that I'm working on right now, is developing kind of a fitness app. It's for pets, but it's also for people, you know, I mean, so you'll track, you know, your dog's activity and how many calories they burned and what they've eaten and all of those things to try and, you know, help them understand that it is just as important for them as it is.
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Yeah, it's interesting. And one thing too, most dog owners I've Seen they just leave food out all day. Whereas we've always fed our dogs morning and night.
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Right.
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You know, like a real. But yeah, they just graze all day. It can be worse too. And yeah, it's definitely funny because even in England, I think what's different is in England not many people have like, not that many people have dogs. Like, if you get a dog, it's like a serious thing and you want a dog and you're obsessed with dogs. Whereas I've noticed in America it's like, like everyone has a dog.
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Yep.
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You know, it's just very different. So I think in England it's like true. I don't want to say true dog owners, but it's like very hardcore dog owners.
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Yeah.
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Whereas America it's like a, having a handbag or a fashion accessory, you know, like it's intentional.
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In England. Yeah. Here it's. It's an accessory.
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Yeah. And you can never, like in here you can go to a store and buy a dog and just for Christmas, like that's not a thing in England. Like if you want a dog in England, like you find the breeder, the breeder like audits you. Basically, you go meet the breeder and you walk the dog a few times. It can't just be like, oh, let's get a dog for Christmas.
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Right.
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So, so how much of that are you dealing with, like uneducated or motivated pet owners?
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Absolutely. All the time. And the biggest thing that happens with that is obviously, you know, the obesity and the dental disease, that's a no brainer, but it's behavioral problems. And that's the number one reason that we see people get rid of their pets. And a lot of times it's just lack of trying to direct those behaviors or even doing any type of training in any way. You know, I mean, if you just let them rule your house, they'll rule your house.
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B
You have to do a lot of. Yeah, it's like a baby. You have to do a lot of upfront work in the first year or you pay the price for the next 10 years.
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Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I definitely think that, you know, the education is really the key, which is why I wanted to do that. You know, getting people at home. So, you know, I try to, to, to, to present things, just easy things you can do, you know, rainy days, how to, you know, play hide and seek in the house, you know, things like that. To keep them mentally and, and physically stimulated so that they're not choosing to chew on the wall or.
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B
Well, and it's hard to, because a lot of people have one dog here as an example, whereas in England, again, a lot of people, because they're more serious, will have two or three and they learn from the pack. So we would never, we wouldn't have to ever do much training. We did take some of our training, but they learn from the pack because we'd have four dogs, bring one in and they'd learn from the pack. You know, where dinner is, where the bowls go and, you know, all those things.
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Exactly, yeah.
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Whereas here it's different. So, last couple of questions, like what, what do you want your legacy around pets to be? Like, what's your goal with, with the long term education side and the clinic?
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A
Right, right. I think just in general, I want people to really enjoy their pets wholly so not just, you know, when you feel like it or anything like that, but have them be an actual positive addition to your life by doing the training, by keeping them healthy. And then obviously I want our industry to become much more supportive of each other instead of, you know, always focusing. Not that we shouldn't focus on the pets in the, in the, in the families, that's absolutely always going to be important. But we need to focus on each other too and have a better positive community.
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B
Good. Love that. Yeah. So one of those things, you take care of yourself, you can take care of everyone else better, right?
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Absolutely.
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Why? On the airline they say put your mask on first because you pass out, you ain't any good to the kid.
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I think all veterinarians are passed out. Yeah, we're taking care of everybody else first.
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B
Well, and then the problem, like in any profession in medical, to doctors, is once they get burnt out, they lose the thing that got them in there in the first place. They're so backwards now, upside down.
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Yeah, yeah.
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B
Good. Last question. What are people going to get from your episode? Right. This is a bit of a setup, a teaser for, you know, what are they going to learn about your story and learn from you from the episode?
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A
Right. Well, I think the best thing that everyone's going to learn, whether you're a veterinarian or whatever, is that you have to do self care. You have to focus on the things in your life that are going to help you be more successful, like bringing in the AI that I've done and all of those things that are going to make you want to go to do what you've decided to do every day, you know, have a great positive environment and then be happy when you're outside of your workspace. So enjoying your life, enjoying your family, enjoying your pets. I think all of those things are going to come together in my episode and just really affect everyone.
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B
Good. Excited for that. And yeah, I love the work you're doing. You know one of our goals of a company, we keep trying to do this, don't get quite there but we want to have a rescue for dogs because I do think it's such a problem in the US like we were talking about it a little but uneducated owners and spontaneous decisions. And you see a lot of that too like dogs that, you know, rescued coming in.
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Absolutely, absolutely. Just, you know, lack of thoughts beforehand and then, you know, kind of some issues with not being prepared.
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Yeah, I think the education side to potential owners is so important too.
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A
Absolutely, absolutely.
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B
Good. Well guys, that's a wrap. As always, keep having an impact and build a legacy. I'll see you soon. Take care.