The housecall practice idea seems to be sticking. I have a great advantage in that as a relief veterinarian I have a pretty close relationship with three of the clinics in the area that I would like to serve. I’ve been able to talk to the staff at two of them in the last few days. They are very enthusiastic. One person was ready to start referring me clients right away.

I’ve been looking around at the logistics – what would I need to carry, how do I get it cheap, where can I drop off my bloodwork for shipping, how do I work out having an assistant, what procedures can I do, etc.

I won a microscope in vet school in a raffle. I hadn’t bought any tickets but they shamed me in the last minutes of the raffle into buying $5 worth and I won. I’ve been carrying this microscope from home to home with me for years with no idea what I would ever do with it. It will come in handy now. Ebay has a lot of medical equipment so that will come in handy. I’ll do most of my dispensing of drugs through an online pharmacy so I’ll just need to have enough on hand to start people’s prescriptions until they can get the rest by mail. I’ve been making a mental list of everything I’ve used in wellness appointments lately.

The other service I can offer is health certificates. One of the cities around here has a law that all reptiles over 6 feet long have to have a health certificate every year. Once they are over 6 feet it can be a pain to transport them to the vet, especially if the people have more than one.

I need to come up with a practice name. I’d like to have something with “housecall” in it so people understand immediately. Any ideas? I’m not good with names. All I’ve come up with is Housecall Veterinary Services or something like that.
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Yesterday at work the technician was studying for a new licensing exam. I had her ask me the questions from the practice book to see if I remembered anything. These questions are always the kind of things you learn in school but then don’t use ever again. I was doing really well. I was surprised. Then one of the receptionists says to the other in mild amazement, “She must actually be pretty smart.”

The other one replies, “I’ve thought that sometimes too.”

Uh, thanks guys. Obviously I hide it really well.