Author: Dan Amos

  • Nutritional decisions

    Nutritional decisions

    When I first stopped full-time clinical work, I tried to keep up with any new meds or food types through journal papers and news reports. However I quickly realised that, without the filter of clinic or client preference, this was very hard to do. I still browse for articles, but find the amount of general…

  • Blue dog and Blackfish

    Blue dog and Blackfish

    For the second post in my self-imposed “communication month”, I have a Netflix-based idea. I finally watched Blackfish as I’m working my way through my playlist on the app. If you’re unaware, this is a documentary concerning the capturing of wild whales and cetaceans, and keeping them in captivity to perform for the public. Blackfish…

  • Diversification – from historian to vaccination

    Diversification – from historian to vaccination

    In my recent interview on VN Happy Hour I was asked an interesting question on diversifying. The question was about how I remained connected with being an RVN now I’m technically a historian. This is a question I’ve asked myself a number of times across my career. I have diversified in several ways – and…

  • Naming names

    Naming names

    The naming of all things medical has always interested me… just who was Lister and how did he create his bandage scissors? Is there a Mr Gelpi around whose great-grandfather invented the retractors? Surgical instruments, surgical procedures and diseases have been given a variety of weird and wonderful names over the years. However, regardless of…

  • Gender (not so) neutral

    Gender (not so) neutral

    I can’t think of a time when the definition of a word has been so elastic. The word in question is “essential” – as in “only leave your house for essential reasons”. Clearly the definition varies from person to person, and I have made decisions as to what I see as essential. However, a recent…

  • What’s in a name? The story of Edward and Albert

    What’s in a name? The story of Edward and Albert

    As part of considering our professional identities as vets and vet nurses, I’m often struck with the notion that diagnosing and giving a name to something is a very important part of the patient journey. Reading back through the archives and being able to match descriptions of symptoms that are well-known diseases today is fascinating.…

  • Email etiquette

    Email etiquette

    In these times of “communicating more, talking less” I have made a couple of changes to how I write my emails. It’s amazing how quick it can be to fire off an email – but does that mean you have to respond quickly, too? We seem to have decided that this is the case, and…

  • Strange obsession

    Strange obsession

    Looking back through my blogs, I realise I’m a bit poo / cat litter obsessed – but as I’m currently living with the messiest cat ever, I hope you’ll you forgive me one more item on the topic. This time round I’m identifying a gap in the capital market (for any of you interested in…

  • A good Job Decision

    A good Job Decision

    I’m going to end this year’s blogs – my ninth year of blogging coming up in 2021 – with an introduction. I sadly lost Ebony at the end of February this year, and doing lockdown with no pet was very, very hard. But I was choosing to be sensible as I was planning a house…

  • The true spirit of Christmas

    The true spirit of Christmas

    I’m going back a little in my memory to write this blog, but as we have mixed up teams and rotas so much this extraordinary year, I think this is probably a good time to share this memory. It invokes a little debate about perks for full-time and part-time staff and came courtesy of a friend,…