Difficult Conversations in Veterinary Medicine

Tricky situations in practice can sometimes arise, necessitating difficult conversations, which can be very challenging. In this interactive one-day course we’ll explore common challenges and help you develop a personalised toolkit of effective approaches.

Discussing veterinary costs and handling billing disputes can be one of the greatest daily challenges. The course will start with guidance on how to become comfortable with financial conversations, managing financial constraints, discussing insurance, and addressing client dissatisfaction with bills.

Delivering bad news in practice is another area that can bring challenges. We’ll explore ways of sensitively communicating unexpected outcomes, discussing chronic illnesses, end-of-life care, euthanasia, and managing disagreements with clients on treatment plans. 

It can be frustrating when clients choose not to follow advice, but changing the approach from persuasion to partnership can make all the difference from a compliance perspective. We’ll look at techniques that can be used to encourage collaboration with clients, including motivational interviewing to discuss issues like pet obesity or mobility and emphasising questioning strategies to involve clients and ease decision-making.

A positive work environment is crucial for team morale and practice performance. The final session of the day will address managing workplace differences, conflict, and communication styles. It will focus on developing self-awareness, effective conflict management, assertiveness, and addressing incivility with kindness and curiosity to foster a healthy team environment.

Topics to be covered include;

• Difficult financial conversations.
• Sensitive communication when delivering bad news and end-of-life decisions.
• Managing disagreements with clients and ensuring compliance.
• Motivational interviewing techniques.
• Team morale and workplace communication.