Impact Statements

I had the fortunate experience to have Leann as a Veterinary Coach during my 4^th and final year of vet school. During a time when not only was I learning the science behind vet medicine and putting it to practice, but I was also in a situation where I had to consider what kind of vet I wanted to be, where I wanted to settle down, and what kind of clinic would make a good fit.

Having someone coach me, pointing me in the direction of the resources I needed to make my own decisions based on my own values and beliefs was invaluable.  I am someone that often will go the direction someone will point me in without thinking it through fully.  Having tools to learn about my strengths and weaknesses, opening my eyes up to my own desires and ambitions, to answer my own questions, was exactly what I needed; compared to that of a mentor who may provide answers to the questions I would have asked and not fully understand the reasoning.  

It is thanks to Leann I thought through my options and decided on the best path for me, and I am completely happy with where I am almost 1 year after graduating!  I strongly recommend veterinary coaching with Leann, regardless of the aspect or stage of your career currently.  You will grow and learn about yourself as a professional, learn how to interact efficiently with different personalities at work, but also grow outside of work in all aspects of your life!

I was struggling with trusting my gut feelings and being aware/asking myself what I truly wanted.

Leann brought objectivity and helped me to step back and take a look at the overall situation and make a decision that was based upon what I wanted.  As someone who has never had to make a big decision like this before I found it very helpful talking to Leann about it and having her relay what I was actually saying back to me.  Leann put it in a way that when I heard it, it became more clear to me.

As a final year student about to enter the veterinary profession as a small animal practitioner, I feel nervous about translating what I’ve learned in a classroom to a clinical setting.

I had the opportunity to share these thoughts with Dr. Leann Benedetti when I shadowed her on a one-week external rotation, and she took what I said to heart. I developed a set of goals at the beginning of the week that were specific to my individual needs and throughout the week, we addressed each one as a team. I appreciated the time and effort Leann invested in my learning and was thankful for her patience as we worked through cases together. She also offered insightful perspective and constructive feedback as I wrote medical records and took patient histories. I am grateful for the one-on-one mentorship and recognize that this kind of support is rare in a busy veterinary hospital setting. I’ve witnessed first-hand her incredible ability to connect with clients and communicate difficult news, which speaks to her years of experience in small animal practice running a clinic and mobile service.

Leann is a wonderful resource. I would recommend Leann’s coaching services to members of the veterinary community seeking learning opportunities in clinical skills, clinical judgement, client communication, or emotional support.

My Experience
I am a veterinarian who just hit 40. That is a time when we actually think about getting things together and planning to utilize the rest of professional and personal life to the fullest. I thought I could use some help. I was looking for directions and that is when I found “The Veterinary Coach”, a coach who is a practicing veterinarian and understands our real life struggles.

I was very suspicious when I joined the coaching session. I never had a coaching experience before, and I was not sure what to expect. I was thinking more like a motivational speaker hooking you up with some goals and targets. And I was wrong!

Instead of actually setting goals for a specific time period, we started with addressing the core inherent issues. As a person coming from a totally different cultural background, I thought it was going to be a roller coaster ride. We started with some online tools to identify the type of personality and quantitated the personal characteristics. Instead of setting a hard target, we decided on the different options and possible directions.

Once that stage was over, the program turned out much clearer to me. Now I know where my personality stands and I could decide where to make changes if I wanted. Even though some areas were far out in my characteristic chart, I didn’t want to change it at all- possibly due to traits/beliefs. Instead, we worked around and slowly found a way to balance things and put me on my way forward.

After the initial stages, now it was time to tackle individual issues that were bothering me for a long time. We started slowly, and started identifying the issues- it is not easy as it seems. It was too complicated. We had to break the points down and find the root cause for each perceived issue. Once that part is done, Dr. Benedetti suggested simple hacks to address them. She gave me a list and I had to pick my own based on my comfort and effectiveness. And Dr. Benedetti was right- “if you can name it, you can tame it”. I can confidently say that I was able to tackle most of the issues that I came up with.

The key feature about the coaching was that I could perform an introspection and identify my strengths and weaknesses. Four months of the program actually changed my attitude and perspectives significantly and I have started seeing things in a better light. Now, I have a better idea and plans to move forward. Thanks to The Veterinary Coach.

After taking this course I am learning to love this process and am feeling in control over my life.