VETERINARY PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
| VHMA Approved for CVPM's |
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This course is applicable for 5 CE credits toward the continuing education requirement for the Certified Veterinary Practice Manager program offered by the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA).
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| Course Focus, Content, and Learning Objectives |
Veterinary Practice Management: Effective Communication is appropriate for any member of the veterinary practice team who seeks to increase their awareness of the factors in effective communication. The assignments in this course are designed to be practical and therefore incorporate the student's veterinary practice environment.
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- recognize the elements of communication
- identify and describe the four styles of communication as they pertain to speaking and writing
- facilitate the proper methods of communicating
- deduce conflict in a timely manner
- list recommendations for dealing with conflict in a constructive manner
- explain communicating with upset clients effectively
- develop a code of conduct within your practice for effective communication
Completion requirements:
Instructor Graded Interactive Critical Thinking Assignments: Designed to help the participant apply the newly learned skills and knowledge via implementation focused scenarios
Examination Must be submitted with a score of 80% or better, multiple attempts
Course Survey
A certificate of completion is provided.
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| How Does the Enrollment Process Work? |
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This course is designed to be as schedule friendly as possible as we understand it can be hard to fit interactive CE into an already busy life. Open enrollment allows students to enroll in this course at any time.
Once the course payment transaction has been submitted, we will receive a notification of enrollment. In addition, the student will be sent a couple of "heads up" emails. The payment receipt will be sent to the email address
designated
in the payment page of the shopping cart, by the person who paid.
There is a post-payment manual process we must complete in order to add the new student to the course.
Completing enrollments as quickly as
possible is a priority but it can take a full 24 hours, especially on weekends and holidays. Once fully enrolled. the student will be sent a course welcome email containing important information, including how to access and log into the course.
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| Activity Requirements |
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Students are not expected to be online in the course at any specific times as there are no real time lectures.
In order to remain active in the course, a student must post assignments on a regular basis. Module or final exams, reading or viewing training materials, or just logging into the course, does not meet this requirement. Assignments are course activities that require submission to the instructor for review, grading (pass/fail) and feedback. As long as the participant continues to make regular progress, course access time is not set to a specific deadline.
If 30 days elapses without submitted assignment activity, the student will be removed from the course and graded out as incomplete, as the lack of activity will indicate the student wishes to drop the course.
But What If Something Comes Up?:
There are times that students will have situations that interfere with their ability to work the course on a regular basis. In that case an email to VetMedTeam, as soon as such a situation arises, will allow us to work with the student to adjust the time frame. It all comes down to communication.
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| Technology Requirements |
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Reading content within the course is provided via PDF therefore the ability to download files and open PDFs is required.
It is recommended that participants utilize a program such as MS Word to create, and save, their assignment submission to their computer. Then the information can be pasted into the assignment submission area.
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| Participant Feedback |
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...I feel the best part of this course that I received was typing out an email/script. This really helped put in perspective the different types of communication. Makes you think a little bit more before saying/typing something out to a co-worker or client.
...I am an LVT moving in the direction of practice management and really like the courses offered in communication. Understanding how different people communicate makes completely understanding them easier. The descriptions of different communication styles were very descriptive and easy to remember and use in clinic.
...I liked the format which was easy to follow and easy to understand. I liked the reinforcement of assignments like the listening survey of other people in your clinic.
...The most beneficial aspect of the course was the lesson and assignment on identifying listening styles. That helped me understand the different communication styles of our workers.
...Understanding what kind of a communicator I am will benefit me the most I think. I can definitely apply all aspects of what I have learned to my daily life at work and at home.
...I found it was helpful to categorize the staff within our clinic so I can focus on how best to interact with them.
...This was a very thorough course. I am just starting to take courses for management. It was very helpful. I am currently dealing with a problem employee at work, so the timing of this course is excellent. Good job!
...The course content was presented in a very easy to follow and take notes form.
...I liked learning about the different communication styles, and listening styles. I immediately was able to put my knowledge to work.
...Conflict resolution was the best. It is very practical and can be applied in day to day situations in real life.
...I particularly liked the listening styles chart because it allowed me to do a deep analysis of my coworkers which in turn gave me better insight on how to best understand then and communicate with them.
...Examples of better words to use
...Giving me tools to speak to my team and to LISTEN to them
...The examples of how different types of communication can come across to another person
...Scenarios and examples were relevant and realistic
...The assignments gave me practice using the techniques i just learned
...I feel more confident after taking this course in my new role as practice manager. I will take the knowledge I learned and apply it within my own practice.
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| Course Instructor |
 Erin Macdonald, CVT, BAS, CVPM, CVBL
Erin Macdonald was the Hospital Administrator and managed a busy five doctor practice in St. Petersburg, FL for twenty one years. in 2020, she built, opened, and grew a brand new practice in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. She recently left both practices to pursue veterinary consulting. She has worked in the veterinary field since 1999, her first position as a receptionist.
In 2006, she received an Associate in Arts Degree in General Studies and an Associate's in Science Degree in Veterinary Technology from St. Petersburg College. That year, she became a Certified Veterinary Technician. After receiving a Certificate in Hospital Management and a Bachelor's Degree in Veterinary Technology Management, she achieved the designation of Certified Veterinary Practice Manager in 2009. In 2022, she completed and passed the exam to become a Certified Veterinary Business Leader. She is level two and Elite Fear Free Certified.
Erin is a member of both the Florida Veterinary Technician Association and the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America. Erin lives in Palm Harbor, Florida with her fiance and their three sons, Kingston, Isaac, and Jordan. They also share their home with their dog, Gemma and cat, Roxanne.
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| Pricing |
Price: $59.00 USD
Practices may enroll individual team members. To learn how to assign a specific team member to a course, please visit the Assigning Students page.
Please use this link to view the Withdrawal Policy for this course.
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