Advisory Board

Kathleen Ruby

EVT Editor-in-Chief

Kathleen L. Ruby, PhD, a licensed professional clinical counselor with more than 20 years experience in counseling and education, has been head of the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine Counseling and Wellness Department and on faculty for the past 13 years. She counsels veterinary students and faculty, teaches classes on life skills, and developed and conducts programs and workshops related to professionalism, communication skills, stress management, life balance, and leadership within the college. Dr. Ruby cofounded the Veterinary Leadership Experience, a program offered to students and faculty at all North American schools and now extending internationally to academic and industry settings.

Dr. Ruby developed and supervises WSU's Pet Loss Support Hotline, and trains students in client bereavement management. Developing an integrated method for teaching and reinforcing life/professional success/nontechnical skills of veterinary students is central to her work. A frequent speaker with a background and training in individual and organizational psychology, human development, and leadership, Dr. Ruby offers a unique mix of people-skills, psychological insights, and programmatic ideas. Her special research interests include the psychology of high-achieving individuals and development of emotional competence in medical professionals.

editor@myevt.com

Kara Burns

Kara Burns is a licensed veterinary technician originally from New England, now living in Kansas. She holds a master’s degree in physiology and a master’s degree in counseling psychology. She began her career in human medicine working as an emergency psychologist in the Maine Medical Center emergency department. She also worked at Maine Poison Control as a poison specialist dealing with human and animal poisonings.

She then made the move to veterinary medicine and worked in small animal private practice and a small animal and avian practice in Maine.

Currently, she works for Hill’s Pet Nutrition as the veterinary technician specialist working with the graduate technician profession in all aspects—National association, State vet tech associations, specialty vet associations, and national, regional, and specialty conferences.

She is a member of many national and state associations and holds positions on many boards in the profession - such as the AAHA Yearly Conference Development Committee – Technician Chair, AAVN technician liaison, the NAVTA Journal editorial board, Chair - NAVTA Committee on Veterinary Technician Specialties, NAHERC, KS SART, and is the president of the Kansas Veterinary Technician Association, to name a few.

Kara is also the President of the Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Technicians, the tenth recognized specialty for veterinary technicians.

She has authored many articles and textbook chapters and is an internationally invited speaker, focusing on topics of nutrition, leadership, and technician utilization.

Ms. Burns has been featured on the cover of the Veterinary Technician Journal and the NAVTA Journal. She is the 2010 NAVTA Veterinary Technician of the Year.

She enjoys spending time with her wife Dr. Ellen Lowery and their children. They are actively involved in youth sports, 4-H, school activities, and church ministry. The family also includes three horses, two sheep, 2 pugs, a greyhound cross, a French bulldog, 4 birds, 5 indoor cats, and a bearded dragon!

Ron Cott, DVM

Dr. Ron Cott is currently the Associate Dean for Student and Alumni Affairs and Director of Development for the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri. He received his DVM from the University of Missouri in 1973. After spending three years in the Army he entered into private companion animal practice in the Kansas City, Missouri area for the next twenty-five years. In 2001 he was appointed Associate Dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine and in 2008, additionally appointed Director of Development. Currently he is course director/instructor for the College’s “Fundamentals of Veterinary Business management” course. Dr. Cott also is a faculty member of the Bayer Animal Health Communication Program, a program designed to teach communications in a variety of areas found in veterinary medicine. He provides consulting services for private practices in the areas of practice management and communications.

During more than thirty years of commitment to organized veterinary medicine, local, state and national, he served eleven of those years in the House of Delegates of the AVMA as the delegate representing the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA), retiring from that position in 2009. He has been recognized as the “Veterinarian of the Year” for the MVMA, the recipient of the “Robert E. Hertzog Leadership Award – 2010”, “Alumnus of the Year” for the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, and has received the University’s “Gold Chalk Award” in recognition of outstanding achievements in the education, training and development of graduate-professional students.

Upon the recognition of the Human Animal Bond theory in veterinary medicine and its importance to the profession, Dr. Cott placed an emphasis on that subject while in practice. As that concept grew and surveys revealed the need for non-technical skills within the profession, he developed strong interest in that area of the profession. He has been heavily involved with organized veterinary medicine and its efforts to develop ways to incorporate non-technical skills into the profession. Knowing that these skills help make a veterinarian successful he has been active in implementing them into the academic setting so that new graduates are prepared as they enter practice and the profession. He served on the SKAs committee, a sub-committee of the NCVEI, which was one of the original committees in organized veterinary medicine that promoted the importance of the non-technical skills in the veterinary profession. Dr. Cott founded the Veterinary Enrichment & Teambuilding (VET) Orientation Program for the College of Veterinary Medicine University of Missouri in 2005 after becoming a facilitator for the national AVMA Veterinary Leadership Experience (VLE). Recognizing the power of Servant Leadership and self- and social-awareness, his passion to share these attributes remain a primary focus for his involvement in the veterinary profession.

Fritz Wood, CPA, CFPTM

Fritz Wood is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner. He’s been exclusively engaged in the veterinary industry for more than 20 years.

Fritz is the former Personal Finance Editor of Veterinary Economics, where he also served on the Editorial Advisory Board for many years. He’s authored and published many dozens of articles related to the business of veterinary medicine and personal finance. He’s also contributed to several books and on-line educational experiences. Fritz teaches annually at many U.S. veterinary medical schools, as well as local, state, regional, national and international venues.

Fritz was Treasurer and served on the Board of Directors of the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF). He also served on the Pricing Subcommittee of the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI), and is a Founding Member of VetPartners (formerly known as the Association of Veterinary Practice Management Consultants and Advisors) where he served on the Career Development Committee. Currently, Fritz sits on the Advisory Board of Exceptional Veterinary Team.

Fritz holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Kansas (1986). His professional affiliations include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Kansas Society of Certified Public Accountants (KSCPA). His previous experience included 10 years as a management consultant with a major global consulting firm.

Deborah Stone

Deborah Stone owns and operates Stone Veterinary Practice Management (StoneVPM) based in Austin, Texas.

Deborah has been involved with veterinary practice management for more than twenty years and has experience in specialty, emergency and general practice management. She also brings several years of experience from the hospitality industry to the veterinary industry in order to provide fresh and creative solutions.

Deborah’s presentations are energetic and highly interactive in order to encourage team buy-in and to help support the implementation of developed practice solutions. Her strategy is to encourage team participation in order to make a positive impact in practice processes. Deborah believes the most effective way to make positive change is by developing solutions together.

She received her MBA at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas and earned her Certified Veterinary Practice Manager accreditation from the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association. Deborah is currently pursuing a PhD in Leadership Studies.

Deborah devotes much of her time towards community service activities and holds memberships with American Animal Hospital Association, Veterinary Hospital Managers Association, Capital Area Animal Hospital Managers Association, Society of Human Resource Management, VetPartners, and Texas Veterinary Medical Association.

She also enjoys spending time with her family, Mortie and Purr Boxx.

Beth Spencer, DVM

Dr. Beth Spencer has practiced small animal medicine in Denver since 2001, and has been the medical director at VCA Firehouse since 2005. Dr. Spencer received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and her BS from Yale University. In 2010, she was honored with the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association “Rising Star” award. She also works with the Denver Area Veterinary Medical Society as the president-elect. Most recently, she has been able to help coach junior veterinary students on communication skills. In her free time she enjoys running, biking, skiing, and playing piano. Dr. Spencer lives with her husband, their children and their amusing, yet sweet dog, Carson.

Jana Davidson

Jana Davidson has been working within the veterinary field for the last six years directly interacting with students across the nation. Prior to that, she spent many years as an independent investment advisor and insurance agent, medical/pharmaceutical science researcher, and veterinary technician.

Her current position allows her to teach good budgeting and monthly planning techniques, debt management and risk management methods. Davidson works primarily with students, mainly through VBMA and SCAVMA chapters, and speaks at practice management classes at colleges of veterinary medicine around the country to provide financial education covering a multitude of topics.

Davidson focuses primarily on how to navigate income and spending based on lifestyle, and how to plan accordingly month after month, year after year. She emphasizes discipline and thoughtful spending. Setting goals and revisiting those goals is of utmost importance. In essence, Davidson's aims to build awareness of future needs and goals, and works to empower students to take control of their finances based on their newly acquired confidence and skill levels.

Davidson also spends a significant amount of time preparing students for the workplace, including practicing leadership skills and implementing these skills early in their educational careers. With 20 years of customer service experience within the financial, medical and veterinary fields, learning and teaching good communication skills are more important than ever for a harmonious career and personal success.

In her spare time, you will find Jana Davidson on the end of a leash with her favorite girl, Phoebe, and working with local animal groups in Northeast Florida.