PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Summer 2020 - 29

Antifragile
unpredictable events, but even resilient systems will reach a
failure point. NASA's Space Shuttle Program has learned that
the hard way. Twice.

Antifragile systems get better with stress and volatility. They are
the Hydra of Greek mythology. Lop off one head, two grow in
its place. Expose a population of staphylococcus to methicillin,
and soon you will have a thriving infection of superbugs. Bad
for us, great for them. Likewise, the saying, "What doesn't kill
you makes you stronger," describes the mechanism by which
we ourselves become antifragile. When we succeed in the face
of overwhelming odds, we tend to achieve greater feats the
next time around. The opposite viewpoint-"Avoid all risk at
all cost"-in turn makes for a very brittle population that fears
unpredictability because it doesn't know what it can overcome.4

Choose Your Own Adventure
Veterinary Medicine is at a pivot point in the boxing ring
right now. Instead of resisting change, let us grow through it
to become better than we were before. It will take energy,
patience, creativity, and a willingness to fail small in order
to succeed big. Happily, our clients are particularly forgiving
of experimentation right now, especially when it is for their
benefit. We can establish a new and better normal if we provide
our clients the care they want, how they want, when they want
it, while reclaiming some work-life balance for ourselves. Offer
a digital patient portal, an easy pipeline for communication to
bond the client to your clinic, so you remain at the forefront
of healthcare decisions before entrepreneurs with far less
training fill that space. Schedule differently, cross-train staff to
new tasks, and leverage your RVTs and CVTs to legally fill needs
previously provided only by DVMs.

About Dr. Holly Sawyer: Holly Sawyer, DVM, Human-Animal Bond
Certified, works for GuardianVets, the only after-hours teletriage/
telemedicine service to be endorsed by AAHA. The mission of
GuardianVets is to keep the veterinary hospital in the center of
the Human-Animal Bond while supporting the work-life balance of
today's veterinary professional.
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder.
New York: Random House, 2012.

CBS News. "Dairy Farmers Forced to Dump Milk As Schools and
Restaurants Close." Accessed 4/27/20. https://www.cbsnews.com/
news/dairy-farmers-hit-hard-by-coronavirus-are-spilling-a-lot-ofmilk/.

Des Moines Register. "'Horrible Choices': Iowa Livestock Producers
May Have to Euthanize Pigs as Packing Plants Struggle." Accessed
4/27/20. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/
agriculture/2020/04/21/coronavirus-meatpacking-slowdown-forceiowa-pork-producers-euthanize-pigs-covid-19/5164368002/.

Lukianoff, Greg, and Jonathan Haidt. The Coddling of the American
Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a
Generation for Failure. New York: Penguin, 2018.

Treat life as an adventure instead of a race to perfection, and
don't panic when you don't recognize the pattern ahead. That
which you fear may become a game-changing opportunity.
Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association | 29

PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Summer 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Summer 2020