Episode Details

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In today’s episode of That Vet Life Podcast, host Dr. Moriah McCauley interviews locum veterinarian and mentor, Dr. Kirsten Ronngren. 

Dr. Kirsten’s journey into veterinary medicine started as a child when she began shadowing and helping her mum (a small animal practice veterinarian) at her practice. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Kirsten graduated as a veterinarian from Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. After graduating, Dr. Ronngren began working in a feline-only practice where she was mentored by Dr. Gary Marshall (one of VetX International’s very own mentors, find out more about him here). 

Following this, Dr. Kirsten went on to practice in Southern California, where she worked as a clinical veterinarian and specialized in client communication and teaching. This led to her taking on a job at Pima Medical Institute where she taught veterinary technicians part-time, alongside her time in practice. Her love of teaching and mentoring led to her creating Vet Redefined, a website aimed to connect and aid veterinary students and graduates overcome the challenges of veterinary medicine. At Vet Redefined, ‘we aim to provide the mentorship, resources, support, and tools that seemed to lag in the training most of us received at the end of school and our first endeavors outside of it.’

In the last year, Dr. Ronngren has moved to England, where she has become a registered member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and is working as a small animal locum vet, alongside mentoring through Vet Redefined and creating digital veterinary content for VetBox. 

In this episode, Dr. Kirsten talks about her journey with mentorship, from both her experience being mentored by her mother and seasoned veterinarian Dr. Gary Marshall, as well as touching on all other mentors who have influenced her and helped her become the teacher she is today.

Tune in the learn the impact mentoring has.

Outline of this episode:

• [01:06] The episode begins with Dr. Moriah asking Dr. Kirsten about her story with mentorship. Dr. Kirsten begins talking about how her Mum was her first mentor.
• [03:05] Dr. Kirsten talks about the mentorship she had from Dr. Gary Marshall and her time working at his feline-only clinic. 
• [06:20] Dr. Moriah asks what it was like having a Mum that was also a mentor and the different teaching styles she experienced. 
• [12:30] Kirsten talks about how in mentorship it’s important to ask for help and how these help the early experiences as a new grad. 
• [13:53] Dr. Kirsten talks about her experiences working with Dr. Gary Marshall. 
• [17:33] Ad break- Join Thrive
• [18:43] The episode resumes, with Dr. Moriah asking Kirsten about how mentorship changed her emotional intelligence and the ‘human’ side of being a veterinarian.
• [22:30] Moriah asks Kirsten how she and Dr. Gary discussed their feelings as a mentor and a mentee.
• [25:57] How have Kirsten’s own mentors influenced how she is as a mentor herself? Dr. Kirsten talks about veterinarians that have influenced her.
• [34:53] Dr. Kirsten tells us about herself, her current work, and where to find her on social media.
• [36:57] Dr. Moriah thanks Kirsten for coming on the show and the episode ends. 

To access the bonus extended version of this episode, join our Thrive community. 

Resources Mentioned:

• https://www.vetredefined.com/about/ 
• www.vetxinternational.com/thrive 

Connect with Dr. Kirsten:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram