The Impact of Mentorship in Shaping Veterinary Careers: A Conversation with Dr. Kate Boatwright

The Whole Veterinarian

Let's dive into the world of veterinary mentorship with today's guest, Dr. Kate Boatwright. An experienced small animal general practice and emergency veterinarian, Dr. Boatwright is also a celebrated speaker and author. She walks us through the importance of mentorship in the veterinary field, the hurdles new graduates often face, and the idea of a mentorship agreement. We explore her latest book, The Veterinary Mentorship Manual, a comprehensive guide for establishing effective mentorship programs within practices. Furthermore, Dr. Boatwright paints an inspirational picture of her shift into ER, highlighting the significant role a supportive environment played in shaping her journey.
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More about Dr. Boatright!
Dr. Kate Boatright is a 2013 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and has worked in small animal practice since graduating. She has worked at multiple practices in Pennsylvania and is currently employed part-time in a rural general practice clinic (Penn Ohio Veterinary Services) and provides limited relief services to emergency clinics. Her clinical interests include feline medicine, internal medicine, surgery, and emergency medicine. She also supervises and mentors pre-veterinary and veterinary student shadows as well as new graduate veterinarians.
During veterinary school, she was the 2011 National VBMA Vice President and led the development of the original business certificate program with fellow board members. She remains involved with the VBMA as an Honors portfolio reviewer, speaker, and founding member of the VBMA Alumni.
In 2018, she began freelance writing and speaking. She wrote the Finding Balance column for Today’s Veterinary Practice in 2020 and 2021 and the Beyond the Clinic Column in 2022. She regularly writes for dvm360 and AAHA publications, including a new column on spectrum of care for NEWStat. She published the Veterinary Mentorship Manual in March 2023 to support individual veterinarians and clinics in providing strong mentorship to early career veterinarians.
Dr. Boatright has spoken both live and virtually to numerous veterinary schools and at state and national conferences, including dvm360® Fetch conferences, AVMA Convention, AVMA’s Veterinary Leadership Conference, and ACVIM. She founded KMB Veterinary Media LLC in 2021 to continue her work in educating veterinary professionals through speaking, writing, and mentorship.
In addition to her clinical work, she has been active in organized veterinary medicine since shortly after graduation. She serves as the secretary for her local association (NWPVMA), has been a District Trustee on the PVMA Board, and currently serves as the alternate delegate for Pennsylvania to the AVMA’s House of Delegates. She is the editor of the PVMA’s quarterly publication, The Keystone Veterinarian, and serves on the legislative committee. In her local area, she has worked with several college pre-veterinary clubs to help arrange shadowing experiences and host mock interviews for applicants.
Find her new book, Small Animal Veterinary Mentorship Manual,

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1. The Impact of Mentorship in Shaping Veterinary Careers: A Conversation with Dr. Kate Boatwright (00:00:00)

2. Improving Mentorship in Veterinary Medicine (00:00:08)

3. New Grad Mentorship Agreement Design (00:08:50)

4. Effective Mentoring and Communication Practices (00:13:30)