005: How To Balance Family, Vet Practice & Horses w/Mike Suit
Being an ambulatory equine veterinarian comes with a completely unique set of challenges and stories. Today we’re talking to Dr. Mike Suit about his journey, including his switch from dental to vet school, balancing family and business, and making time to enjoy your “happy place.”
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Show Notes:
Mike is an equine vet who works on-call from his truck in northern Colorado. Today we talk about his transition from dental school to veterinary school, dealing with self-doubt in the application process, drawing boundaries between his practice and his family time, and how veterinary practice is as much about people as it is about animals.
We also talk about some of the stories he’s collected over the years, his new book Finding James Herriot, and how he recently won the Veterinarian of the Year Award from Path International.
What do you think of Mike’s story? Do you have any stories about helping people as much as animals? Leave us a comment below and let us know!
In this episode:
- His experience applying for and attending veterinarian school while being older than his classmates
- How and why he focuses his practice on horses
- His perspective on the people part of his work
- How he has worked to balance his practice with his family and the moment he realized he need to make more effort to do so
Quotes:
“Everything happens for a reason, and all experiences are good experiences in the end. I really believe that. That even some of those hiccups that we have, those bumps, those detours that we think are going to set us back, really lead you to another place in your world. At the end, it’s where you’re supposed to be.” [16:04]
“If you always work for the horse, you always make the right decision” [49:00]
“I work with people from a lot of different backgrounds and a lot of different stories, and I’ve come to appreciate those stories.” [1:00:09]
Links:
Dr. Mike Suit's Website
Follow Dr. Suit on Facebook | Twitter
Dr. Suit’s novel: Finding James Herriot
Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang ranch camp
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