Ep 48: Dr Molly McAllister - Leading & Living with Purpose & Humanity

On today’s show, I’m joined by one of the most senior vets in the United States, Dr. Molly McAllister. Molly graduated from Oregon State Vet School in 2004, holds a BA in biology, and a Masters in Public health. After a brief stint in equine practice, she worked as a GP vet in Portland before life got tough and circumstances took her in an entirely different, but retrospectively serendipitous, direction. It was 2009 when she began work within the Mars Petcare family, joining as Scientific Services Vet until her move to Banfield in 2014. Molly was initially appointed as director of research, a role where among other things she was responsible for producing the Banfield State of Pet Health Report, a fascinating insight into the disease incidence derived from analysis of more than 3 million health visits to Banfield practices each year. Various other roles followed where Molly’s triple love of people, data, and medicine became evident, allowing her to contribute to, or drive many important initiatives within Banfield and beyond. In 2019 she was appointed the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, a role where she drives strategy and organisation of the veterinary teams while being accountable for the medical quality standard across the company. Now, just before we jump into the episode, a quick word from today’s show sponsor which today is the Thrive professional skills course for vets. If you are working in practice and clients or colleagues are making you miserable then I have good news and bad news. The bad news is you are likely contributing to many of your problems. The good news is that you are also 100% in control of changing things and having a great career. You are missing some skills and they are NOT clinical. Enter THRIVE. Thrive is a RACE accredited, professional skills training course where members receive instruction, toolkits, and mentoring support to ensure success. Membership is available for a super-small monthly fee where you can join hundreds of other vets who have changed their careers for the better. Learn more and enroll at www.vetxinternational.com/thrive today and receive 10% off by using the promo code ‘PODCAST’. Now back to the show, If all you knew about Molly was her title, you might feel quite intimidated - surely someone who climbs to the top of the corporate ladder will be a fearsome beast indeed? Well, you’d be wrong. Molly is certainly driven and ambitious, but she’s also compassionate, humble, and utterly determined to leave her bit of the world better than she found it. She has carved out her career, driven by a sense of purpose and profound awareness that there is only one life, and the journey we take as we live it matters every bit as much as the destination. Ready to hear more? I thought so, without further ado let’s get into the conversation with one of my new favourite people in vet med, Dr. Molly McAllister.