Episode 67

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Published on:

27th Oct 2022

Ep 67: David McCormick - Profit Is Not A Dirty Word

On today’s show, I’m joined by David McCormick.

David is a veterinary valuation appraiser and transaction specialist, working with veterinarians throughout their ownership journey to help evaluate financial health so owners can make better decisions. 

To give that a better outline David, in the same way, that veterinarians look at lab tests and x-rays to diagnose disease in animals, uses financial reporting tools to diagnose and treat unhealthy practices, or helps new owners understand their numbers from the beginning. In short, he’s a veterinary business health wizard who can read the tea leaves of your accounts and accurately predict much about your practice without ever walking in the door. A skill that every practice owner or manager would do very well to master too.

His career pathway to veterinary medicine was not direct and frankly is worth an interview on its own merits,  with animal encounters in exciting, remote places and a near miss as a musician featuring highly.  But it was his father, Larry, an MBA-holding Veterinarian that was the magnetic draw back into a world he was immersed in as a child. More on that in the interview.

David holds degrees in Science, Environmental Resource Management, and a Masters in Agricultural Education. He’s a regular and hugely popular speaker on the veterinary world speaking circuit, a charter member of Vet Partners, and serving as president in 2006. And was the Practice Management Education Manager for Western States Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas for seven years.

Money management is massively important for business and by extension physical and mental health. Well-managed businesses which return good profit margins allow for better staff salaries, more investment in new things to help standards of care, and a fair return for owners.

Having seen him keep the attention of the PSI vet symposium attendees the day before, on a subject more prone to glazing the eyes of veterinary professionals I knew I’d found my guy to talk about a subject that is taboo in the world of veterinary business - Profit is not a dirty word!

Regardless of your age or stage in vet med, this might be one of the most important conversations you hear because, in the end, economics determines just about everything.

So enjoy this, my conversation with the financial wizard and frisbee chasing David McCormick. 


Today's show was made possible through the generous sponsorship of VetX Thrive - the course where vets like you go to learn the professional skills needed to have a happy and financially successful career as a vet. Learn more and sign up at www.vetxinternational.com today.

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About the Podcast

Blunt Dissection
The best minds in veterinary medicine, academia & business profiled so you can learn from their experience.
The Blunt Dissection Podcast exists because everyone has a story worth listening to. It's the original and best interview podcast in veterinary medicine where the best minds in the various subcultures of veterinary medicine (and sometimes outside) are profiled/deconstructed so you can listen to their remarkable stories, and also learn the habits, routines, thought processes and anything else that makes these individuals so good at what they do.

What’s in it for you to listen? For some, it's entertainment, for others the show offers inspiration. My hope is that once you’ve seen the pathway to success all you have to do is follow the breadcrumbs. Simple right? So what are you waiting for? Let's jump in and get to know some amazing people better. :)

Sometimes funny, sometimes dark but always entertaining - welcome to the hidden world of veterinary success.

Your host is Dr Dave Nicol, a veterinarian, occasional CEO, multiple time author, international speaker and mentor/coach to countless vets, nurses and managers in veterinary leadership roles across the world through VetX International.

About your host

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Dave Nicol