Hi, Kara,
Absolutely, this is helpful. Since you have such a great relationship with your doctor, and because she has such extensive experience in finance, I think it would be a great idea to formulate some questions for her. Most of us get very little business training in veterinary school, and the advent of/increasingly ubiquitous Veterinary Business Management Association (VBMA) is looking to change and augment that. However, the more she's willing to tell you about financial management now, the better!
I'm not talking about specific numbers, but basic things such as: how much percentage of practice gross goes toward salary/staffing? Are the doctors paid base + percentage of production (i.e, 25% of what the client pays for services? 20%?)? Or are the doctors paid a flat salary? How much inventory does she try to have her techs maintain on the shelf (i.e., three months' worth, one month worth, etc)? How much does she mark up her prescription drugs, and is there a dispensing fee? How much does she mark up outside laboratory tests/laboratory tests done in-house? How did she arrive at her exam fee? What percent profit does the practice generally see on service charges (exams, surgery time, that sort of thing--where the client is paying for time/expertise/knowledge) versus product sales?
Again, don't ask for specific numbers and of course remember that some of that information is pretty personal. Based on your relatioship and her comfort level with sharing professional info, she'll likely tell you some things but not others.
Things like that will help get the wheels turning and start a basis of comparison for you. Of course, you have to know these things about a large number of practices (and do some research/take some classes on your own) before you can begin to think about what works for you--but knowledge is not a bad thing! Please ask her about this stuff as well as clinical medicine and client communication (my big favorite). It will serve you VERY well--on your application and in your future endeavors.
I HATED business growing up, and my brother has a degree in finance--we're both complete opposites!
However, when I helped a neurologist open up her own practice, I learned sooo much and found it really interesting--and of course, it helped that I felt a large degree of personal investment (emotional, not financial) in the well-being of the practice.
Also, as someone who started in veterinary medicine at the age of 14 doing a lot of stuff you're doing now--except in an exclusively small-animal setting--I applaud you and am telling you that every single experience you're having CAN and WILL serve you well in vet school. I can't tell you how much it's helped me so far, and we're not even in clinics yet!!! GOOD LUCK! If you have any questions about what I've mentioned, feel free to post or PM me.
Sorry for the long post...but good job, Kara.
I think I'm crazy.
