Right Lane Ends: A Warning for Veterinary Medicine (#336)

Somewhere on a lonely stretch of asphalt, I saw a mangled guide rail twisted like a wound.

 Among the debris was a fractured road sign, its message - Right Lane Ends - half-buried and barely legible.

It was meant to be a warning.

A chance to merge.

To adapt.

To avoid collision.

But someone didn’t read the sign.

In veterinary medicine, we’re trained to read subtle signs. A change in appetite. A limp that wasn’t there yesterday. A dog that no longer greets its owner at the door.

These are early sign posts. Indications that something is wrong.

A good clinician notices before disaster strikes. But when the signs are ignored, or worse, dismissed under time pressure or profit incentives, animals suffer. And so do we.

The crumpled sign is a metaphor not just for missed diagnoses, but for the current state of veterinary medicine itself.

Veterinary Medicine is on a collision course.

For many, that right lane once meant a profession rooted in purpose, autonomy, and patient-centered care. But it's being narrowed - paved over by corporate interests prioritizing profit margins over medical ethics. Appointments are rushed. Staff are burned out. New graduates are thrown into practice with minimal mentorship. Decisions once made in the exam room are now dictated by spreadsheets in distant boardrooms.

There are signs we must not ignore.

Among them: the erosion of honesty, integrity, ethical behavior, and transparency in the practice of veterinary medicine.

These values aren’t nostalgic ideals - they’re the foundation of trust:

• Trust between veterinarian and client.

  
  

• Trust between doctor and patient.

  
  

• Trust between the profession and the public.

Honesty means telling the truth, even when it’s hard. It means owning mistakes, not hiding behind corporate protocols or blaming the system.

Integrity means standing by what is right, even when it’s inconvenient. It means not allowing financial incentives to dictate medical decisions.

Ethical behavior means putting the patient first every time; not the profit margin, not the end-of-month targets, not the shareholders.

Transparency means clients have a right to know not just what we recommend, but why. It means veterinary professionals and animal owners should know who owns the practice, who controls the decisions, and who benefits financially from those choices.

When these values are lost, the profession becomes unrecognizable. When we compromise these values, even just a little, the damage adds up, like the subtle cracks in a road before a catastrophic break.

We must read the signs.

Not only in our patients, but in ourselves, our practices, and our profession.

This isn’t just about broken bones or broken rails. It’s about a broken model. If we don’t slow down, question the direction we’re headed, and reclaim control of the wheel, the damage could be irreversible.

The right lane is ending.

It's time to merge - with integrity, with vigilance, and with a clear view of what lies ahead.

Let’s not wait until the next crash.

#bunyipsbooksbeyond