Dr. Brett Bingham

Dr. Brett Bingham Dr. Brett Bingham | Veterinarian
As a vet who struggled with communication, I now teach vets to communicate better, lead the exam room & love practice.

Learn how to own the exam room.

08/21/2026

**Are you talking to the person who can actually make the decision?**

Sometimes the person presenting the pet is a spouse, child, friend, neighbor, or grandparent—and they may not know the full history or have permission to make treatment decisions.

Find out early.

Ask:

**“Are you familiar with Sadie’s care? Do you have permission to make treatment decisions today?”**

If not, bring the decision maker in by phone before you take the full history, discuss diagnostics, or review an estimate.

Otherwise, you may end up having the same conversation twice.

**Right conversation. Right person. Right from the beginning.**

Follow **VetComm Academy** for practical veterinary communication tips.

08/19/2026

**Learning communication skills isn’t enough.**

Empathy. Open-ended questions. Reflective listening. Signposting.

They all matter.

But here’s the problem:

When you walk into a busy exam room with a nervous pet, an emotional client, and a schedule that’s already behind, it’s easy to forget **when** to use them.

That’s why veterinarians need more than communication skills.

**We need a communication system.**

The Exam Room Flow Model gives structure to every appointment:

👉 Greeting Process
👉 Medical Interview
👉 Physical Exam
👉 Client Education
👉 Collaborative Planning

Each step becomes a cue for the communication skills you should be using.

During the greeting? **Use names.**

During the medical interview? **Use open-ended questions and reflective listening.**

During client education? **Signpost and check for understanding.**

During planning? **Partner with the client.**

You get the idea.

**Skills give you the tools. Structure reminds you when to use them.**

That’s what makes good communication repeatable—even on your busiest days.

Follow **VetComm Academy** for practical veterinary communication you can use in the exam room.

08/17/2026

**How to rein in “Chatty Cathy” in the exam room 👇**

Some clients love to talk—and some process everything out loud.

That’s okay… until 10 minutes have passed and you still haven’t addressed why their pet is there.

Instead of hoping your technician rescues you, try being respectfully direct:

**“I love chatting with you, but we need to talk about Max before our appointment time runs out.”**

And when the history starts repeating:

**“Let me pause you for just a second. I want to make sure I understand, so let me tell you what I’m hearing.”**

Then summarize.

The client feels heard, you regain direction, and the appointment keeps moving.

The goal isn’t to shut clients down.

It’s to **lead the conversation forward.**

Follow **VetComm Academy** for practical veterinary communication skills you can use today.

08/14/2026

👇 Comment SCRIPT and I’ll send you my Veterinary Communication Script Library.

Veterinarians—you’re already using scripts.

Every time you explain an ear infection, discuss an estimate, recommend dentistry, deliver bad news, or walk a client through euthanasia, you probably use many of the same words and phrases.

The question isn’t whether you use scripts.

The question is whether your scripts are accidental or intentional.

A good script isn’t something you memorize word-for-word.

It’s a communication framework you’ve thought through and practiced enough that when the pressure is high, you can stay clear, calm, and consistent—while still sounding like yourself.

The best communicators don’t just wing it.

They practice their words before the pressure hits.

Scripts don’t make you fake. They help turn accidental conversations into intentional ones—while still allowing you to be your authentic self.

👇 Comment SCRIPT and I’ll send you my Veterinary Communication Script Library.

I’m Dr. Brett Bingham. Follow me for more practical veterinary communication tips.

08/12/2026

Type in "euthanasia" in the comments and I'll send you my communication tips for handling euthanasia (Beyond the Diagnosis).

Clients never forget the euthanasia.

They may forget the vaccine, the ear infection, or even the surgery.

But they will remember the day they said goodbye.

They’ll remember the room.
They’ll remember your words.
They’ll remember how their pet was handled.
They’ll remember whether they felt rushed, judged, supported, or cared for.

For veterinary teams, euthanasia can start to feel routine simply because we do it so often.

For the client, it may be one of the hardest days of their life.

That’s why communication matters so much.

Signpost the process. Tell them what to expect before it happens.

“Let me walk you through the steps so you know what to expect.”

Explain the sedation, catheter, final injection, and even things they may see afterward—like muscle twitching or a reflexive breath.

It won’t make the loss easy.

But it can make the experience less frightening and help the client feel cared for during an incredibly difficult moment.

And don’t forget the follow-up. Call them. Send the sympathy card. Let them know you remember too.

They won’t forget this experience.

Let’s do everything we can to make their memory of it one of compassion, dignity, and support.

I’m Dr. Bingham. Follow me for more practical veterinary communication tips.

08/10/2026

What’s the most important room in your veterinary hospital?

The surgery suite?
Radiology?
The treatment area?

I’d argue it’s none of those.

It’s the exam room.

Nearly everything that happens in your hospital begins there.

It’s where clients decide whether they trust you.
It’s where they understand their options.
And it’s where they decide whether to move forward with diagnostics, treatment, surgery, or referral.

Yet many hospitals invest heavily in endoscopy, laparoscopy, ultrasound, and laser therapy—while clients are still sitting in exam rooms with fixed tables, uncomfortable chairs, worn cabinets, no place for the veterinarian to sit, and sometimes not even a sink.

That’s backwards.

Your exam room should be one of your first investments because it’s where the conversation happens—and the conversation determines whether the rest of your hospital gets used.

Design the exam room for trust, comfort, and communication.

That’s where the magic happens.

Comment **EXAM ROOM** and I’ll send you my video showing the design of a “near-perfect” veterinary exam room.

Follow for more practical veterinary communication tips.

08/07/2026

**Is your client experiencing a mystery tour?**

One of the easiest ways to help clients feel more comfortable is to tell them what will happen before it happens.

That communication skill is called **signposting**.

It sounds like this:

**“First, we’ll do this. Then we’ll do that. After that, here’s what you can expect.”**

And signposting isn’t just for veterinarians. The entire veterinary team should use it.

The receptionist can explain what happens at check-in.
The technician can outline what will happen in the exam room.
The veterinarian can walk the client through the history, physical exam, and treatment-planning process.

Signposting should continue throughout the visit—especially when a pet is taken to the treatment area for blood work, radiographs, or another procedure.

Clients become anxious when they don’t know what’s happening or what comes next.

When we guide them through the visit, they feel safer, more comfortable, and more willing to trust us.

It only takes a few seconds, but the payoff is significant.

**Don’t make clients guess what’s happening next. Simply tell them.**

Follow Dr. Brett Bingham for more practical veterinary communication tips.

08/05/2026

The best history question isn’t even a question.

Veterinarians, a more accurate medical history doesn’t come from asking more questions. It comes from using better active listening techniques.

Start with an open-ended invitation:

“Tell me what concerns you have today.”

Then stop talking.

Let the client tell the story in their own words before narrowing the conversation with specific, closed-ended questions.

The sequence matters:

Open-ended questions → closed-ended questions → reflective listening

This helps you hear what the client is actually worried about, gather the necessary medical details, and confirm that you understood the story correctly.

A good medical interview shouldn’t require the client to repeat the same story to the receptionist, technician, and veterinarian.

Use active listening techniques and get the story right the first—and only—time.

It’s more efficient, more accurate, and a better experience for everyone.

Follow Dr. Bingham for more practical veterinary communication tips.

Reference: Takemura Y, Atsumi R, Tsuda T. Open-ended questions: are they really beneficial for gathering medical information from patients? Medical Education. 2005;39(11):1113–1119.

08/03/2026

Is the pet too old for dentistry?

That’s the wrong question to discuss with the pet owner.

When a client worries about anesthesia in an older pet, don’t dismiss the concern or turn it into a debate.

Reframe it:

Do the benefits of treating the dental disease outweigh the risks of anesthesia?

Age alone isn’t necessarily the biggest anesthetic risk. Overall health matters more.

And avoiding anesthesia isn’t risk-free either.

Old dogs still feel dental pain.
Old cats still suffer from infection.
Old patients still deserve appropriate care.

The goal isn’t to convince every client to say yes. It’s to help them honestly weigh the risks, benefits, cost, and impact on their pet’s quality of life.

That creates a much more productive conversation.

Follow Dr. Bingham for more practical veterinary communication tips.

07/31/2026

**Euthanasia is a treatment for the right case.**

Veterinarians discuss treatment options every day.

Diagnostics. Medication. Surgery. Hospitalization. Referral.

But sometimes we hesitate to mention one of the most compassionate options we have: **humane euthanasia.**

Not because it’s wrong.

Because it’s hard.

Clients may already be thinking about euthanasia but feel afraid to say it out loud. They may worry we’ll judge them, think they’re giving up, or see them as a bad pet owner.

Sometimes our job is simply to give them permission to talk about it.

Try this:

“We’ve talked about the different treatment options. Given what we’re seeing, another compassionate option to consider is humane euthanasia. What questions do you have about all of our options, including euthanasia?”

That isn’t pressure.

It’s permission.

In the right case, humane euthanasia isn’t failure. It’s a way to protect a pet from unnecessary suffering and help a family make a compassionate decision.

**Communication is a clinical skill.**

I’m Dr. Bingham. Follow VetComm Academy for more practical veterinary communication tips.

Address

199 N. Capitol Boulevard #905
Boise, ID
83702

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+12088506541

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