Student Experiences

Hope Darnell with her dog Hazel after completing the Relief Rover 5K for NOMV

My name is Hope Darnell and I’m going into my second year of veterinary school at Texas A&M University. I hold the  Innovation Ambassador position for A&M’s chapter of the Veterinary Business Management Association (VBMA) and this  position has led me to participate in some unique opportunities in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation.  This summer, I was in the Veterinary Entrepreneurship Academy (VEA) where I attended classes and guest lectures from  leaders in the veterinary industry. We covered the different segments of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) over the 10-week  course, but our guest lecture discussions expanded much further than the canvas. We discussed the issues facing the  veterinary industry and how we will be able to make an impact. 

Additionally, I was matched with VetGuardian, a veterinary-related startup company, to enhance the application of my course  learning. VetGuardian is a zero-touch vital signs monitor for animal patients which works to reduce patient stress and increase  efficiency and safety in the animal hospital. It does all of this while creating peace of mind for veterinarians, their staff, and pet  owners waiting anxiously at home. This is the value proposition for VetGuardian which is the central component of the BMC. I  spent many weeks of the program perfecting this statement as it shows the value rather than the features of this device.  With VetGuardian, I worked on a range of projects including user experience and interface, revenue formulas, and university  and zoo research projects. Through these projects I was able to apply my course content and educate the team about how my  course learnings can apply to the company. My longest standing project was managing social media accounts on Facebook  and LinkedIn as channels used to communicate with customers. I was able to grow the accounts exponentially over the  summer and was able to develop my skills in this unique area of marketing which has an ever-growing impact on businesses in  the veterinary space.  

One of the projects I worked on, which was very impactful personally, was the Relief Rover 5K for Not One More Vet (NOMV).  This 5K was created by Dr. Cindy Trice, a guest lecturer in our course, through partnerships with NOMV and multiple sponsors.  I learned about the Relief Rover 5k through social media channels and brought the event to the attention of my team at  VetGuardian. Our team already had a relationship with Dr. Trice and we had also identified this pain point of the high suicide  rates in our customer segment. Members of our team participated in the event, and we did this not only because of the  relationship we had with Dr. Trice but more importantly to support our customer segment and to build our company brand. Our  value proposition includes making the jobs of veterinarians and their staff just a little bit easier. It is through our support and  others in the industry that we can raise awareness for this pain point and that is exactly what this event did. Pictured above is  my dog Hazel and myself as we participated in the 5K this summer.  

For the closing event of the VEA program, we traveled to New York where my fellow interns and I presented about our  experiences and the different startup companies we interned with. It was an opportunity for us to discuss our learnings as well  as network with representatives from our sponsors and with each other, as we had been attending the course remotely all  summer. This event and the entire program pushed me outside of my comfort zone in many ways, allowing for both personal  and professional growth.  

Although I cannot verbalize every impact this experience has had on my life, one of the biggest impacts I saw was in my  clinical practice. During this program, I volunteered at a small animal practice in College Station, TX, and realized over this  summer how my thinking had changed as I went through the course. Now I am thinking more about the BMC and not only  how each segment relates to the business, but also how my role affects the business and what I can do to make the practice  more successful. Moving forward, I will be continuing to work with VetGuardian on their social media, a research project I’ve  started on Humboldt penguins at the Akron Zoo, and other various projects. You can check out my work on their Facebook  and LinkedIn pages by searching “VetGuardian.” Reach out to me with any questions about my experience with the VEA  program, or about VetGuardian as they are changing the way we think about monitoring in the industry.