What if the next generation of veterinary professionals got to test-drive vet med before they even graduated high school?

Tamara Anderson, RVT, BA Sociology, is an instructor in the Veterinary Technical Assistant program at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, where she teaches high school students through dual-credit programming. She joins Leilani and Jillian live from the 2026 CVMA Convention in Charlottetown to talk about her own winding path from failing college courses to emergency and referral medicine, ophthalmology, and eventually education.

Tamara breaks down what veterinary dual credit actually looks like, what students are learning, and how early exposure can remove barriers for young people who might never have considered a career in veterinary medicine. They also get into the profession’s workforce shortage, career paths beyond the traditional DVM/RVT route, negotiating your first job, building confidence, and why mentorship can have a much bigger impact on a student than we sometimes realize.

Plus: ER pranks and a deeply unfortunate misunderstanding about a forelimb amputation.

About Tamara

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Tamara Anderson, RVT, BA Sociology, is an instructor in the Veterinary Technical Assistant program at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology. With nearly 20 years of experience in veterinary medicine, Tamara’s career has taken her from general practice into emergency and referral medicine, ophthalmology, and eventually education.

Today, she teaches high school students through veterinary dual-credit programming, giving young people the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, earn post-secondary credentials, and explore careers in veterinary medicine before they graduate. Tamara is passionate about breaking down barriers to the profession, helping students build confidence, and showing the next generation that there are many different ways to build a career in vet med.

Olds College Veterinary Technical Assistant Certificate

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If your veterinary practice has ever answered a phone or an email, Dr. Chris Armstrong has news for you: you’ve probably already practiced some form of virtual care.

So why does the idea still make parts of veterinary medicine uncomfortable?

Live from the 2026 CVMA Convention, Chris joins Leilani and Jillian to unpack the resistance to virtual care, the fear that technology could disrupt the veterinarian-client-patient relationship, and why the better answer may be a hybrid approach rather than choosing between virtual and in-person medicine.

They also talk about retaining experienced RVTs, creating new career paths outside the clinic floor, AI and emerging technology, mentorship, veterinary workforce shortages, and how nearly 40 years in the profession have shaped Chris’s perspective on change.

About Chris:

Dr. Chris Armstrong is a British Columbia veterinarian with nearly four decades of experience in companion animal practice, ownership, and veterinary leadership. After graduating with distinction from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1987, she joined Scottsdale Veterinary Hospital and became a partner the following year. She spent 30 years practising small animal medicine, dentistry, and surgery while helping manage the AAHA-accredited hospital.

Chris has served as president of the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia, a director of the Society of British Columbia Veterinarians, and British Columbia’s representative on the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Council. In 2026, she joined the CVMA executive, beginning her path toward serving as president.

Chris has contributed to national work on telemedicine and virtual veterinary care and speaks on telemedicine, informed consent, and provincial regulations. Outside veterinary medicine, she is a longtime CSIA Level 3 ski instructor at Whistler Blackcomb.

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What happens when you stop accepting “this is just how vet med works”?

Marina John, RVT, joins Leilani and Jillian at the CVMA Convention in Charlottetown to talk about building a veterinary career on her own terms.

Marina shares her path from 17 hour ER shifts and veterinary martyr culture to GP, acupuncture, locum work, research, management, and eventually technical services at the Atlantic Veterinary College. Along the way, the conversation gets into what meaningful diversity actually looks like in veterinary medicine, why representation matters, how hiring practices can reinforce the status quo, and what workplaces can do to become genuinely more inclusive.

They also trade stories about discrimination in job interviews, the wage gap, the value RVTs bring that never shows up neatly on a production report, and the glass ceiling technicians still face when it comes to pay, leadership, ownership, and advancement.

And because this is Don’t Call Me Catty, Marina finishes with a ghost pepper hot take: should RVTs be paid as much as veterinarians?

It’s a conversation about knowing your value, making room for different voices, and leaving veterinary medicine better than you found it.

About Marina

Marina is a seasoned RVT with almost 15 years of diverse experience. She embarked on her veterinary journey after an unconventional start. Following a Specialized Honours Bachelor of Science degree from York University, she found her passion, while teaching ESL in Seoul, when she stumbled upon the RVT Diploma Degree at the University of Guelph.

Marina has worn multiple hats, serving as the Vice President of the British Columbia Veterinary Technologist Association and instructing the Vet Assistant Program at Vancouver Island University. Her expertise spans large animal sciences, lab animal sciences, companion animal ophthalmology, ER, UC, and referral services. With a Veterinary Acupuncture Certification from the Xie Institute, she played a pivotal role in developing the acupuncture department at a small animal GP.

Marina's extensive background includes roles as a swine farrowing tech, Lead Tech, Production Manager, and contributing to a mixed animal practice handling companion animals, exotics, and avian species.

Committed to giving back, she volunteered with a local charity providing veterinary care to low-income and unhoused populations. Marina launched her own locum RVT business, embracing a fulfilling career as a traveling veterinary technologist. Most recently she relocated to PEI and is working as an Assistant Manager at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Atlantic Veterinary College - UPEI.

Get In Touch

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-john-211695282/

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