A new thing, for vet med, starting now
We believe this could be one of the most powerful spaces in vet med: humans doing good, connecting across the globe.
A gathering of vet professionals who love a certain football show – and who reckon the profession could do with a bit more of what it's selling.
So, what is this?
Somewhere between the introductions and the tangent about watching only the happy half of Titanic, it became obvious that we weren't really talking about telly at all. We were talking about building teams that feel safe. Creating environments that make space for challenge as much as compassion, where people feel they belong while they grow. Speaking up. Being called out kindly. Whether the quiet person in the room gets a say. What happens when the person in charge decides to do the right thing, even when it's awkward.
All the stuff we spend our working lives trying to shift in veterinary medicine – sat there, in a comedy about an American bloke coaching a football team he doesn't understand.
So we thought: why not do this properly, and with more people?
“There's so much that you learn – that everyone has a backstory, and the character you hate, eventually you come to understand them a bit more.”
Who it's for
One – You're a fan.
You quote it. You've got opinions about which season is best. You may have watched an episode without your partner and had to sit with the guilt. You're not here to be converted – you're here because you already get it.
Never seen it? Also welcome. We'll tell you where to start.
Two – You want vet med to be better.
Kinder teams. Braver conversations. Leadership that isn't just the person who's been there longest. Less shame, more curiosity. You're interested in learning about yourself and other people – and you'd rather do it somewhere fun than in another mandatory training module.
Vets · Nurses · Techs · Support · Leaders · Students
Every corner of the profession is welcome, and we mean that literally. First-opinion, equine, farm, referral, imaging, anaesthesia, reception, practice management, industry, academia, people who've stepped out of clinical work entirely. Nobody's bit of vet med matters more than anybody else's – the whole point is that none of it works without all of it.
The suggestion box
Which is deliberate. It would be a bit rich to start something about listening to people and then hand you a finished timetable.
So this page is the box. Have a look at the shapes we've been kicking around, tell us which ones you'd actually turn up to, add your own idea if we've missed the obvious one – and we'll build the thing people said they wanted.
Every suggestion gets read. Some of them will be daft. Those are often the good ones.
Put something in the boxPossible shapes
You'll be asked about these in the form. You can choose more than one, and you can absolutely say "none of these, here's what I'd rather do".
Some of them will be daft, and some of them might seem daft. That's fine.
Shape one
We meet, agree we all enjoy Ted Lasso, then split into small breakout rooms. Maybe we centre the chat on one episode, or maybe we just ask: what's your favourite insight?
From there, the conversation evolves wherever it wants to go. A chance to randomly meet other vet people and chat about the show and the stuff it surfaces.
Casual · Peer-led · Meet new people
Shape two
We pick a topic the show opens up – communication styles of different Ted Lasso characters, leadership, psychological safety (or part of, e.g. feeling safe enough to speak up) – and a guest speaker shares their take on it for 30 minutes.
Then we break into small groups with prompts to discuss it. The best of both worlds: a bit of input, a lot of conversation.
Guest speaker · 30 min talk · Breakouts
Shape three
Bigger, one-off online events – for example a whole day of 'What VetMed can learn from Ted Lasso' with workshops, webinars and space to dig in.
More like a conference-in-a-day than a regular meet-up, with an educational angle baked in.
One-off · Educational · Deep dive
Shape four
You've got an idea we haven't thought of. A book club, a writing group, a watch party, a session for leaders only, a session for people who've never seen the show.
Throw it in the box and we'll read it. We genuinely want to know what you want.
Your idea
Ground rules
Meet the humans
A few people who said yes before they knew what it was.
Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon, Founder and Coach, UK
Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging Specialist, Psychological Safety Advocate, UK
CVT, Founder/CVO & Mentor, North America
Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon, Managing Director, UK
Training Director, Athletics Coach and previous Pilot
Veterinary Surgeon and Founder, United Kingdom
Equine Veterinary Surgeon and Coach, United Kingdom
The money bit
We're weighing up whether sessions carry a small optional contribution – the sort of number you'd spend on a coffee – passed on to causes that support people in the veterinary professions.
Nobody would ever be turned away for not paying, and nothing about the session would change if you didn't. But if a room full of us can quietly raise something useful while having a nice time, that seems worth asking about.
There's a question in the form about whether you'd be up for that, and which causes you'd want it to go to.
Fancy helping run it?
We're doing this because we love Ted Lasso and the conversations it starts, and we think those conversations could really help VetMed. We're not running it for profit. All of us have other jobs, families, and unfinished DIY on the go, and we just want to see if anyone else is interested in helping make it happen.
That might mean:
We'll give you the prompts, a short brief and someone to co-host with the first time. Tick the box in the form and we'll be in touch – ticking it commits you to precisely nothing.
And if enough people want it, maybe this grows into a whole-day event. Maybe it even becomes CE/CPD accredited one day. We honestly don't know yet. We just want to know what you want.
Quick note: you do need to have watched Ted Lasso to take part. You'll either need it on DVD or an Apple TV subscription. We can't help with that, and we won't be sharing episodes.
Three minutes, mostly tick boxes. Tell us the format you'd come to, when you can make it, whether you'd help run it, and whether we can email you when it starts.
We'll only email you about VetMed Lasso. You can tell us to stop at any time, and we won't pass your details to anyone else.
Two quick questions
No. Half the fun is watching someone discover it. Whichever shape we land on, we'll be clear about what to watch beforehand, and nobody will make you feel daft for asking who anyone is.
It's an Apple TV series and you'll need your own subscription – we can't help with that, and we won't be sharing episodes. Sorry. We're fun, not criminal.
