Dr. Rochelle Low joins us to discuss resilience and recovery from patient safety events. On this episode of the Cone of Shame Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Dr. Rochelle Low explore what patient safety events are and how they impact veterinary professionals. They discuss the critical role of psychological safety, strong leadership, and a culture of trust in helping teams learn, adapt, and heal when things go wrong. Dr. Low shares insights from her recent JAVMA study, breaking down the emotional and professional toll of medical errors, the importance of peer and leadership support, and how veterinary teams can create a safer, more open environment for learning from mistakes. This episode is packed with practical takeaways for veterinarians, technicians, and hospital leaders alike. Let’s get into it!

Links:

Article: Personal resilience, good leadership, and a psychologically safe culture play a mitigating role on the impact of patient safety events

Dr. Rochelle Low on Instagram

Guest Bio:

Dr. Rochelle Low, DVM, MaS, MHL, is the Global VP of Quality and Patient Safety for Mars Veterinary Health. Originally from Victoria, Canada, she earned her DVM from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and completed a residency in Emergency and Critical Care at Angel Memorial in Boston. She later pursued a Master’s of Applied Science in Quality and Patient Safety at Johns Hopkins and a Master’s of Healthcare Leadership at Brown University.

Dr. Low spent 14 years as a medical leader for VCA Inc., focusing on quality, patient safety, and patient care, where she recognized the critical impact of hospital culture and nursing empowerment on patient outcomes. Currently, she is dedicated to building a culture of safety across MVH hospitals by implementing a global patient safety event reporting system and collaborating with Johns Hopkins to integrate team training and safety programs like TeamStepps.

She now lives on a small farm in Bend, Oregon, where she enjoys hiking, surfing, and skiing with her four pitties, two horses, two alpacas, four sheep, five mini-donkeys, and plenty of chickens.

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