VM 598: Financial Literacy and Introductory Veterinary Business
A Three-Year Longitudinal Course

Faculty:   

Katie Rawlings, MBA DVM Virtual or Student Success Center katie_harrington@wsu.edu 206.601.8813

Richard M DeBowes, DVM MS Dipl ACVS 207C Bustad Hall rdebowes@wsu.edu 509.595.8015

 

This course will be taught by Dr. Katie Rawlings, who brings a passion for helping veterinary students build both professional and personal success through financial literacy and career development. The program itself was created and thoughtfully designed by Dr. Rick DeBowes, whose vision and commitment to preparing veterinarians for thriving, sustainable careers continue to guide its foundation. I am deeply grateful for Dr. DeBowes’ leadership and for the opportunity to carry his work forward, ensuring that his dedication to empowering students remains at the heart of this course.

 

This three-year course equips veterinary students with the essential financial and business skills needed to thrive personally and professionally. Through progressive modules, students build a foundation in personal finance, explore career and business opportunities within veterinary medicine, and develop practical tools for navigating employment and practice ownership.

• Year 1: Students learn core financial literacy skills, including money habits, budgeting, loans, debt, credit, and savings. These lessons reduce financial stress, promote well-being, and establish healthy financial behaviors early in their careers.
• Year 2: The focus expands to risk management and career exploration. Students learn about insurance, liability, and financial protection, while hearing from veterinarians across diverse career paths. They also examine workplace culture and business health to prepare for informed career choices.
• Year 3: Students apply their knowledge to employment readiness. They explore practice profitability, identify financially sustainable practices, and develop job-seeking skills, including resumes, interviews, negotiation, and contract evaluation.

By the end of VM 598, students are equipped to manage personal finances, evaluate employment opportunities, and lay the groundwork for long-term financial independence and professional success.

Class Organization:

• VM 1 Fall Semester Year one 8 Hours, Traditionally Tuesday 12 noon (PST)
• VM 2 Spring Semester, Year two, 8 Hours, Traditionally Monday 10 AM (PST)
• VM 3 Spring Semester, Year three, 8 Hours, traditional 8 Hours, distributed over 2 days.

 

Class Meeting Time and Locations: (Combination of In-Person and Zoom)

• VM1’s meet in Bustad 145 EXCEPT FOR TUESDAY AUG 26^th Noon to 2 PM PDT WHICH WILL BE IN WEGNER HALL ROOM G50.
• VM2’s meet traditionally in Bustad 145
• VM3’s meet traditionally in Wegner G50
• All that said, be watchful for updated room assignments for class meetings. All room assignments are subject to change.

Course Prerequisites: Enrollment in the WSU Veterinary Curriculum 

Course Catalogue Description: Financial Education, Limited Veterinary Business

Overview:

This course is designed to expose students to a basic understanding of personal finance.  The focus will be on the basically accepted rules/advice regarding personal finance, protecting and growing wealth, credit and its management, risk transfer, opportunities for employment in veterinary medicine, identifying a healthy/promising work environment, resumes and interviewing, negotiation, and contracts. Limited practice management will be presented and only to the extent that some practice management knowledge is needed to understand if one could earn their salary in a particular employment setting. The course is longitudinally arranged over the first three years of the veterinary curriculum.  Completion of this course is intended to equip students to make optimal choices during the third and fourth years of their education as they begin to look for and consider employment opportunities.

General Course Content:

The Financial Literacy curriculum equips students with the tools to manage personal finances, evaluate professional opportunities, and build long-term wealth. This will take place through a progressive three-year sequence developed by Dr. Rick DeBowes. The course he developed will cover personal budgeting, student loan options, understanding business risk and practice profitability, as well as investment strategies. Throughout the course, students gain the confidence to make informed choices, reduce financial stress, and achieve financial independence in their veterinary careers.

 

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Year 1: Getting our feet on the ground, Basic financial literacy (8 hours)

In the first year, students are introduced to the foundations of financial literacy with a focus on personal financial habits, decision-making, and the real costs of veterinary education. By exploring your own money beliefs, learning practical budgeting skills, and gaining an understanding of student loans, debt, credit, and savings, you will begin to build confidence in managing your financial lives. This early exposure is intended to help reduce stress, support well-being, and equip you with tools you can carry throughout your education and career.

Supporting Text Year 1: Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. How Money Works by Tim Siebold and Tom Mathews.  These books are not required for the course.

Lecture Series Focus for First Year

Lecture 1: Course Introduction

• Course Introduction
• Meet the faculty
• Why financial literacy?
• Generally accepted of personal finance

 

Lecture 2: Student Loans (August 26^th, 2025 2 HOURS)  EXCEPT FOR TUESDAY AUG 26^th Noon to 2 PM PDT WHICH WILL BE IN

WEGNER HALL ROOM G50.

• Student loan type review
• Student loan repayment options
• Student loan management strategies

 

Lecture 3: Money Basics

• Cover core financial principles: money, wealth, and debt.
• Elastic and Inelastic demand: the impact on the veterinary profession
• Cost of veterinary care

 

Lecture 4: Habitudes

• Explore personal beliefs, habits, and behaviors around money.
• Discuss strategies for different financial habits

 

Lecture 5: The True Cost of Veterinary Education and Budgeting

• Understand the true costs of veterinary school
• Direct and Indirect cost of veterinary school
• Learn budgeting as a decision-making tool to optimize money use.

 

Lecture 6: Credit & Debt:

• Explore interest types
• What is the importance of your credit scores?
• The truth about credit cards and personal debt.
• What is bankruptcy? Understanding

 

Lecture 7: Future Planning:

• Introduction to investing
• Understanding retirement savings
• Investment instruments and determining what is right for you?

 

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Year 2: Protecting our financial wellbeing through planning and risk mitigation and exploring employment opportunities in veterinary medicine (8 hours)

In the second year, the focus is on expanding perspectives by hearing directly from professionals across the veterinary field.  Our lectures will include guests from small and large animal practice, public service, military service, corporate veterinary companies, and other industry roles. Through these experiences, you will learn how career opportunities differ across different settings, what defines a healthy practice culture, and how to recognize financially sound businesses. You will also gain practical exposure to business mechanisms and insurance tools that protect against personal and professional liability, losses, and personal risks. This information will help you learn to make informed choices as you enter the profession.

Supporting Text Year 2: Students will need access to either a copy of The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason or Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill for VM2 Assignment 4

 

Lecture Series Focus for Second Year

Lecture 1: Introduction to Insurance & Risk Management

• Purpose of insurance in risk transfer
• Concept of underinsurance and its potential consequences
• Core principles of coverage

Lecture 2: Professional Liability Coverage

• Why veterinary students and practitioners need liability insurance.
• Case examples of liability claims in practice
• Selecting appropriate levels of coverage

Lecture 3: Personal Health, Disability, and Life Insurance

• Health insurance considerations for veterinarians
• Disability insurance: protecting income and career investment.
• Life insurance options for personal and family security

Lecture 4: Property, Occupancy, and Umbrella Liability Coverage

• Occupancy coverage for clinics and leased facilities
• Personal liability umbrella coverage and when it applies.
• Balancing personal and professional risk coverage

Lecture 5: Exploring Veterinary Career Pathways:  Small Animal & Corporate Practice

• Small animal private practice: structure, rewards, and challenges
• Corporate practice models: benefits, drawbacks, and cultural differences
• Case study comparisons

Lecture 6: Exploring Veterinary Career Pathways: Large Animal & Ownership

• Dairy and mixed large animal practice: lifestyle, risks, and financial dynamics
• Practice ownership vs. associateship: financial and professional considerations
• Transitioning to ownership: timing and preparation

Lecture 7: Exploring Veterinary Career Pathways: Alternative Practices

• Military veterinary medicine: structure, career development, and service obligations
• Exotic animal practice: unique skills, training, and demand
• Specialty practice: advanced training, referral structures, and compensation models

Lecture 8: Veterinary Careers in Industry & Organizations

• Animal health industry: pharma, nutrition, biotech, diagnostics
• Organizational service (AVMA, government agencies, NGOs)
• Career diversification: how veterinarians contribute outside traditional practice

 

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Year 3: The Right Job for You: Aligning Culture, Values, Medicine, and Financial Growth (8 hours)

In the third year, students begin to connect their financial literacy skills directly to the realities of veterinary practice. The student will develop a foundational understanding of how practices generate revenue, manage expenses, and achieve profitability while also learning to recognize and avoid low-profitability (NOLO) practices. Alongside this, students prepare for their own career transitions by refining job-seeking skills, including crafting effective resumes and practicing strategic interview techniques. These experiences help students evaluate potential employers, ask meaningful questions about culture and financial health, and position themselves for long-term success in the profession.

This section of the course is typically delivered in a condensed timeframe over the course of two weeks prior to entering your fourth year rotations.

Lecture Series Content for Third Year

1. Begin with the End in Mind

• Define your personal and professional goals before job hunting.
• Identify what you value in an employer and healthcare team.
• Distinguish between “must-haves” vs. “nice-to-haves.”
• Understand how your lifestyle, debt load, and family obligations affect your choices.

2. Resume Building

• Purpose of a resume: secure an interview, not the job itself.
• Crafting a resume that highlights strengths and value to an employer.
• Tailoring resume content to different job opportunities.
• Common mistakes to avoid.

3. Interview Preparation & Process

• Researching the employer: practice culture, team, community, business model.
• What employers want to know about you (skills, experience, culture fit, motivation).
• Legal vs. illegal interview questions: what’s allowed, what’s not.
• Questions you should ask (mentorship, caseload, support systems, expectations).
• Conducting due diligence before investing time and money in a visit.

4. The Job Offer

• Budget first: know your monthly income needs and debt obligations.
• Elements of a typical veterinary job offer: salary, production, CE, PTO, insurance, signing bonuses, non-competes.
• What’s usually included vs. excluded.
• Expected timelines for reviewing and responding to offers.

5. Negotiating

• Balancing your needs and wants with employer expectations.
• Knowing your deal-breakers (“hard passes”).
• Win-win negotiation principles: compromise, leverage, and shared goals.
• Practice owner perspective: what they expect from a new associate.
• Confidence in knowing your worth—new graduate ≠ less valuable.

6. Mentorship & Coaching

• Importance of ongoing professional development.
• Clarifying what mentorship looks like in practice (structured vs. ad hoc).
• Evaluating how practices support new grads to ensure success.
• Identifying red flags in mentorship promises.

7. Compensation & Benefits

• Common models: salary, production, salary + production.
• Evaluating whether the practice’s caseload supports your earning needs.
• Understanding benefit packages: insurance, retirement, CE, dues, licenses, relocation.
• Identifying your non-negotiables before entering negotiations.

8. Contracts & Legal Considerations

• Anatomy of a veterinary employment contract.
• Red flags:
  • Restrictive covenants (non-competes, non-solicitation).
  • Negative accrual clauses.
  • Inadequate CE or professional expense allowances.
• Recognizing fair vs. exploitative terms.
• When and how to seek legal review.

 

Course Technology Support

Canvas: You can access the course by logging into Canvas through the college portal.  Please check the course Canvas site frequently for any course related materials (syllabus, reading and writing assignments, etc.) or information. We will on occasion, post materials we have encountered that might be useful information for you.

Instructor Communication: Information regarding assignments, schedule changes, etc. will be communicated by e-mail and/or through Canvas.  Please check your e-mail frequently. There will be virtual and in person office hours.  Feel free to use texting as a form of communication.

 

Recommended Text:

There is NO specific text that is required for this course.  A good overview of basic personal financial concepts, managing debt and saving/investing can be found in the following resources:

The instructors will make a number of monographs and other timely material from financial publications available to you through Canvas as appropriate.  

 

 

COURSE ASSESSMENT

There will be a series of assignments that must be completed across the 3 semesters of this longitudinally scheduled curriculum on financial literacy and veterinary business.  All assignments are required and are graded as Pass, Marginal Pass or Fail in keeping with the College of Veterinary Medicine grading policy.

Assignments Year 1, Fall Semester:  

Course Assignment 1: Students will complete the Money Habitudes instrument and write a reflective paragraph addressing what you learned about your attitudes regarding money.  Generalized initial impressions will be discussed in class.

Course Assignment 2: Students will be asked to complete and submit a personal budget for Year 1 of their veterinary education.  They will need to identify core incomes (salaries, family support student loans) and personal/educational/life expenses.

Assignments Year 2, Spring Semester:

Course Assignment 3: Students will write a reflective paper on how they anticipate that their choice of post-graduate professional employment will likely affect their available disposable income, debt service responsibilities and ultimately their net worth.

Course Assignment 4: Students will read and write a 500-word reflective summary of either, The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clayson or to Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.  Please share YOUR thoughts with us on how you might use what you learned from your reading.

Assignments Year 3, Spring Semester:

Course Assignment 5: Students will be asked to anticipate and enumerate the additional expense associated with searching for, securing and relocating to your first position of employment after graduation from veterinary school.  I realize that you won’t know exact prices, but I want you thinking about how your fourth-year budget is going to change during your search for employment.  I also want you to be thinking about the cost of relocating to and setting yourself up for life in a new town in order to start work.

Course Assignment 6: Students will read a monograph on the concept of a No-Lo practice (a practice with no or exceptionally low value) and develop in their own words, a summary of what they have learned, focusing on how to identify and avoid accidentally being employed in a No-Lo business.

 

Grading: This course will be interactive in its conduct. We hope you will want to ask questions.  Grades may be influenced by subjective assessment of student participation.  Satisfactory completion, submission and receipt of the course assignments is essential to receive a passing grade. 

 

Grades will be assigned according to the following criteria:

 

Pass: 

All class assignments are completed, turned in and are judged to be satisfactory,

The student is generally present and contributing to discussions where appropriate.  If quizzes are given, a student would have scored 80% or above on all quizzes. To receive a grade of Pass, all of the three aforementioned evaluative criteria would need to be met.

 

Marginal:

At least six of the course assignments are turned in and are judged to be satisfactory.  Unsatisfactory assignments are those lacking in thought, effort, or which demonstrate a deficient comprehension of the material, etc.

The student is generally present in class but contributions are limited (few questions asked, few comments made.  If quizzes are given a student would need to have scored at least 70% or above on all quizzes to receive a marginal grade.  If any of the above deficits are observed, a student would receive a grade of marginal regardless of how well they had accomplished the other evaluative criteria.  

 

Fail:

Less than six of the course assignments were submitted and found to be satisfactory.  The student doesn’t regularly attend class and make efforts to contribute to the coursework discussions.  If quizzes are given, a student failed to score at least 70% or above on all quizzes to receive a marginal grade. 

 

Tests and quizzes may be utilized if deemed necessary.  Graded test/quiz instruments will only be administered as assessments if class participation becomes so reduced that the instructor cannot ascertain that the participants are engaged and developing a solid understanding of the material.

 

The WSU College of Veterinary Medicine utilizes a modified pass/fail grading system. It is important for you to understand that the pass/fail system does not reflect lower standards or expectations. In virtually all CVM courses, the minimum score required to pass is substantially higher than that required for a ‘D’ or even a ‘C’ in most undergraduate courses, and 80% is not generally considered “B” level work. At WSU, the following designations are used:

• S Satisfactory (Pass)
• M Marginal
• F Fail

 

It is essential that all students understand the meanings of each of these grades and the implications of earning unsatisfactory (M or F) grades in the professional curriculum.  The Academic Standard for the College of Veterinary Medicine is available for your review in our college’s documents.

 

Definitions for Class Grades:

S – Satisfactory performance. Through participation, projects, exams or other means of evaluation, the student has shown that they have gained sufficient knowledge and/or skills in a course.  

M – Marginal performance. An M grade is a minimally passing grade in this course, but it is NOT a satisfactory grade. Any student with an M Grade should refer to the College of Veterinary Medicine Academic Standard policy. 

F – Fail. An F is a failing grade and no credit is assigned for the student’s participation in the course.  Students with a failing grade are referred to the Association Dean for Academic Affairs for advice and direction.   Students receiving a grade of F should refer to the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Academic Standards.

Students with Disabilities: Reasonable accommodations are available for students with documented disabilities or chronic medical conditions. If you have a disability and need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please visit the Access Center website to follow published procedures to request accommodations: http://www.accesscenter.wsu.edu. Students may also either call or visit the Access Center in person to schedule an appointment with an Access Advisor. Location: Washington Building 217; Phone: 509-335-3417. All disability related accommodations MUST be approved through the Access Center. Students with approved accommodations are strongly encouraged to visit with instructors early in the semester during office hours to discuss logistics. 

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Be aware of the University Policies on the use of Chat GPT and similar platforms for completion of assignments and submission of academic work as your own work product.  The provost of Washington State University has posted an academic policy on the use of artificial intelligence in the completion of academic assignments.