18 Sep Meet TVMA member Dr. Joanne Hibbs
Dr. Joanne Hibbs is with Tazewell Pike Animal Clinic. She has been a TVMA member for 32 Years.
Do you have a particular practice area of interest? Client Education. I feel that educating our clients is one of the most important things we can do. I often get accused of spending too much time in the exam room with my clients. I want to be sure they are well informed on preventative care and diseases.
What is one professional goal you have for yourself in the next 5 years? I am not generally a goal oriented person, but I make a lot of plans. I have several on-going plans: 1) To find ways to increase our clinic’s humanitarian fund. 2) To set aside time weekly to read current veterinary literature. 3) To actively support our local Veterinary Associations.
What are your hobbies outside of work? I enjoy spending time outdoors, hiking, raising goats and herding sheep with my border collie.
What is one personal goal you’ve set for yourself in the next year? I would like to hike all the trails in the Smokies. I have a bad habit of hiking the same ones all the time. So my goal is to hike all the rest.
Most recent book you’ve read? The Girls of the Atomic City. My parents met in Oak Ridge during WWII and I grew up there. This book gave me a different perspective on stories my parents had told me.
When you have time to watch TV, what’s your guilty pleasure? I love to watch episodes of The Voice preferably that have been DVR’d.
Do you have an especially memorable/humorous client story you’d like to share? One of our clients gave her German Shepherd her medication in peanut butter. She would scoop out the peanut butter on a spoon and put the meds in it. Unfortunately, the dog ate the peanut butter and the spoon in one swallow! After we retrieved the spoon the patient recovered nicely and she decided not to give medication with a spoon ever again. Since then, I have discovered other clients give their dogs medication the same way. Needless to say I highly recommend against it.