Becoming an author, mother, and leader in veterinary medicine

On this week's episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, presented by dvm360, Lynsey Victoria Rinelli, DVM, joins our host, Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, to discuss what her journey to becoming an author looked like. Christman and Rinelli discuss what inspired her to become an author, plus her experience in Alaska, where she participated in the aid of canine racers.

Throughout the episode, the duo tackles what it is like to be a mother in veterinary medicine, highlighting some challenges that mothers face and why women need to empower and uplift each other.

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: Let's take that veterinarian hat off for a moment, and let's talk about the writing cap. What inspired you to start writing?

Lynsey Victoria Rinelli, DVM: I think that time where I wasn't in the clinic and I had nothing to do but take care of my daughter—those 3 months after having her.... We do a certain routine every morning. We go to her window, [and] we say good morning to everything and anything, just to teach her. So, "Good morning, grass. Good morning, sky. Good morning, birds." And just reading to her every night, I [thought]...this would be really fun to try as a second project."

Christman: There [are] so many areas that you can write about...[but] you decided to go into the children's aspect of writing, right?

Rinelli: Yes, that was my first book. I took that aspect and kind of threw it into New York City. I had her during [COVID-19], so it was a hard time where you can't really go to certain places. What do you do with your baby? What do you actually do to show them the world, other than staying at home? So, I [thought that] this is a nice memoir and something helpful for moms to say, "You can still go outside. You can still do the little things and make every day count."

Christman: I can only imagine. To the moms out there, my hat's off to you because dealing with postpartum and dealing with raising the baby and then trying to figure out your...new normal of going back to work and what that might look like as a veterinarian and as a mom. There's gotta be so many challenges, right?

Rinelli: Absolutely. Going back to work was the biggest challenge because, especially in the [emergency department], you go from 0 to 60, and then you're home, and...that's all you do. You're just taking care of your baby. You don't have a million different things that you have to organize through your day, and then jumping back into it without your baby is just a big change.