Dr. Brendan Clark on Integrative Veterinary Medicine and Navigating the Corporate World

In this episode, Clayton chats with Dr. Brendan Clark, a seasoned veterinary surgeon with over 30 years of experience. Dr. Clark shares his remarkable journey from a large-animal farm vet to the president of the Yorkshire Veterinary Society and a pioneer in integrative veterinary medicine. He recounts the challenges of his early career in a mining town, the stressors of building a multi-generational practice, and his deliberate transition into the corporate sector to protect his team's future. KEY TAKEAWAYS Dr. Clark emphasises the importance of looking for the root causes of illness rather than merely suppressing symptoms with medication. Holistic care doesn't mean rejecting conventional medicine; it involves using every available tool, including nutrition and alternative therapies, to achieve peak health. Just like humans, pets benefit significantly from a varied diet. Feeding the same food every day can lead to nutritional deficiencies and a stagnant gut microbiome. Dr. Clark explains that his decision to join a corporate group was driven by a desire to ensure long-term job security and family-like protection for his 30-member team. There is a vital need for veterinarians to maintain clinical independence and question the ‘science’ presented by large corporations, which is often designed more to sell products than to investigate health. BEST MOMENTS "Stop feeding the same thing day in, day out. Biologically, we're better and able to cope with something that's variety." "Integrative at every level, from the care that pets were getting to the care that we were trying to take for people in the staff room." "I saw the corporate route as a protection for that team. Somebody would step in to continue effectively looking after the team." "Stop just following sales sheets because that's all you're doing. Switch on your clinical brain and start looking at the patient." "Sometimes you need to root and branch cut out the actual cause of that disease within that business, or within that patient." HOST BIO Clayton Payne is an industry veteran of three decades of working in the pet industry. Brought up working in his parents' pet store, Clayton has seen the industry evolve over five different decades and has been on the cutting edge of the industry since the nineties. Building pet businesses from scratch, establishing multi-national distribution chains and having worked in every aspect of the industry, Clayton has a rare insight into the Pet Industry that is rivalled by few. Clayton has been the spearhead of many of the industry's changes and has introduced numerous new concepts to market with a trail of success behind him. He has worked in numerous countries within the pet industry, speaks four different languages and has established both import and export relationships on all continents (excluding Antarctica). As well as being COO of one of the UKs fastest growing insect technology companies, Clayton is a Pet industry consultant who has consulted for many household brands and delivers sales training to pet trade professionals. https://www.linkedin.com/in/clayton-payne-a6772244/ https://www.tiktok.com/@petbusinessdisruptors https://www.youtube.com/@PetBusinessDisruptors This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/