Dogs, cats and recently even hedgehogs have been under the care of Łukasz Prost, who runs the ProVet animal clinic in Warzymice near Szczecin.

 

Veterinary medicine is his true vocation. I grew up in a family of animal doctors. My grandfather used to work and my father still works as a veterinarian, he says. Łukasz learned the profession at the Veterinary Medicine Faculty of the University of Life Sciences in Lublin and gained his hands-on experience as a trainee at an animal clinic in Szczecin and at the Elwet Veterinary Clinic in Warsaw. He says that it has always been his dream to open his own animal clinic.

 

The ProVet Veterinary Clinic was launched on 8 June. Apart from Łukasz Prost, the team of veterinarians comprises his father, Maciej Prost, and fiancée, Katarzyna Adamczyk (providing services as self-employed). Each of them made their own financial contribution to the clinic. Łukasz Prost received a grant from the Employment Office to run his first business, Maciej Prost obtained a loan under the Klon project of the Polish Entrepreneurs Foundation. They also invested their own savings in the business. Those funds were used mainly for purposes of converting the premises into a clinic as well as purchasing state-of-the-art specialist veterinary equipment, including inhalational anesthesia devices. Although safer than traditional methods, inhalational anesthesia is used only by few animal clinics.

 

Quick access to professional veterinary care is always important not only for the physical health of our four-legged pets but also for their psychological comfort, believes Łukasz Prost. That is the reason why his clinic offers not only the basic veterinary services but also ultrasound scan, X-ray and surgery treatment. Such solutions enable me to take prompt action when it turns out after the first consultation that the patient requires surgery immediately, he says.

 

The clinic also offers dentistry, orthopedics, regenerative medicine and exploratory laparotomy services in addition to castration and sterilization.

 

Łukasz Prost is of the opinion that it was necessary to build a veterinary team for the same reason as in the case of surgical treatment of people, to perform operations. Such a model enables us to reduce the time of surgery treatment and the accompanying recovery procedures to the minimum.

 

Running an animal clinic on his own also involves cooperation with a veterinary wholesaler, a lab or companies which build databases for chipped and vaccinated animals.

 

A system of online appointments makes the life of the owners of animal patients easier. Instead of calling the clinic, whose line is frequently busy, one may make an appointment in three simple steps using their smartphone, says Łukasz Prost.

So far, more than 500 animal patients have visited ProVet. More than ten are treated by the vet in Warzymice daily. My clinic is becoming increasingly popular in and around Szczecin. However, the largest number of my animal patients visit the clinic on recommendation, notices Łukasz Prost. At the same time, he admits that winning the trust of and assuming responsibility for the patient are of key importance in this profession.

 

From the business point of view, the ability to offer veterinary services and manage the clinic at the same time is the most difficult part, says Łukasz Prost.

 

The owner of ProVet is planning to broaden the range of services offered by the clinic in the future, to include endoscopy and physical therapy, also low level laser therapy. This will require employment of new animal doctors and technical staff. But surviving the first year on the market is definitely our number-one priority at present, he concludes.

 

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