An inevitable question one encounters over a cup of coffee is this:
"What is your job?"
The usual answers may include: lawyer, teacher, banker, or doctor. Rarely does the title of veterinarian get a seat at the table. A kindergarten dream made into reality, it may seem, is the kind of profession that sounds simple on the surface but carries far more weight than most people realize. But the job is more than just that, and Dr. Geoff Carullo has spent a significant part of his career making sure the next generation of Filipino vets understands exactly why.
His new manual, The Veterinary Business Game Theory, shines a light on a conversation that has long been overdue. Veterinary care is a push toward animal welfare, accessible healthcare for domesticated pets and animals who share this world with us. It is also a business that aims to sustain the ability to provide that care for pet owners and animals nationwide. There are two sides to every coin, and this field is no different. The problem is that most veterinary professionals are trained extensively for one side and left entirely on their own when it comes to the other.
That gap is precisely what Dr. Carullo addresses. The integration of veterinary practice and game theory into a single manual lies not only in commerce but in practicality. It is a book that asks veterinarians to look honestly at the full picture of their profession, not just the clinical work they were trained for, but the systems, decisions, and strategies that determine whether a practice survives or quietly falls apart.
"Di ako nag-se-sell for money. Nagse-sell din ako ng mindset." This line captures the heart of what Dr. Carullo is trying to do. He speaks to the importance of passing wisdom from one seasoned professional to the next as something integral to the pursuit of success in the field. It is not enough to be skilled. It is not enough to care deeply about animals. A veterinarian also needs to understand how a business works, how to lead a team, how to price services without guilt, and how to build something that lasts beyond their own daily effort.
What makes this manual particularly relevant to the Filipino context is its grounded, honest tone. Dr. Carullo does not write from a distance. He writes as someone who has lived inside the realities of veterinary practice in the Philippines, who understands the specific pressures that come with building a clinic in this landscape, and who knows that the challenges facing young Filipino vets are not always the same ones discussed in international textbooks. The local texture of his perspective is one of the book's quiet strengths.
Despite the noise of disputed beliefs and outside judgment, Dr. Carullo urges the young veterinarians of tomorrow to keep a keen eye on what actually matters. There is a nuance to the practice of veterinary medicine and business that often goes undiscussed, and The Veterinary Business Game Theory is where that conversation finally begins. It covers the things that get glossed over in school: how to think about profit without shame, how to communicate value to clients, how to stop being the bottleneck in your own practice, and how to build a career that does not burn you out in the process.
Ideas that once felt tangled and uncertain find new footing in Dr. Carullo's perspective. The book does not promise an overnight transformation or a shortcut to success. What it offers instead is something more durable: a shift in how a veterinarian sees themselves, their work, and their responsibility to the profession. With this book, one does not just learn how to survive the game but how to thrive in it.
For any young vet standing at the start of their career, wondering how passion alone is supposed to translate into a sustainable livelihood, this manual is the conversation they needed to have a long time ago.
By Eowyn Punzalan