A ‘Day-in-the-Life’ TranscribeAI Story

This is an example scenario, but if you’re an associate DVM or VDM, the challenges may feel familiar.

Dr. Martinez is a full-time associate at a four-doctor small-animal GP. She sees 18-22 appointments a day: wellness visits, sick exams, chronic rechecks, the occasional “can you just take a quick look at this bump?” squeeze-in. She cares deeply about clean medicine and clear records.

What she’d rather not care about is reopening charts at home around 9 p.m.

Before adopting TranscribeAI, her days followed a predictable pattern: Stay in clinical flow during appointments, then pay for it later in documentation cleanup. After implementing doctor-controlled AI tools embedded directly in the SOAP workflow, the pattern changed. 

That’s not because she tried a new brand of high-caffeine energy drink and worked faster. It changed her entire workday because the system stopped separating documentation from everything else.

Here’s what that shift looked like across a typical day.

7:45 a.m. The chart backlog

Before, our associate DVM started most mornings with unfinished SOAPs, not entire charts. There were just enough incomplete sections to require reconstruction. She’d try to remember how the client phrased the appetite change. Whether vomiting was daily or intermittent. Whether she had discussed a two-week recheck or a month.

Then she’d cross-check the invoice. Was the cytology charged? Did the nail trim make it on there? One small item was missing, and she’d fix it. The day hadn’t officially started, and she was already reconciling yesterday.

After implementing TranscribeAI with Shepherd, that morning ritual disappeared because documentation had happened during the visit, not afterward. Ambient AI captured the conversation in real time and drafted it into structured SOAP fields inside the PIMS.

No copy/paste, and no second application. She reviewed, assessed, and edited before locking the SOAP (always doctor-controlled), but she wasn’t rebuilding cases from memory. When she left at the end of the day, the patient’s charts were complete.

9:10 a.m. Sick visit: vomiting dog

Before, sick visits were where documentation drifted. The patient’s owner would explain the timeline while Dr. Martinez typed quickly, trying to keep up. She’d capture most of it, but small nuances got lost as she shifted her attention to the human and dog and back to the keyboard.

She’d recommend bloodwork and Cerenia, maybe fluids. The tech would begin treatment while she moved to the next room. She’d double-check the invoice to ensure injections were added. Discharge instructions required rewriting. The SOAP and the invoice were separate tasks.

After adopting TranscribeAI, she focused on listening. The system captured every word during the exam and drafted it directly into the correct SOAP sections. When care was documented, Shepherd kept the treatment plan, invoice, and discharge in sync so fewer charges and details slipped through.

By the time she walked out of the room, the SOAP was nearly complete. She reviewed and refined. The invoice already reflected what was performed. Discharge instructions built from the documented plan in real time. No reconciliation later.

10:30 a.m. Chronic derm recheck

Chronic cases used to be documentation-heavy. She’d scroll through prior SOAP notes, hunting for medication changes and cytology history. Compliance notes lived in narrative paragraphs. Before the appointment even began, she felt behind.

With SummarizeAI available inside the record, she now sees a structured snapshot of key history before entering the room: weight trends, prior dosing changes, missed rechecks, and relevant lab findings. No tab hunting. No mental reconstruction.

During the visit, TranscribeAI captures the client’s update on flare frequency and medication adherence. Cytology charges populate automatically when added. Inventory updates as products are administered. The SOAP drives the workflow instead of trailing behind it.

12:15 p.m. The busy hour

Midday used to be when everything unraveled. Multiple rooms with patients waiting, hospital updates, and callbacks waiting. Belly growling for lunch. Documentation getting abbreviated with the familiar thought: “I’ll finish this later.”

But later meant reconstructing context, asking the tech what was given, confirming charges, and rewriting discharge. It wasn’t the medicine that drained her. It was the duplication.

Now, documentation happens in real time. She talks through findings and recommendations. The system drafts into structured SOAP fields. Second nature software runs alongside her, quietly keeping SOAPs, invoices, discharge, reminders, and payments aligned as she moves through the visit. She closes one room and moves directly to the next without a loose end following her.

2:40 p.m. Lab integration

Before, lab workflows meant extra steps: Orders placed, requisitions generated, results later manually documented, and charges occasionally double-checked. Small disconnects accumulated.

Now, labs integrate directly into the plan inside the SOAP workflow. Requisitions are generated from documented treatments. Results tie back into the record without a separate entry. Because everything originates from the SOAP plan, billing aligns automatically. There’s no “Did we forget to charge for that heartworm test?” moment at the end of the day.

4:15 p.m. The ‘quick ear check’

Every associate knows the surprise add-on. The nurse appointment that becomes “Can the doc just look at his ears real quick?” Before, these quick checks meant quick documentation, which meant incomplete SOAP entries and forgotten small charges. Later, someone would realize the ear cleaning wasn’t billed.

With TranscribeAI drafting during the exam and treatments added directly inside the SOAP plan, the ear cleaning flows onto the invoice automatically. If it’s in the medical record, it’s on the invoice. Automatic accuracy doesn’t rely on memory; it relies on workflow alignment.

5:58 p.m. End of shift

Before, the final minutes of the shift were rarely the actual end. Three incomplete SOAPs. Two invoices need verification. Discharge instructions require edits. She’d stay 45 minutes late, then, after heading home, she’d still be working on notes at the kitchen table. This was not because she was slow, but because documentation and billing were disconnected processes.

Now, she checks the dashboard. All SOAPs are complete, invoices are aligned, discharge sent, and reminders are scheduled. Reporting reflects the day accurately because the system captured care as it happened. If she has a question, in-app support is available without leaving the screen she’s working on. She logs off. No reopening charts after dinner.

What actually changed?

Dr. Martinez didn’t suddenly type faster. She didn’t lower her documentation standards. She didn’t cut clinical corners. What changed was structural.

Documentation occurred during the visit when the SOAP drove the treatment plan. The treatment plan flowed to the invoice. Discharge instructions generated from documented care. Inventory updated automatically. Labs integrated seamlessly. AI remained doctor-controlled and embedded inside the PIMS (optional, editable, and transparent).

The associate DVM reality

If you’re an associate, you’re likely thinking: “Will this handle my real day?” That’s the right question. The real test isn’t a scripted wellness demo. It’s the busy hour, the chronic derm recheck, the squeeze-in ear exam, the hospitalized patient update.

When documentation, billing, discharge, and reminders stay aligned through all of that, you don’t take charts home. If they don’t, you’re doing the work twice.

The outcome

Dr. Martinez still sees the same number of patients with the same complexity and same expectations. The difference is that she finishes SOAPs during the visit, charges align automatically, fewer details slip through, and she leaves on time most days.

This isn’t because she rushed; it’s because the workflow stopped fighting her.

TranscribeAI captures every word during the exam, letting her focus on her patients and actively listen rather than splitting attention between conversation and keyboard. When documentation feeds directly into treatment plans, invoices, and discharge instructions, the end of the day is just that: the end. Which, as every vet knows, is just the beginning of YOU time, when you find that elusive work-life balance.

If your current system makes you feel like you’re practicing medicine in one place and reconciling it in another, it’s not a speed issue. It’s a structure issue.

And structure is what protects your evenings.