Justine Lee steps back as VETgirl enters its next chapter
Bottom line
CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: VETgirl co-founder Dr. Justine Lee is stepping down from her role as director of medicine and marking the transition publicly as a retirement from day-to-day leadership, while emphasizing that VETgirl’s education mission will continue under co-founder Dr. Garret Pachtinger. In the farewell podcast highlighted by VETgirl, Lee said she set an official retirement date of July 2 and described the episode as her “last official podcast,” while Pachtinger said she would remain welcome back for future appearances and events. The conversation also pointed readers beyond VETgirl U 2026 in Salt Lake City, which Lee described as her last official event in this role, to VETgirl U 2027 in Scottsdale, Arizona. VETgirl’s broader footprint helps explain why the change stands out: the company says it delivers more than 150 hours of new live CE annually, hosts more than 1,000 hours in its on-demand library, and has logged more than 5.5 million podcast downloads. (vetgirlontherun.com)
Why it matters: Leadership transitions at major CE providers can have ripple effects for veterinarians, technicians, and practice teams that rely on those platforms for practical, RACE-approved education. For veterinary professionals, the key takeaway is continuity: VETgirl is signaling that its programming, certificate offerings, and in-person conference plans remain in place as Pachtinger takes the lead, with future events already being teased publicly. That matters in a workforce environment where accessible CE, leadership training, and flexible learning tools are increasingly tied to retention, team development, and patient care. (vetgirlontherun.com)
What to watch: Watch how visibly Pachtinger reshapes VETgirl’s educational strategy after VETgirl U 2026, which ran June 19-21, 2026, in Salt Lake City, and whether plans for VETgirl U 2027 in Scottsdale become part of a broader next-phase message for the brand. (withorbital.com)
CURRENT FULL VERSION: A familiar face in veterinary continuing education is stepping back. Dr. Justine Lee, co-founder of VETgirl, has announced her retirement from her leadership role as director of medicine and former CEO, framing the moment as both a farewell and a handoff to co-founder Dr. Garret Pachtinger. In VETgirl’s announcement, the transition is positioned less as an endpoint for the brand than as the start of its next chapter. (vetgirlontherun.com)
The move lands at a notable moment for VETgirl, which has grown well beyond its early podcast-and-webinar identity. In a 2023 company announcement, VETgirl described itself as being founded by two board-certified veterinary specialists and said it provides more than 150 hours of new live CE each year, maintains more than 1,000 hours of on-demand content, and has surpassed 5.5 million podcast downloads. The company has also expanded into leadership programming and certificate-based education, underscoring how central it has become for clinicians and veterinary technicians looking for flexible, practical CE outside traditional conference models. (vetgirlontherun.com)
The farewell message also tied Lee’s exit to VETgirl U 2026, promoted as her last official event in this role. But the company’s own signing-off podcast added more specificity: Lee said she had set an official retirement date of July 2 and described the episode as her “last official podcast.” In the same conversation, Pachtinger stressed that she would still be invited back for future podcasts and conferences, and said that because the episode was being released after VETgirl U 2026, listeners could look ahead to VETgirl U 2027 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Independent event listings and VETgirl materials show the 2026 conference was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, with main programming June 19-21, 2026, and pre-conference masterclasses on June 18. Conference materials also show both Lee and Pachtinger on the 2026 program, reinforcing that the transition is happening in public view, in front of one of the company’s core professional audiences. (withorbital.com)
The podcast also filled in some of the personal history behind the handoff. Lee, an emergency critical care specialist and toxicologist, used the episode to revisit how she and Pachtinger first connected years ago when he was a veterinary student at the University of Pennsylvania and she was finishing her residency. She described that origin story as an example of how relational veterinary medicine can be, a theme that helps explain why VETgirl’s transition messaging has leaned so heavily on continuity and shared history rather than abrupt change.
While VETgirl’s announcement is celebratory, it also reflects a broader reality in veterinary business: founder-led education companies eventually have to prove they can outlast the personality at the center of the brand. In this case, VETgirl appears to be preparing that argument carefully. Its current help-center materials continue to promote a free basic membership tier, role-based discounts, multiple certificate programs, and CE tracking tools, all signals that the company’s infrastructure is bigger than any one speaker or executive. The signing-off podcast reinforced that point in a more promotional way, opening with a 14-day free access offer to webinars and resources without requiring a credit card, another sign that the company is still actively feeding its membership funnel even as a founder steps back. (help.vetgirlontherun.com)
Public reaction located through available web sources was limited, but Pachtinger’s recent public posts around VETgirl U suggest he is already serving as a visible face of the brand, especially around conference promotion and community engagement. That doesn’t amount to a formal strategic roadmap, but it does support the company’s message that leadership continuity is already in motion rather than still being planned. Based on the available sources, that’s the clearest industry signal so far. (linkedin.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this isn’t just a personnel story. It’s a reminder of how dependent the profession has become on digital CE ecosystems that blend clinical updates, leadership development, credentialing support, and community. If a major platform changes leadership smoothly, that stability helps practices and individual clinicians who count on predictable access to CE credits and usable training. If the transition leads to shifts in content priorities, pricing, or audience focus, those changes could be felt quickly by veterinarians, technicians, and managers who use VETgirl as part of their ongoing professional development. (vetgirlontherun.com)
There’s also a workforce angle. VETgirl has invested in leadership content, discounted access for some professional groups, and certificate programs that speak directly to career growth and skill-building. In a profession still grappling with burnout, staffing strain, and retention pressure, those offerings matter because CE is no longer just about licensure compliance. It’s increasingly part of how teams support confidence, advancement, and culture. A leadership transition at one of the better-known CE brands therefore carries implications beyond branding alone. The fact that VETgirl is already publicly pointing to its next conference cycle in Scottsdale suggests it wants users to focus as much on continuity of programming as on the founder farewell itself. (vetgirlontherun.com)
What to watch: The next signal will be whether VETgirl keeps its current pace and mix of clinical, leadership, and certificate programming under Pachtinger’s leadership, and whether future conference messaging after June 2026 places him clearly at the center of the brand’s next phase. Plans for VETgirl U 2027 in Scottsdale, already mentioned in the farewell podcast, will be one early test of how that next phase is presented publicly. (linkedin.com)