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Mentorship

After reading an article on “What veterinarians and veterinary students really want”, I’ve been assessing the top three things wanted from a veterinary role. After looking into work-life balance and a positive team environment, this article will explore mentorship.

It goes without saying, anything you can do to ease new graduate vets’ transition from studies to practice has huge benefits. I heard some companies are afraid of investing in their employees, as they are concerned they might leave and don’t see the value of their investment in that person. What I think is even worse is if that employee stays and you have not invested in their personal growth.

Simple structure

If we are talking about a clinical knowledge mentoring programme, it can be simple structure. The first and simplest step is a buddy system: team them up with someone experienced who can show them the ropes, and who they can go to for advice and support. Getting them to shadow their mentor for a couple of weeks before throwing them in the deep end is completely worth the money and resources invested.

The second step up would be a buddy system combined with a structured learning programme. This may be developed and run in house. At our hospital we have a programme called the “Accelerate Programme”. It is a 13-week course, each week focuses on a different topic, such as IV fluids endocrine emergencies and ultrasound. All new vets go through the programme.

Courses

The topics have associated readings with questions based on the readings. At the end of the programme is an exam. The readings started simple, we used review articles and textbook chapters – over time this developed into course notes written by graduates of the course. These graduates mentor new vets in the hospital and facilitate the programme.

Numerous online and externally run courses can be used if there is no capacity to run an internally driving course.

For me, mentoring goes beyond talking about clinical advice. As employers, we need to start creating career pathways for our teams; without a vision of what is possible for them they do not have a clue about how they can further contribute and what opportunities are available.

Pathway

The third step after a buddy system and a structured clinical learning programme is a pathway or mentoring associated with career progression. This is after the new staff member is completely competent in all the systems and processes, they are the right fit (this means they understand what they need to do, want to actually do it, have the capacity to do it, and fit the team and culture). From junior to senior, to coordinator or manager, show them what the pathway is, what they need to do and what they need to demonstrate to achieve that. If they are the right person they will do it.

The more we invest in mentoring and coaching our teams to their full potential, the more we benefit from increased productivity, loyalty, commitment and engagement. This boosts team morale, and means empowered and effective team members stay for the long run. A mentorship programme might be the best Christmas present you could give your staff.

December 24, 2018
Positive team environment
In the previous entry, we started to look at the article “What veterinarians and veterinary students really want“, which named work-life balance as the most important aspect for new graduates. This time we look at the second most important: working in a positive team environment.

“Salary will not keep a young vet in a practice with a negative culture,” Landis-Hanna said. “You have to fix the toxicity.”

Fixing a toxic culture is incredibly difficult for someone stepping into a new position. My advice would be, if the culture does not feel right, you have to decide to stay and contribute towards cultivating the culture you want or leave. That might seem a bit black and white, and you may feel you have no choice, but ultimately you do. If you stay and are not mentally prepared for the upcoming challenge it can sour your taste of this great profession of ours.

Stay or go?

I have friends who stayed in workplaces with an unsupportive, negative culture and it has ruined their first impression – they did not leave quick enough. If you decide to stay then give yourself a deadline and start to take action.

If you are a current employee and find yourself in a similar situation, you have the same two choices. If you are the employer and have high rates of staff turnover, stop and reflect, it might be you.

So, you decide to stay. The first thing you have to understand is the only thing you can control is your own attitude and actions. This is the most important part, you control your responses and your actions, so start to demonstrate the things you want to cultivate. Mahatma Gandhi said: “You need to be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

What to do
1. Control your attitude. This applies now, your words and actions are what you control, but they are external manifestations of what you think. Shift your mindset by focusing on the good, finding humour in bad situations, turn failures into lessons, focus on the present, stop the negative self-talk “I am not good at this” to “I am not good at this yet”.
2. Providing positive reinforcement to your work mates. This can feel uncomfortable if you are a new team member, but acknowledge them for their specific actions that impress you.
3. Spread happiness. This can be as simple as smiling and saying hello, and genuinely acknowledging people. Finding humour in situations, I find, helps dramatically.
4. Celebrate the wins. This applies to more than just your own. Celebrate your team members’ wins, celebrate them as a team. If a client gives you chocolates, take them out the back and share them with the team, as they helped contribute to your win.
5. Motivate and support your team. If there is something a team member has not done, support them or show them how. Everyone wants to feel they are learning and progressing, so encourage them and facilitate growth.
6. Gratitude is one of the most powerful ways we can change our perspective on life. When you feel thankful, grateful and content you will feel more satisfied with what you have in life.
7. Kindness. Demonstrate acts of kindness within your team – do something someone else would not expect you to do, or offer to help with something.
No ‘smack talk’

At the hospital we have a rule of “no smack talk” – basically, this means if you would not say something directly to a colleague or pet owner then do not say it at all. It has changed our team culture dramatically as we have eliminated negative talk, which I believe is a real problem in workplaces. Negative talk spreads, and can affect everyone and their performance. It isn’t easy to achieve and it takes time; however, as a team, we are much stronger and positive as a result.

Ultimately, what is important is that your first position is in a positive and supportive environment. Set yourself, your career, up for success – if you feel the culture does not fit with you, make a choice: stay or go.
December 17, 2018
Public health: the less recognised role of vets
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow disease”, hit the news again after an isolated incident was reported in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

In the 1990s, this disease resulted in the mass culling of hundreds of thousands of livestock, devastating the farming community and causing ripples throughout the British economy.

Soaring meat prices, a ban on UK beef exports and sizeable public concern arising from the last outbreak led to extensive media coverage on a topic many people not involved in the medical field rarely entertain.

Not all puppies and kittens

Although you might not think it, food safety and public health are two of the most vital roles vets perform for society.

I feel there’s a common misconception all vets are bound to the same path; when speaking to my uni friends about future careers, they never seem to assume I’ll end up anywhere other than small animal practice – and this may be true for the majority or veterinary graduates, at least those from the UK. Mixed practices are dwindling and veterinary food safety workers are predominantly sourced from overseas.

That aside, veterinary involvement in the food industry is vital in keeping the public safe. Meat having the stamp of approval by professionals trained in parasites and pathology gives the British public – as well as importing countries – confidence in our farmers and serves to strengthen our economy, and build up domestic farmers and their businesses.

Only the beginning

Within the meat industry, the job of a vet is not over once the animal is slaughtered – they are just as involved in death as in life. Zoonotic diseases and parasites can be spread between people and animals, and vets ensure these never reach your supermarket shelves.

At food crisis moments – such as the events that occurred over two decades ago – vets have two main responsibilities:
- A duty of care to those animals who must be put down with a delicate combination of haste and humanity.
- To work with farmers during the financial struggle they will most likely suffer following the loss of a large proportion of their livelihood.
For the many, not the few

Medical bills make up a substantial amount of costs when running a farm, and any vet going into the industry will quickly realise treating a herd animal is a far cry from treating a pet. They need to master the art of putting the needs of the herd over any individual.

Of course, what might be the greatest responsibility of any farm vet is to aid farmers in preventing further outbreaks. To pool the resources of all field areas – researchers, clinicians, food technicians and farm workers – to improve productivity and ensure the continued safety of the public.
October 22, 2018
Corporate vet school
The announcement of a corporate veterinary group’s collaboration with the new Keele University/Harper Adams veterinary school struck a few chords, and seemingly opened a figurative can of worms that (like their literal parasitic counterparts) just doesn’t sit well in my gut.

A few points to consider here, the first of which I have written about before, although not about this particular arrival on the vet school scene.

More vet schools needed?

Do we need more vet schools? The short answer, in my opinion, is no. The employment crisis in the veterinary industry as it stands is multi-faceted – pluck a reason out of the air and it almost certainly has some impact on why practices are begging for vets:
- compassion fatigue
- poor working conditions
- work-life balance
- salary
- lack of long-term prospects
- Brexit
- client pressure
- under-supported young vets
I could talk about any one of these reasons at length (and have done), but, for the purposes of discussing the above gem of veterinary news, I will focus on the last point: support for new graduates or young vets.

Vicious cycle

“This lack of support leads to high stress levels, young vets becoming fed up and looking elsewhere for a different career that provides them with the mental stimulation they desire, but with better support, hours and pay to go with it.” Image © Michael Brown / Adobe Stock

Some practices are excellent at providing a nurturing environment for young vets, but many are not and often not through any fault other than lack of staff.

This lack of support leads to high stress levels, young vets becoming fed up and looking elsewhere for a different career that provides them with the mental stimulation they desire, but with better support, hours and pay to go with it – thus the vicious cycle of extremely talented young people leaving the profession after a few years begins.

Problem solver?

Will opening more vet schools help the staffing problem? No. It is a short-sighted, temporary solution to fill a gap nobody seems to be able to plug. But the more graduates that accept jobs from practices who ideally wanted an experienced vet and can’t source one, the worse the retention problem will become. It is unfair on both parties to take on a new grad if a practice does not have the resources to sufficiently train and help them through their first few years.

To solve the retention problem, the profession needs to improve working conditions and encourage vets to stay, not just find more avenues to farm out new grads to try and bridge the gap.

Are corporates good for the profession?

I could (and probably will) discuss corporates at great length, but there is no clear answer for them being good for the profession. Having been stung with the sore end of the corporate tail once before, I’m inclined to say no, but that would be based on my experience of one particular practice. Conversely, I have colleagues who work for corporate practices that seem to be very well run and provide a great environment for learning.

My opinion is not fact and, to keep it short and sweet, is summarised below:
- The idea behind corporate practices is often well meaning, but does not always work when put into practice. For example, the graduate schemes sound great, but only work if they are implemented correctly on an individual practice level.
- Some corporates are extortionately priced compared to independents – there is a fine line between charging appropriately and taking the biscuit. This is likely exaggerated because many independents have been selling themselves short for years; however, it is not okay to triple prices in a week when an independent practice is taken over. All it does is feed the myth that vets are only in it for the money.
- Long-established corporately owned practices seem to have better client satisfaction than practices newly acquired under a corporate brand as the shock of takeover, staff changes and price increases are long gone.
- Corporates aim to provide better working hours (a four-day week, for example) and flexible working patterns, but, again, this varies on an individual basis.
- The hand of many partners in independent practice has been forced as the profession continues to change. Young people do not have the disposable cash to buy into partnerships, as was the tradition. Corporates have taken advantage of this by buying out those wishing to retire without any new blood coming through.
Corporate practices can vary wildly even within the same group – much of it comes down to the individual practice, as with independents. As much as corporates offer many benefits with their nice shiny contracts, many independents match or better these. Likewise, an independent or corporate practice can be an equally catastrophic place to work in if managed badly at the practice level.

Now, to the elephant in the room…

Should a corporate group be running a vet school hospital?

Is a corporate running a vet school hospital any different from the outsourced rotation format of the other newest veterinary schools – Nottingham and Surrey – whereby they have no on-site university clinic, but rotations are undertaken in nearby hospitals?

“The hand of many partners in independent practice has been forced as the profession continues to change. Young people do not have the disposable cash to buy into partnerships, as was the tradition.” Image © MHChristine / Adobe Stock

The concern with new veterinary schools popping up and proposing this sort of final-year teaching is the associated practices are then less available to provide EMS placements for local students. The purpose-built corporate hospital that is to be partnered with the new veterinary school avoids this particular hurdle in part, at least (there’s no mention of an equine hospital or farm clinic), but is it still a good idea?

Remaining impartial

It comes down to whether the corporate presence is going to be ingrained into the teaching. Will the graduate scheme offered by the group be heavily recommended? Would the business structure and branded drugs be taught to the students?

At university, we were always told to learn drugs not brand names to remain impartial. Would that impartiality be maintained appropriately in a hospital that uses own-branded drugs and whose bigwig advisory boards dictate which products should and shouldn’t be offered?

Encouraging research into all available treatment and diagnostic options is a key aspect of learning and practising evidence-based medicine on rotations.

Familiarity breeds

Even if no direct corporate emphasis exists, surely the undercurrent is going to sway the students into applying for jobs in sister practices under a graduate scheme.

As a new grad, you are bewildered by everything and getting a heads-up on even the smallest of obstacles can make a huge different to your day in the first few weeks. Therefore, simple things, such as the practice management system used in every practice the group owns, may be enough to sway the decision between accepting one of two jobs, simply because using a system you’ve gotten used to on rotations will make your life that bit easier during day-to-day practice.

Conclusion

It remains to been seen if a corporate partnership with the new vet school will be a success for the students under their care and the profession as a whole, and I’ll withhold judgement for now.

However, with predictions corporate takeover will saturate at 70% of practices in the profession, it is undeniable the veterinary landscape is moving further adrift from its once independent roots as the corporate giants continue to tighten their grip.
August 1, 2018
Being a millennial vet

Millennials are stereotypically considered lazy, entitled and always wanting something for nothing. And having previously discussed the many advantages of employing new graduates (and, therefore, millennials), this sort of labelling angers me.

The choices our generation makes are not due to lack of work ethic and naiveté about the future, but rather a reflection on the hand we have been dealt by society.

Recent statistics show the average baby boomer had to save for 3 years for an average-sized house deposit in comparison to the predicted 19 years it would take for millennials to do the same. By the age of 30, the number of millennials still renting is double that of their predecessors in “Generation X”.

At my age, my mother owned a house, had her first child (yours truly) and had been married. I can’t even comprehend the possibility of being able to afford one of those things at this stage in my life, let alone all of them.

We may prioritise our meagre disposable income in different ways, but, despite all the jokes, our love of avocados and lattes are not the reason we can’t afford to get on the property ladder. (For the record, I can’t stand avocado).

Unyielding abyss

It is excruciatingly impossible, says Jordan, to save enough in today’s financial climate to even consider a house deposit. Image © zimmytws / Adobe Stock

It is excruciatingly impossible to save enough in today’s financial climate to even consider a house deposit, while pouring money into the unyielding abyss of renting.

One of the biggest snags in the rental black hole is the deposit and associated agency fees. Shortly after leaving university, I had to magic £1,500 out of somewhere to rent a place close to my first job (and that’s a lot when your bank account hasn’t been above zero since you started uni).

Six months after that, I was faced with having to do the same again because I quit that job.

As vets, we bang on about being happy, having a supportive first job and leaving if it’s not right. That’s all very well, but what if you’re trapped financially?

I didn’t give much thought to my financial situation at the time because I was too unhappy to carry on. While I think it was ultimately the right decision for my mental health, I would carefully consider my situation before doing it again – two months of no salary left me in a very vulnerable position, and if it had been much longer, I would have been in serious trouble.

Luckily, I was offered accommodation for my second job, which was an enormous help, taking the burden of having to find a deposit again off my mind. This is one of the benefits of being a vet as a millennial – very few other jobs would offer a house as part of the package.

If you have to repeatedly uproot and keep forking out for rental deposits every time your circumstances change, it’s easy to appreciate how quickly you can find yourself in a mess.

And for me and my classmates, this is while holding down a respectable job with supposedly “good pay” for someone of the same age. But is the pay all that “good”?

Non-vet friends

My non-vet friends earn varying amounts dependent on their careers or jobs, but these certainly include plenty of non-professionals earning far more than me. However, multiple factors need consideration here.

Those who didn’t go to uni have six years of “work experience” and climbing their respective career ladders more than me. Those who did go to uni have a two or three-year head start, which is significant in certain industries.

While it’s understandable they have had more time to progress in the world of work, that doesn’t entirely quieten the resentment at having put so much money, blood, sweat and tears into a professional degree without the remuneration to reflect that.

And while we may have a decent starting salary in comparison to other graduate roles, we are very quickly overtaken.

The ceiling salary of the GP vet is a much-discussed topic, with an increase in salary seen early on, but thereafter very little difference is seen, despite further years of experience. In the current financial climate, the traditional partnership route becomes less and less tangible for the millennial veterinary graduate.

I struggled to be approved for a credit card, and with the very real possibility of never owning a house, I wouldn’t dream of asking for a loan for the kind of money needed to buy into a practice – and I think I’d be laughed out of the bank if I tried.

For my generation, the type of career, and therefore salary progression, is just not what it has been for previous generations.

Enjoy life in present

Perhaps this is why we value work-life balance more than our predecessors – for them, they worked hard in their early careers because there was a light at the end of the tunnel, being partnership.

Many of my millennial colleagues don’t even consider that as a possibility, with many of us not really knowing what we want to do long-term career-wise, and so we take each day as it comes, not just trying to survive, but striving to enjoy life in the present.

Millennials are all in the same boat – still young adults driving battered cars with bleak property-buying prospects. Image © Deyan Georgiev / Adobe Stock

It deeply upsets me that vets are still perceived as rich money-grabbers. I am not a rich vet, I’m just a millennial, struggling to make headway in an economy set up to put young people on the back foot.

The difference between me and my desk-bound friends, however, is I have the privilege to do a job that I love, and while it comes with all manner of stress, it’s worth it for being able to care for someone else’s beloved pets.

At the end of the day, though, millennials are all in the same boat – we’re still young adults driving battered cars with bleak property-buying prospects.

We didn’t choose to inherit this situation. We’ve drawn the short straw in the birthdate lottery, so all we can do is live the millennial lifestyle and enjoy our lattes and avocados.

May 3, 2018
Should you employ a new grad?
This weekend, I helped out with a talk at SPVS-VMG Congress on employing new graduates.

It gave delegates – vets, VNs, employers and new grads themselves – the opportunity to reflect on how wildly different each new grad’s experience can be, and appreciate the challenges employers face when hiring new grads.

The fact those in attendance had chosen to come to a talk on ensuring practice is right for new grads suggested most of our audience were forward-thinking employers who wanted to provide their new grads with a good start to their career.

The others

However, and sadly, not all employers have that at the top of their priority list. I would like to think such employers – who, as a result, are maybe not treating their new grads well – aren’t doing it maliciously, but rather just don’t have the time to teach and mentor properly, but also don’t have a choice but to take on new grads, given the employment crisis the profession faces.

However, that is still no excuse. I should also mention, of course, the minority of employers that will hire a new grad simply for cheap labour – meaning there is little to no interest in them at all. If you cannot provide adequate support for a new grad, don’t employ one – it isn’t fair on anyone.

My generation

Lazy? Or valuing non-work time? Image © Free Photos / Pixabay

Many of the challenges of employing a new graduate stem from the difference in attitudes between different generations. The new grads moving through the system now are of the “millennial” generation often stereotyped as lazy, entitled and needy.

Being a millennial myself, I inherently disagree with these generalisations – they just need looking at differently:
- We are not lazy, we just don’t want to work horrendous hours. We are more than happy to work strange shifts (evenings/nights), but that doesn’t mean working the traditional expectation of five long days, a full weekend on call and a further five days.
- We are not entitled, we just cannot justify the negatives of the profession long-term. The “love of veterinary medicine“ is very idyllic, but just isn’t sustainable in the real world. We could work less hours, be paid more, take holidays when we want and be paid reasonable sick pay in many other sectors, so why wouldn’t we? It’s not about the money, here – it’s about the injustice.
- We are not needy, we just crave feedback. How do we know we’re doing okay unless you tell us? How do we know how to improve if you don’t guide us?
Wake-up call

Some vets of the older generations still have the attitude of “we had to go through it, so you have to get on with it too” – as though the horror of being left to your own devices, being unable to contact anyone in the middle of the night when you are out of your depth, and the sleep deprivation of internships are just a “rite of passage” of being a new grad. It may be news to these bosses, but the new grads of today just won’t put up with that crap.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result” is a quotation often attributed to Einstein. Whether he ever actually said it is questionable, but it has applications in many walks of life. When these old-style partners still expect their new grads to be on call for 17 nights in a row, is it any wonder there is an employment crisis?

If you want to attract any staff, not just new grads, you’ve got to adapt to the present. Veterinary is changing and the modern new grad doesn’t want – and won’t settle – for the same things they did 50 years ago.

Let’s talk

Support… it’s all we need. Image © 135pixels / Adobe Stock

So, what do new grads want? Well, how long is a piece of string? The simple fact is: we are all different. The key to having a successful working relationship with a new grad is communication and flexibility.

The one thing all new grads want is support, but what that support actually looks like can vary wildly. For example, sometimes the new grad themselves will underestimate or overestimate how much support they need, which is why it is important for the learning process to be continual, with frequent check-ins.

It’s all very well saying I’ll only need second on-call backup for two months, but if, after that time, I still haven’t done a caesarean or calving, how can I be expected to be able to handle it alone?

Of course, this works both ways – new grads need to be upfront and honest about what kind of support they think they need, and practices likewise need to be honest about what they can provide.

If either party are overselling themselves to secure a job/vet, the arrangement will not work out long-term and both of you will be on the hunt again much quicker than you would like.

What we can do

So, why should you bother employing a new grad if you have to put lots of extra effort and time into it compared with employing an experienced vet? We new grads have a lot to offer:
1. We are tech-savvy (usually much more than our older counterparts).
2. We have lots of new ideas and experiences from a variety of placements in different practices.
3. We have up-to-date knowledge since we are fresh out of universities undertaking research into the newest techniques and treatments.
4. We are enthusiastic – despite refusing to put up with the poor working environments of the past, we are yet to become cynical about the veterinary profession.
What we lack is experience – and that is what we ask of you. Sure, the harsh truth may be that you don’t really have a choice in the employment climate as it stands, but if you get it right – and your new grad stays with you for years to come – it will be a true investment.
January 31, 2018
New vet schools are not the solution

We’ve barely had a day of news in the past year that didn’t include Brexit. Yet, do any of us really know what the real consequences will be?

Within the veterinary profession, specific factors are undoubtedly going to be influenced by Brexit, even if we don’t know the extent of these yet. They do, however, include a great deal of legislation on welfare and meat hygiene, but also the future of the UK veterinary workforce.

It has been suggested the proposed coalition of Keele University and Harper Adams for yet another UK vet school may help boost numbers of veterinary professionals in the UK post-Brexit, especially when it is suspected we may be facing a shortfall.

I disagree.

Not a new problem

Is training new vets going to be of detriment to the health and well-being of those in the profession already? IMAGE: GianlucaCiroTancredi/Fotolia.

Yes, the veterinary profession has a shortage of experienced veterinary surgeons right now, but this was the case before the EU referendum was even in the pipeline – SPVS, for example, called for veterinary surgeons to be added to the UK’s shortage occupation list in 2015.

Sure, post-Brexit, it is likely to get worse – for example, the uncertainty surrounding the whole situation is (anecdotally) already seeing some of our EU vets searching for jobs overseas and leaving. This isn’t just “vet news” either – the BBC (despite the ambiguous statistics quoted) also recognised the effects of Brexit on the veterinary profession in an article this week.

But opening new vet schools isn’t the answer. For example, there is increasing awareness in the veterinary profession of the importance of mental health and a resultant expanding of the resources available for those who are struggling.

We also frequently hear buzzwords such as “compassion fatigue” and “burnout”, which we need to do more about.

My point is: we need to look after our current vets. This would prevent them getting tired and fed up, and ultimately leaving the profession – or, at least, leaving a clinical practice role.

Sold the wrong idea?

The Voices from the Future of the Profession report produced by the BVA/RCVS Vet Futures initiative in 2015 stated 50% of recent graduates thought their working lives did not meet their expectations. This disillusionment, set among a feeling of being undervalued, overworked and lacking a good work-life balance (something I’ve written about at length) leads to vets turning to other careers before they have a great deal of experience – this is what should be addressed.

We need to focus on the well-being of the vets we have instead of luring even more school leavers into a profession they have false preconceptions of.

More new graduates will not solve the problem – and this is coming from one. They will simply dilute the profession and struggle because there are less “experienced vets” to mentor them and help them hone their skills and knowledge. Ultimately, a large proportion of these will become stressed and leave within a couple of years – the vicious cycle is thus complete.

Teaching tussles

On a vet school level, irrespective of Brexit, this announcement is too not welcomed. At Glasgow, I have met clinicians that have chopped and changed between vet schools because there aren’t enough experts willing to teach, resulting in a bidding war between the universities.

We now have nine vet schools across the UK and Ireland. The Aberwysth-RVC programme (for which updates on their plans were announced earlier this week) and the Keele-Harper Adams course are only going to add fuel to that fire. Where are we going to suddenly magic up so many more diplomats and EU specialists to teach? Or, for that matter, clinical skills and first opinion teachers?

Couple-of-years-qualified graduates aren’t going to have the same breadth of experience to prepare students for a variety of surgical or clinical scenarios – they are not an adequate substitute.

Reasoning questioned

Is it simply a case of money, as Jordan claims?

The plans for new vet schools is not about saving the profession, nor is it about Brexit. It is down to academic institutions seeking high-achieving school leavers to attract more undergraduates and gain more funding.

It is ludicrous a university can just decide to open a vet school off its own back and threaten the resources of current vet schools, which include teaching staff and the availability of EMS placements, especially since many of the new course models (Nottingham, Surrey and the two proposed courses above) do not have their own teaching hospitals and, instead, use external practices.

It is true the new courses will be monitored and analysed once they have an intake of students to assess whether the graduates will be allowed to practice as veterinary surgeons, but by then, it’s too late.

There needs to be regulation to prevent it getting to that point, for the sake of the profession and the disillusioned school leavers applying en masse to these new courses.

July 30, 2017
The gender pay gap – don’t put up with it
I used to consider myself a bit of an anti-feminist – but before the majority of the profession tear strips off me, let me explain…

There are a number of very strongly opinionated feminists around – on your Facebook feed, in the news and also friends or colleagues – you know the type; those who rant on and on about how a builder whistled at them when out running or how it’s disgusting women can’t walk home alone at night without fearing some sort of assault.

Don’t get me wrong, these are issues that shouldn’t be ignored – but by the time I’ve read the 17th Facebook essay about an objectifying song lyric, it starts to get a bit boring.

Keyboard warriors

In my opinion, these sort of things need to be considered sensibly.

Yes, it’s horrible we live in a world where a female is less safe than a male at night in a city, but what are you going to do about it?

Moaning on Facebook isn’t going to save your life. Swallowing your pride and spending a couple of quid on a taxi, instead of walking, might.

I hated being associated with these hardcore, self-proclaimed feminists, because I think those who aren’t campaigning for equality – but are just man haters – give the rest of the female population a bad name.

The ‘real’ working world

I also used to be naive to things like the gender pay gap, because it didn’t affect me at the time. However, now I’m about to enter the “real” working world, in a predominantly female profession, a recent headline caught my eye.

An article in The Guardian regarding the gender pay gap of university graduates stated: “Women who studied veterinary science experienced the widest gap, earning about half as much as their male counterparts”.

I’m not really sure about the accuracy of the study they refer to, and I’m certainly not aware of such a drastic gap among any of my colleagues, but it did get me thinking.

For new grads, I struggled to see how there could be such a gap, where so many internships and graduate programmes having standardised remuneration packages. However, concerning those who are a few years into their careers, there is the theory women are less likely to ask for pay rises than men.

In this day and age

Hardcore, self-proclaimed, man-hating feminists who aren’t campaigning for equality give the rest of the female population a bad name, says Jordan. IMAGE: dundanim / Fotolia.

The pay gap is undoubtedly noted across the profession as a whole, with the SPVS Salary Survey in 2014 noting a gap of 10%.

This begs the question, why? How on earth, in the 21st century, despite being a predominately female profession, can there be this difference?

This does, of course, depend on what is being taken into account.
- Do men progress quicker to partnership roles?
- Are there more men than women in these senior positions?
- Is that accounting for the increased number of women in part-time veterinary work compared to men?
We have a private profession where salaries vary so much depending on the employer, the value of an employee to a practice, location, and other benefits or job perks. Therefore, it is hard to speculate without being able to compare colleagues with similar abilities and experience in like-for-like roles.

Unacceptable

All that aside, there certainly is a pay gap in some form within the veterinary profession, and this is unacceptable. It should be unacceptable in any profession.

Maternity leave may well be inconvenient and expensive for employers, but that should not result in discrimination, purely for being born female.

To all the veterinary feminists out there, instead of getting angry at the world, do something for yourself and for the rest of us in the profession – ask for the pay rise you deserve and do not allow yourself to be undervalued purely because nature made you this way.

Don’t put up with financial discrimination. There are enough women in the profession to drive a change, and that we should do.
June 30, 2017
Preconceptions

Many preconceptions about the veterinary profession exist, with many of us having heard the old “is that seven years of training?” or “vets are all loaded” comments (cue eye roll). But what about on a personal level?

Now I’ve finished vet school and passed (yippee!), I’ve been faced with a couple of misconceptions when I’ve told people I’m a qualified vet (pending graduation).

Most frequently – and from almost every person who didn’t already know I’ll be starting a mixed job – I’ve been faced with the assumption I’ll be a small animal vet. After the fourth time this happened, I started to wonder…

Do I have the “smallies vet” look? Is there even a “look”?

I always thought I had the look of an equine vet, if anything. Is it because I’m slight and average height? Perhaps it is assumed someone of my build couldn’t possibly wrestle a sheep or calve a cow.

Old-fashioned ‘values’

Perhaps the prejudice stems from deeper than that. Is it because I’m female?

Despite the proportion of graduates entering the profession now being 80% female, I think the public still expects a farm or mixed vet to be male. Why? A simple misconception or an age-old prejudice whereby it is assumed men are more intelligent than women?

So far, I have been lucky to have never found myself in a demeaning situation in veterinary practice in the UK because of my gender (other than having to clarify it to avoid assumptions based on my name alone). I do, however, have colleagues who have been faced with sexism in a veterinary context.

Maybe it just hasn’t happened to me yet, or maybe I’m too bloody-minded to notice. I think that’s why the assumptions about my career choice took me by surprise.

Midlife crisis

Another odd question I was asked recently was: “Are vets like GPs – arrogant middle-aged men?”

I didn’t really know how to answer that…

Yes, there are older vets (not always men) who have something of a superiority complex and view internships as a rite of passage, whereby it is to be expected to be overworked and underappreciated and, because they went through it once – and have progressed in their career – they now have the right to treat the interns like dirt.

So yes, I guess so. There’s no question many of these exist, but many more wonderful, experienced vets exist who remember how hard it was in the beginning and try to help, teach and guide you where they can.

The veterinary profession is changing and, although it might take a while for the preconceptions to catch up, the public view of it will change too. Maybe I’m wrong and I’ll still be fighting the assumptions 40 years down the line.

Like they say, to assume makes an ass out of u and me!

June 18, 2017
Stitches

Legality within the veterinary profession can be a bit of a minefield, especially when it comes to things like drug licensing. This leaves many new graduates in fear of doing something against the law without even realising.

However, while some veterinary legal principles are complicated but clear, others are genuinely vague, leaving us unsure on where we would stand in a court of law.

A stab in the dark

It was recently reported that stab victims, scared of the inevitable police involvement if they were to present at A&E, were turning to vets to have their wounds sutured, albeit at a handsome price of about £200. While the morality of doing a procedure such as suturing on people may be questionable, the legality certainly is.

The RCVS clearly states vets are not legally allowed to prescribe pharmaceutical products for people, but they have no specific guidelines on wound treatment.

It could be argued that, ethically, suturing should involve the use of some form of local anaesthetic (either by a local block or a transcutaneous patch) and, therefore, cannot be allowed as this would involve drug administration.

However, that’s not to say a person can’t consent to old fashioned gritting their teeth and bearing temporary pain for the sake of saving a four-hour wait in A&E.

Friend or foe?

For those who could be potentially incriminated if they sought medical help at a hospital, you can sort of understand why they’d ask someone else, like a vet, for stitches. But they aren’t alone…

A number of vets who become injured either on the job, or elsewhere, will seek the help of their colleagues, rather than take the majority of a day off to wait for the NHS to achieve a vastly similar result. After all, vets are pretty damn good at suturing and would arguably do a better job than the junior doctor on an emergency ward.

You could discuss the ethics of whether a vet should help someone who needs medical attention in varying situations and whether they are legally allowed to do so. However, charging for the service is an altogether different matter – stitching up a fellow vet, or even a family member, wouldn’t raise the question of fees, but a stranger who walks in off the street?

Cash in hand

A BBC article from 3 March (Stab victims ‘paying vets to stitch up their wounds’) reported the “going rate” to be around £200 – does this not infer the image of an underground medical procedure market, whereby vets can earn a bit of extra cash to extend their services to animals of the two-legged kind?

You have to admit, when you consider the rough cost of a bitch spay at around £150 (weight and complication-dependent), that figure has quite an impressive profit margin. Once a vet charges for the privilege, it becomes a business venture, not just an act of goodwill.

Stab victims are reportedly turning to vets to have their wounds sutured, in an attempt to avoid police involvement. IMAGE: vzmaze / fotolia.

And yet the NHS is screaming for help in A&E departments. With average waiting times at an extreme high, it’s begging prospective patients to consider whether their ailments are worthy of the emergency room or whether they could be seen elsewhere – the GP, minor injuries, pharmacy… and now the vet?

By applying skills used on animals every day, would vets not be easing some of the burden on our struggling NHS?

Risky business

But what if something went wrong? An infection of a wound, of which the bearer couldn’t explain who sutured it, should surely raise some eyebrows – and, after all, with vets being legally unable to prescribe drugs to people, the injured party could not return to the surgeon responsible and ask for antibiotics.

This is where the legal grey area becomes pertinent. Where would a vet stand if sued for wound breakdown? Members of the Veterinary Defence Society are supported for claims against their actions involving animals… but humans?

There are a lot of unanswered questions that, for me, make conducting procedures such as suturing on members of the public too risky.

Final decision?

It may be different if it were a colleague or close family member who understands the trust he or she is putting in you to do a “simple” procedure works both ways. However, even then, it’s not without elements of risk.

On a wider scale, should we, as a profession, be seen to advocate such practice? Or should our representing bodies be defining the limits of our medical interventions and reprimanding those who see the injured public as a business opportunity?

But then, would we live in even more fear of being prosecuted just for helping a fellow vet who knows full well what he or she is agreeing to?

March 20, 2017