Author: Kele Harris
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Staff retention: double or quits?
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The recruitment problem in the veterinary profession is omnipresent and as crippling as ever. The most recent method of trying to tackle the shortage is the announcement of the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science’s dual intake. The university has opted to enrol 150 undergraduates in September – as many institutions do…
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First time for everything
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I’ve been lucky enough to not, until very recently, have a patient die on the operating table. Nothing quite prepares you for what you experience in that moment you realise the animal is crashing. We had CPR training at uni, we run through the practice crash box to refresh everyone of what’s in it, and…
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The client from hell
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“Never work with children or animals,” advised WC Fields – I think I’d be inclined to add “the public” to that. While, on the whole, my client interactions have been good, every now and then you do get the occasional nutter. I’ve had drunk clients, barely able to stand up, let alone comprehend their half-bald…
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It’s new grad season already
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Believe it or not, now is the time of year when a lot of soon-to-be-graduated vets will start looking around for what’s available in terms of job prospects. Graduation may not occur until early summer, but many keen beans like to feel organised and get hunting already. The veterinary recruitment crisis is ever-present and, in…
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OOH providers: a godsend or a nightmare?
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Many small animal practices use external out-of-hours (OOH) providers. This can work in a number of ways, and carries advantages and disadvantages for both the clients and staff. On the whole, using an OOH provider is considered better for staff as it eliminates the need to be on call – particularly good if the thought…
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What’s in a name?
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We put a great deal of thought into naming our pets. We want something that will suit them – be that their breed, colour or personality – but it can be difficult to come up with something suitable, especially if they’re young kittens or puppies and you aren’t sure what they’ll look like in adulthood.…
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Dealing with a dreaded ‘Christmas clear-out’
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While Christmas is, on the whole, a joyous time of year, for vets it can be quite the opposite. Besides the expected chocolate poisonings and other festive fiends, we also get what some vets may refer to as the “Christmas clear-out”. For those who haven’t twigged, this is the inevitable increase in euthanasias at this…
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Who watches the Watchdogs?
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The Watchdog “expose” on buying veterinary drugs online had a lot of the veterinary community quite confused – many stories are dramatised for television, but framing the piece as an undercover report didn’t really sit right with a lot of us, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the way the report was filmed insinuated vets…
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Tackling the loneliness
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As a new graduate vet, you face many challenges – not all of which are related to your working environment and clinical experience, or knowledge. Not only are you embarking on the very first steps of a career with a phenomenally steep learning curve in the first few months, but you’re also faced with the challenge…
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Rest, relax and recharge
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As a final-year student applying for jobs, or as a newly graduated vet, one piece of advice that will come up time and again is “book a holiday”. Some will advise you not to rush straight into a job from university – “you won’t get the chance to take a long break once you start…