Practice policies to help new grads

RE: Practice policies to help new grads

Gareth C. — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 18:07:18 GMT

Vetsure have launched a very good online training scheme (for employers) and protocol to follow

RE: Practice policies to help new grads

Michael Woodhouse — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 16:16:07 GMT

I think the biggest thing determining this is the individual being supported. It's a 2 way process because they need to be given sufficient levels of support without stifling their development or leaving them unable to cope with the unusual on their own.

Interesting point regarding time for a bitch spay. Some kind of survey might be interesting. We have a girl working for us coming up to a year qualified and she's a nice fast surgeon. She replaced a girl 3 years qualified who would regularly take 90-120 mins to spay a bitch. There was just so much messing about. She never got any faster despite me (and others) speaking to her about it, tired some friendly leg pulling. She was just slow (lovely girl and a safe pair of hands, but slow).

Make sure they've read the 2 little booklets the VBF/Vetlife booklets they did for charity with lots of tips (although I disagree with a few of them).

I think keeping things as open and friendly whilst 'managing' the pressure is the best solution. Everyone talking about cases means we all know what's happening with complex or difficult cases. If I'm free when they are operating then I'll pop in and see how things are going, maybe have a little chat, but try not to interfere too much.

For the farm stuff we do quite a lot of shadowing and going out as 2 vets when we can, if it's anything different or unusual.

I think with students (vet and nurse) sometimes the build up to doing something can be worse than doing it. I'll quite often get the dog on the table, raise the vein and get the student to induce and tube. They seem to do better than if I tell them about it in advance. Same with operations and vet students, I'll note suitable ops myself, but only tell them immediately before (sometimes once the dog is asleep) that they are doing it.

RE: Practice policies to help new grads

Jill Butterworth — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 19:27:19 GMT

The '3 consultations rule' was lifted as a recommendation from the book 'Top 100 Consultations'. I wasn't meaning that the case should be taken away, but have been discussed. That could include on a forum ;)

RE: Practice policies to help new grads

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 17:11:16 GMT

I always remember that if the senior vet walked in when I was operating I could guarantee that I dropped something or touched the table with the suture material. I think the best help for young graduates are mentors and buddies near their own age and with older vets willing to back that up by offering support and encouragement in a non judgemental manner and in a confidence building manner.

Policies are all very well but every graduate is unique and needs different degrees of direction and support. Practice meetings to create protocols for common problems helps too and bonds the team. This is a big subject and one I really enjoy. Great topic for discussion Jill .

RE: Practice policies to help new grads

KathW — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 17:10:46 GMT

As an aside what would people think is a reasonable amount of time for a new graduate to take for a slim pre season bitch spay and a cat spay In their first 2-3 months of work.

What's a reasonable time for these ops 12 months on?

Not advocating clock watching or looking for world records to be broken but I've seen a huge variety of times taken. Our practice tends to offer whatever assistance needed in the first few weeks and always has another vet in theatre to assist and monitor the first few ops done but then the new grads tend to get left unless they ask for help with an operation. They have varied a lot in time taken for these ops.

Im wondering if a more structured approach early on would help them develop better techniques to smooth some of the problems encountered during routine surgerie.

RE: Practice policies to help new grads

Stephanie Wellings — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 16:32:32 GMT

We don't have a practice policy and I think it's very dependant on the new grad as some people will be a bit too 'gung ho', and some will scare easily and will ask you for a second opinion/to scrub in with them for as long as it's offered (I fall in the second camp...!)

But I think in general, encourage discussing cases between all the vets (so it's not always the new grad asking for help, it's everyone talking about their interesting case), don't immediately take the interesting cases off them but help them formulate a plan, and don't ask 'test' questions that make them feel like they're back at vet school....

I think the PDP is quite well set up for tracking progress, as it logs the number of each of the common conditions/surgeries they have managed, and if you as the boss/mentor log into it, it helps to see what they have done and what you can trust them with independantly.

RE: Practice policies to help new grads

Emily Rainbow — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 12:44:01 GMT

Personally I would just implement a culture of being around and not minding if a second opinion is needed rather than putting an exact time frame on it.

i don't think I would have liked the 3 strikes and you're out rule as you don't always get an exact diagnosis.

my first practice just always impressed on me that it didn't matter how many times i needed an extra pair of eyes/hands there would be someone there. Same with first few ops days, always someone else on site to grab if needed, or for my first bitch spay standing in theatre watching if I wanted them too.

RE: Practice policies to help new grads

KathW — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 09:57:42 GMT

Not a policy - a bit of a tangent really, I'll be interested to see what others do and will add more thought later. You may well do some of these already.

In general terms to try to avoid being a dino vet and just reacting to problems I try to get to know them better early on and find out what makes them tick. Meal away from work in their first few week, an occasional dog walk to chat around general issues with work, team, settling in , being away from family/ friends,work life balance etc. off the premises.

If they say they are fine are they really fine ( in general or half way through that tricky bitch spay). Many are not but dont want to admit it.They are all so different in their abilities and personalities. Some will say if they are struggling others will plough on then implode or explode. The better you know them the easier it is to start to understand them and find the best way to communicate without just feeling as if you're picking on problems all the time. Always comment on good cases or surgeries and highlight how they are progressing generally so conversations don't only happen when there are problems to be discussed- I find that hard when we are busy.