What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Joyce Whitehead — Wed, 18 May 2022 22:00:55 GMT

I think as I watched it is very clearly a Vets4Pets advert and really doesn’t reflect most practices. The red lights and dimness i find annoying, and I think it feeds into the slightly twee Yorkshire vet/super vet idea that we all rush about hugging clients and letting them watch surgery. It doesn’t represent me or our practice.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

cairncross — Wed, 18 May 2022 16:23:22 GMT

30k vets in uk if we all get birthday off extra we need approx 150 extra vets to cover

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Francisco Gomez — Wed, 18 May 2022 10:47:42 GMT

[quote userid="5012" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237206#237206"]Whether that is part of minimum holiday entitlement, or extra, I don't know.[/quote]

It's extra. I have never been a great fan tho. Some folk have the cheek of having their kids born on or around national holidays. Imagine the problems this create with other staff members.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Clive Ansell — Wed, 18 May 2022 08:17:04 GMT

The video is glamourised garbage and is more akin to an opening scene from the TV programs Casualty or Holby City, and has little relevance to a standard MRCVS working at the coal face in first opinion practice day to day.

A more relevant video would be one that shows 8 hours of a constant stream of vaccinations, anal gland emptying, clipping nails that don't need doing, and clients continually whining about about costs.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Clive Ansell — Wed, 18 May 2022 08:11:10 GMT

[quote userid="3169" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237187#237187"]What is with the birthday cake?[/quote]

Vets4pets, and other corporates, make a big thing of giving you your Birthday as a day off as part of their package. Whether that is part of minimum holiday entitlement, or extra, I don't know.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

David Mills — Wed, 18 May 2022 08:00:36 GMT

It’s a stylised nonsense really, an advert, nothing more. Good to see Sam Ryder has branched out.

The hypocrisy of it being filmed by V4P is rich. It would have been a long wait for that labs owners whilst pointless pre GA bloods were run. Amazing they were so well staffed when it’s a company run on about 30pc locums.

Reminds me of some of the NHS adverts where everyone is in clean uniform and the wards are clean and tidy and some old granny is grinning in a bed with a cup of tea. Or one of the plethora of vets books where someone is idiotically cuddling a puppy on a the cover.

This profession. Sigh.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 18 May 2022 07:32:11 GMT

[quote userid="6550" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237201#237201"]Not sure why Vets4Pets would spend money doing anything but self-promotion. That is clearly what this is.[/quote]

Hmm. Of course it's primarily for self-promotion, but that doesn't preclude there being other, simultaneous objectives, like casting the whole profession in a good light.

Sort of cause-related marketing.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Alistair Graham-Evans — Wed, 18 May 2022 05:59:49 GMT

It looks corporate because it is an advert with slick filming advertising a corporate practice group. Not sure why they are all working in such a dimly lit building though.
The premise is that the collapsed dog with an upset family has heroic surgery and everything ends well which is fair enough from the advertiser’s perspective.

Nobody is interested in your conditions of work and the fact you are tired and overworked and underpaid - they just want their pet fixed and good advice in a prompt manner.

An advert showing an exhausted emotional vet or nurse with hypoglycaemia on the verge of a nervous breakdown being shouted at by an upset client would not install much confidence really! If I seek medical help for myself or someone else I am not really interested in when they last ate or when they expect to go home that day. I do want my surgeon to be well fed, alert and not tired though!

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Francisco Gomez — Tue, 17 May 2022 19:00:04 GMT

[quote userid="13526" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237196#237196"] I’d love it to portray the “human” side of being a vet[/quote]

Aha! https://www.vetsurgeon.org/news/b/veterinary-news/posts/new-podcast-aims-to-show-vets-human-side

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Bob Russell — Tue, 17 May 2022 17:03:56 GMT

Not sure why Vets4Pets would spend money doing anything but self-promotion. That is clearly what this is.

As I posted earlier I doubt this is a true representation of many of their ordinary practices but a video of a vet with a finger stuck up a dog's backside is unlikely to be riveting TV!

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 17 May 2022 14:14:19 GMT

Oh yuk.

"a new film to champion the work of all vets, nurses and support teams. "

No it isn't.

It's to advertise "Vets For Pets" (curiously always written as "Vets4Pets")

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

niamhjl — Tue, 17 May 2022 12:50:51 GMT

I don’t think it’s great either. I’d love it to portray the “human” side of being a vet - perhaps a vet arriving home late for the 3rd night in a row, to a cold dinner and an annoyed partner, having missed her childrens bedtime again?? Swerving dangerously whilst driving into work, due to being woken several times overnight and still having to work the whole day? I think clients forget that we are also humans who have outside lives, feelings and other responsibilities - and this film doesn’t really do anything to dispel that (apart from a very brief shot of a birthday cake!)

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Bob Russell — Tue, 17 May 2022 08:43:03 GMT

It's OK. We do have the life saving dramas as well as the hum drum day to day stuff.

Not sure it reflects the life of the average vet in that particular chain of corporate. It is more typical of the bigger UK practices or referral type practices.

Mildly misleading but 'mostly harmless'!

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

bob lehner — Tue, 17 May 2022 06:49:45 GMT

Wow - what a hyper-active and exciting life they seem to live. Most suburban SA vets spend the majority of their time doing vaccs, dispensing flea and worm meds ,clipping claws, seeing itchy pets, squeezing bottoms, treating self-limiting diarrhoea etc. etc.....

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Francisco Gomez — Tue, 17 May 2022 06:42:22 GMT

[quote userid="19228" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237189#237189"]Can we have a video of a vet being woke for the 4th time that night , hobbling to work as they have been on duty for 6 weeks solid now practise 50% understaffed and locum didn't turn up. Being berated on arrival by receptionist for not remembering remembering to phone through a blood result 2h after clinic was meant to end last night and being directed to a consulting room where Mrs Johnston is crying inconsolably about her cat this being her fourth visit for pts which she will probably not go through with but will certainly need an extra 30 min to delay over deciding . There will be a coffee break and even cake but eaten on the go whilst phoning through the blood result to an angry client as they were not actually promised a result that soon but still expected sooner , perhaps a quick check of social media to see that you have been labeled dog murderer of the week as someone's 19 year old cavalier died of a terminal condition you were treating it for.[/quote]

That should be the video. I try to portrait real vet life on some of my podcasts. I think Cat does a good job on this, but many of the others do discuss professional challenges outside the public perception too. Even from their own countries.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

cairncross — Tue, 17 May 2022 06:31:48 GMT

Can we have a video of a vet being woke for the 4th time that night , hobbling to work as they have been on duty for 6 weeks solid now practise 50% understaffed and locum didn't turn up. Being berated on arrival by receptionist for not remembering remembering to phone through a blood result 2h after clinic was meant to end last night and being directed to a consulting room where Mrs Johnston is crying inconsolably about her cat this being her fourth visit for pts which she will probably not go through with but will certainly need an extra 30 min to delay over deciding . There will be a coffee break and even cake but eaten on the go whilst phoning through the blood result to an angry client as they were not actually promised a result that soon but still expected sooner , perhaps a quick check of social media to see that you have been labeled dog murderer of the week as someone's 19 year old cavalier died of a terminal condition you were treating it for.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

cairncross — Tue, 17 May 2022 06:19:11 GMT

2 calls last night from v4p clients unable to access their ooh due to affordability of being sent to a high end specialist centre ooh centre , when I insisted that was their option the opinion of the profession expressed was not good,.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Michael Woodhouse — Mon, 16 May 2022 23:38:41 GMT

Hate it so much, far too corporate. Lets round up every creed and colour, vet nurses can be men too, dad and daughter - all disgustingly PC.

20% seems to be set in either a brothel or a submarine - what is the red light about?

Does everyone at V4P wait in a dimly lit corridor until the animal is completely better? Didn't see a single window so that's something they have right.

What is with the birthday cake?

Then the actual vet stuff - the surgery looks fancy and well equipped, but wrist watches and jewellery are apparently fine in a clinical area. We wear gloves to take a temperature, but not whilst performing an endoscopy? Why are there red rubber tubes on the wall, but they are using Portex disposable ones? Surely those blood samples are mixed by now? Are people still scrubbing the old fashioned way? Are we wearing gowns for surgery or not?

These things don't help people's opinion one bit. I understand the industry and I remain confused. "What's the message"?

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 16 May 2022 22:01:46 GMT

[quote userid="11493" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237183#237183"]The video looks professional enough[/quote][quote userid="8338" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237185#237185"]I’d agree with this - it looks very slick, very ‘cinema’ [/quote]

Yes, it's very interesting how production values affect our perception.

I was arguing only the day before yesterday that a film we are shooting in which a referral vet shares some expert knowledge for the benefit of GPs should be filmed on a mobile phone, ie with none of the production values that make a video look cinematic, like shallow depth of field, moody lighting etc., for precisely the same reason ... that it is more real, more credible, and less like a movie or an advert.

The video production people cited research which shows that people have more confidence in products and brands filmed with higher production values, and I agreed, that's true when you're talking about advertising a car or a brand of beer, or something.

[quote userid="8338" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237185#237185"]The clients who think we are heroes - they will watch that and have their opinion reinforced[/quote]

I think I rather agree.

[quote userid="8338" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237185#237185"]The clients who think we are too much about the money - I’d possibly think they might have their opinion reinforced also because that video to me looks very ‘corporate marketing’ [/quote]

I don't think I agree with that, though. I'm a bit on the fence. I do see your point. I just think it is a bit harder hitting than your normal corporate video, and enough so that it does strike a bit of a chord.

But of course it is SO, SO subjective. We might be looking at it in quite an analytical way, whilst the next viewer will be blubbing into their teacup.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Stephanie Wellings — Mon, 16 May 2022 21:48:04 GMT

I’d agree with this - it looks very slick, very ‘cinema’ but I don’t think it’s particularly illuminating into the realities of the job. I’d say it glamorises it, a lot. I don’t think we need PR telling the public we are all lifesaving sparkly heroes, I think we need it telling them we are human.

The clients who think we are heroes - they will watch that and have their opinion reinforced

The clients who think we are too much about the money - I’d possibly think they might have their opinion reinforced also because that video to me looks very ‘corporate marketing’

Clients who refuse to pay/berate the receptionist because the vet didn’t call by 10am/air their problems on social media… they won’t remember that video next time they visit.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Francisco Gomez — Mon, 16 May 2022 19:21:46 GMT

[quote userid="2100" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237182#237182"]average man/woman on the street and hold the profession, however briefly, in higher, the same, or lower regard as a result.[/quote]

I think itd make no difference. The video looks professional enough so not many customers will connect what happens in the video to what happens when they go to the vets.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 16 May 2022 18:12:55 GMT

[quote userid="11493" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/30294/what-do-you-think-of-this-portrayal-of-vets/237181#237181"]Although I like the aim as described in VS article, the video doesn’t depict the true reality and challenges of the profession.[/quote]

I fear that would be a three hour film!

I think the question is more whether you think that the average man/woman on the street and hold the profession, however briefly, in higher, the same, or lower regard as a result.

RE: What do you think of this portrayal of vets?

Francisco Gomez — Mon, 16 May 2022 16:54:49 GMT

Although I like the aim as described in VS article, the video doesn’t depict the true reality and challenges of the profession. I guess I would have to learn/watch more to form an opinion, but life is soooo busy. Isn't that the problem?.