Veterinary Milestones

In every vet’s career you have milestones, and you’ll always remember the animals and circumstances surrounding their case, and ultimately why it changed you for the better.

One of the major milestones we all have or will experience is saving your first animal life. Mine happened around two years ago, before I’d even got into vet school.

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Free app makes finding or posting animal health sector jobs a breeze

The app is specifically designed for applicants and employers in animal health, agricultural, equine and pet sectors. Using the app is easy and allows you to have relevant vacancies sent to you as they’re posted or even share them with other people.

The new app can be accessed from any iPhone, iPad or iPod and is available via the iTunes store.

Visit Noble Futures for more information.

Banter Culture and Vet School: a match made in hell?

At the Royal Veterinary College, along with many other reputable universities, banter is a force to be reckoned with. It’s almost like a rite of passage into the “cool club”. You’ve got good banter? You can make a cracking sexist joke about women in the kitchen? Welcome in.

In the third year at vet school, you have to make a sudden transition from ‘student’ to ‘veterinarian’. You have to question, though, what sort of image this presents to the public, our future clients.

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Utah State University has completed application evaluations and interviews and chosen 20 in-state applicants and 10 out-of-state residents to make up the school’s first veterinary class. The university is still hiring faculty and completing building renovations for the program but expects to be fully ready to welcome its first students come fall. Utah State University

Vet students and depression

A friend told me a story recently whilst waiting in line for her viva examination. The topic of nerves came up, to which one student mentioned she was on Beta blockers, the 6 others soon announced that they too were using them.

It’s my opinion that what might be our greatest virtue, an affinity for animals, can lead us to deal with personal issues in a different way to many others. Whilst a horse might have a bigger shoulder to lean on, the issues at hand are soothed but not necessarily dealt with. That isn’t to say we are introverted by any means but the fact that this is our career choice must reveal something about us.

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How much does the veterinary thesis you write at vet school affect your future career?

Sarah, a third year student studying in Hungary asked the following question:

“I am planning on starting to find a topic for my thesis quite soon. I’ve been wondering: to what extent does the topic of my veterinary thesis influence my career?

I’ve also been thinking of specializing, by doing an internship for example, would it help me to write a thesis in the field I want to specialize (let’s say, randomly, cardiology)?”

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As social media blurs the line between professional and informal chat online, what are the risks you take tweeting sensitive information about your course?

Twitter has played a big part in opening up healthcare to the public. Whilst Medical Associations have submitted guidelines for using social media, the veterinary profession is largely unregulated. Whilst this means you’re free to say what you want – should you?

Positive or negative comments on Twitter can be read by anyone unless you make your tweets private. Clients, practice managers and tutors (but not patients, not yet anyway!) can all read any disparaging comments you may have made.

Another consideration is your professional reputation is linked with your reputation as a person. If you tweet in a professional capacity and then use that account to post pictures of a night out drinking any clients who follow you may judge you – rightly or wrongly – for your actions.

StudentBMJ has an interesting article on this topic. Free registration is required to view the article, and veterinary students are welcome.

Adam Sheridan on AVS Congress 2012

AVS is a group that brings UK veterinary students together to discuss wider issues within the veterinary profession. Beyond student issues these also include ethics and animal welfare as a whole.

The AVS Congress 2012 was held last weekend (04-05 Feb) and consisted of lectures, workshops and demonstrations. The congress was sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health.

For Adam Sheridan’s detailed description of the congress please visit his site, Veterinary Life.

Gender Inequality

I had a learning session this week based on gender inequality in the profession in Kenya and Bangladesh and it got me thinking about some of the issues present in the UK.

In Kenya and Bangladesh, female vets often face adversity and the general opinion that they are not competent enough to carry out veterinary services, which has traditionally been a man’s job. Here, we are a developed nation where there are no limits on the things women and men can do, but I have still experienced adverse opinions on my career choice due to the fact I am 5ft2″ tall girl.

In the UK the large majority of vet students are now female, and it’s not just here where the proportion is increasing. In the USA it’s estimated 79% are female compared to less than 5% in the 1960s! So, to be blunt, the people with these opinions had better get used to it.

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Article 44 – The Building Blocks of Successful Marketing by Julie Chance

The Veterinary Business Briefing is a collection of helpful articles designed to help you in practice after you graduate, they also serve as a good indication of what employers and practice managers are looking for.

The latest VBB article highlights the need for good marketing and consistency within your practice. Please visit the VBB section for the full article.