Supporting new grads: are you up to the job?

As I discussed in my previous blog post, if you are a boss, partner or practice manager, it’s important to consider whether your practice is suitable for a new graduate, before taking one on.

Perhaps you’re considering taking on a new grad for the first time, or maybe you’ve employed them before, but are struggling to attract candidates for your job vacancies – or it might be your new grads are leaving you after a short spell of employment.

If any of these apply, or you’re simply looking for inspiration on what you could do to offer support to new grads, I’d like to offer some suggestions from the new grads themselves.

Friendly face of support

Every new graduate looks for “support” in his or her first (or, in my case, second) vet role, but what exactly does that look like?

By far the most important aspect of support is communication – we’re all different, and the key to a great working relationship with a new grad is asking him or her the kind of support wanted or needed, and discussing how you can provide that.

This should also be considered a fluid, flexible conversation that continues through the first few months of employment – the rate at which a new grad gains confidence and experience will vary due to individual personalities, but will also greatly depend on caseload.

Never assume

If your practice doesn’t see many cats, your new grad’s first cat spay might not happen for several months, and you can’t just assume having performed a lot of other surgeries, he or she will be fine to just get stuck in, when he or she may never have used a flank approach before.

On the contrary, some new grads can be dangerously over-confident, and that’s where your clinical and character judgement will be vital in ensuring the safety of their patients.

It can be a very delicate balancing act between pushing a new grad to improve, and not letting him or her charge in all guns blazing without the right skills.

Suggestions

The answer is not straightforward – no “one size fits all” new graduate induction plan exists – but a number of areas can be considered to help your new grad settle in.

I’m not suggesting you action all of them, or even that they’d all be suitable for every new grad or practice – they’re just ideas to think about.

• Provide a booklet with practice protocols – for example:
  • vaccine protocol
  • neutering advice (ages)
  • treatment protocols for common ailments (as a starting point)
  • what should be included in estimates for operations
• Order uniform or name badges and have them ready for the first day. It may seem trivial, but it symbolises being part of the team. Being asked 10 times a day who you are, or “are you new here?” gradually chips away at what little confidence you have as a new grad.

  

• Have him or her spend a morning on reception to learn how to book appointments and other tasks, to get used to the computer system.
• Put a nurse or receptionist in consults with the new grad to help him or her navigate charging for consults, saving notes, making up estimates and so on.
• Have the new grad observe some consults or accompany other vets on call-outs to help him or her grasp how the practice runs and to introduce some of your regular clients.
• Allow the new grad to pick up consults from a general list at his or her own pace.
• Book out double appointments for the new grad initially, then shorten these as he or she gets more confident – and, therefore, faster.
• Always have a more experienced vet available (in the prep room, perhaps) to answer those quick questions while the new grad is consulting. He or she need not be twiddling his or her thumbs, but, if performing procedures, ensure your new grad knows he or she can pop in and ask without feeling like an inconvenience.
• Decide on a maximum length of time for a consulting block and allow breaks for the new grad to catch up or have five minutes to gather his or her thoughts.
• Assign a formal buddy or mentor within the practice (not the boss) for him or her to go to as a first port of call for any problems – clinical or non-clinical.
• Provide regular constructive feedback – we don’t know if we’re doing okay unless you tell us!
• Have formal scheduled progress review meetings to let the new grad discuss any issues in a fair manner (the boss informally asking “how are you doing?” in front of half the staff will not always elicit an honest response).
• Have a working list of procedures or cases your new grad wants to gain experience in so all staff know to try to involve him or her if they get one in. Similarly, have a list of procedures he or she is happy to do alone (and an expected timescale) so reception staff don’t book in three bitch spays on day one.
• Supervision for operations – ask your new grad whether he or she wants someone scrubbed in, either in the same room or just within shouting distance, for different procedures.
• Have goals for the new grad to work towards without pressurising him or her.
• Show the new grad respect. Don’t undermine him or her in front of clients, even if he or she is in the wrong – better ways of addressing it exist without shattering the new grad’s confidence and credibility.

  

• Take on board any suggestions the new grad may have in practice discussions – he or she will have the most up-to-date knowledge, and it can be a huge confidence boost to have your ideas taken up.
• Try not to put your new grad to the bottom of the pile for holidays. In fact, some bosses almost force new grads to book a holiday after two months because they know they’ll need it.
• Give the new grad a Christmas at home (or at least the choice of doing so). Nobody wants to work at Christmas, but is it advisable to have a stressed out new grad – who will likely still need backup in December – on call for the busiest “my dog’s eaten the Christmas pud” poisoning fest of the year? He or she will have likely moved a long way from home and will be particularly lonely at this time of year.
• Have formal second on-call in place for as long as the new grad needs. Don’t assume he or she will be fine after six months – this will vary greatly depending on caseload.

Making a difference

From discussing our varying inductions and levels of support with my university friends, by far the most important thing is just being patient and friendly – even when it’s crazily busy.

Taking 30 seconds to answer a question will make a huge difference for the new grad, rather than letting us spend ages unable to find the answer in an ancient textbook.

If you take an interest in your new grad’s learning and development, rather than just employing us for cheap labour, you’re already heading in the right direction and your efforts to welcome us into the profession will be greatly appreciated.