As a student, on day one of a new EMS placement, I walked in on a vet who was clearly already in a bad mood, first thing on a Monday morning. I had absolutely no idea of the context, but she finished ranting at somebody else before turning to me and saying: “Don’t ever let clients walk all over you.”
As it turned out, I’d just caught her at a bad moment – she was really helpful and taught me a lot over the course of that week – but what I didn’t realise at the time was that her first sentence would be one of the most important lessons I’d learn, and that advice would stick with me even years later.
Passive learning
When on placement as a student I would tend to focus on gaining and improving practical skills, such as placing catheters and blood sampling. If I got to scrub in or do part of an operation, that was the ultimate achievement for that day.
But what I didn’t appreciate until much later was how many of the non-clinical aspects of veterinary I also learned.
Standing in on numerous consults was an opportunity to learn how different vets explained things or dealt with emotional, angry or difficult clients. Experiencing what happens when things go wrong – such as an unexpected death during a routine procedure or an equine vet reversing into a client’s car – would give you a reality check, but also help prepare you to handle it yourself in the future.
You’re the expert
Another vet I saw a lot of practice with once said: “You’re going to be the vet. You will have a veterinary degree you’ll have worked bloody hard for – five years of quality education – you know better than the client, and don’t let them make you think otherwise.”
Again, I didn’t really think much of it at the time, but having experienced a few negative encounters with clients over the past few years, I now think that moment was actually quite profound.
These two conversations have stuck with me for years, but they suddenly seem all the more relevant than ever.
Compensation culture
In today’s society, where people always want to blame someone else for something, it can feel like clients are constantly fighting against you.
Whether they’re trying to claim they weren’t made aware of risks or complications, or weren’t given certain options, this incessant game of trying to catch you out is exhausting. It’s so disheartening when you feel you’ve tried your absolute best for an animal or owner and they don’t think it’s good enough.
Every now and then, you have to remind yourself you’re a vet and that you do know what you’re doing – even if the client chooses to believe otherwise.
Only us to blame
The classic equine scenario is clients who have mucked up their vaccine dates and try to either persuade you to sign a different date for the vaccine or restart the course for free. Fraudulently completing documentation is one of the biggest transgressions as a vet. But even though you explain that it’s not worth risking your MRCVS for, some clients just think you’re just being deliberately obtrusive.
And there’s the emotional blackmail… clients think we are monsters because we dare charge for our services. If we can’t help because there’s no money available, it’s our fault for being so expensive, not theirs for being unable to provide adequate health care for their £1,000 puppy.
How can we live with ourselves, asking for money when their entire bitch has a pyometra?
Taking it on the chin
On the whole, I don’t take it personally if a client gets angry, but when somebody questions your personal ability or integrity, it can really start to chip away at that tough exterior.
As a vet, no matter how hard you try not to “take your work home” with you, you can’t help yourself. For me, it manifests in lack of sleep. I can go and ride my horse or cook a new dish to distract myself but the relief is temporary – as soon as I get into bed, my brain is on overdrive again, overthinking that conversation with a client earlier in the day or doubting my usefulness within the practice.
I don’t know if clients necessarily realise their words can have such an effect on us. Yes, it is probably a cumulative effect, but on top of the other pressures the job entails, it could only take one client to make you leave the profession. Or worse…
Leave a Reply