As a student, I remember sitting in the passenger seat of a farm vet’s car on the way to a cow caesarean, desperately trying to remember anything he might ask me about calvings. Instead, he quizzed me on the top 10 small animal emergencies.
I think he was trying to reassure me that not many presentations are genuine emergencies, despite new grads always worrying they’ll miss something.
I’m not sure it worked – especially as my plan on graduation (merely months away) was to look for a mixed job, and he soon proceeded to tell me how he thought there was no point in mixed vets anymore…
Jack of all trades
His point of view was that mixed graduates struggle both practically and mentally. Basically, he claimed:
- Flitting from species to species and very different styles of approaching medicine confuses graduates.
- The difference in numbers of cases seen between mixed vets and those who have chosen one discipline are wildly different.
Both of these factors, in his opinion, meant mixed vets progressed far slower than their small animal, equine or farm counterparts and, as a result, were more likely to struggle mentally; feeling under pressure because they weren’t “keeping up” with their university colleagues.
I wasn’t wholly convinced by this at the time and stuck to my guns, applying for mixed roles. A few years on, I’m certain that I disagree, and actually believe his words were quite patronising to those graduates endeavouring to pursue a career – or at least start theirs – in mixed practice.
Ambiguity in practice
For a start, “mixed practice” is a very ambiguous term, and mean anything from 95% small animal with the odd smallholder’s pet sheep to a genuine mixture of all creatures great and small.
I think most graduates perceive mixed practice as being nearly 50:50 small:large animals, unless they particularly seek out small and equine roles. The reality is that mixed practice varies massively, depending on geographical location, individual practice and, often, your preferences within a practice.
It would be naive to tar all “mixed vets” with the same brush.
After hours
Visiting equine or farm clients on your own – both during the day for routine visits and out-of-hours for emergencies – is quite different from working in a small animal clinic with other vets and nurses around to help and advise you.
While I always ensure my new graduates know they are able to call for advice or another pair of hands at any time of the day, working out on farm definitely requires more independent decision-making. In these situations, I find new graduates more likely to just “get on with it” and, as such, improve their own confidence in their own skills more than they might in a clinic environment, where it’s easier to rely on help if you can’t quite hit a vein on the first go.
The application of knowledge
New graduates have plenty of fresh up-to-date knowledge, but part of developing into a confident vet involves learning how to apply it. The independence of being out on visits on their own helps them develop assertive decision-making and case planning, which can consequently be applied in the small animal clinic, too.
Ambulatory practice also increases their confidence with clients because, again, they’re on their own and often face-to-face with the client or farmer for longer than in small animal consultations – often allowing them to build better relationships.
Horses for courses
Farm and equine clients will have different needs and priorities. This helps new grads become adaptable and alter diagnostic options accordingly – which, again, is a skill vital for all species.
Equine clients in particular tend to have a budget – be that personal or via insurance – which will teach new grads to prioritise particular diagnostic or treatment options within certain restrictions, as well as liaising with insurance companies to better educate clients.
In confidence
So many skills are transferable between the different sectors of veterinary medicine. Those vets working with at least some small animals are likely to have more frequent opportunities to practise surgical skills in the first few weeks of their first jobs.
However, I have friends in farm practice that can be doing multiple caesareans each day (or night) during the spring calving season, so by no means does large animal work equal less surgery.
That said, the mixed new grads I have mentored have reported that small animal surgery helped them gain surgical confidence, making stitch-ups or other surgeries in large animals much less daunting.
Competition
While graduates may feel some pressure to be doing certain surgeries quicker than their peers, every practice – and therefore caseload, support and general working environment – varies hugely, even between same species clinics.
It can be easy to feel jealous or inadequate when seeing the achievements of university colleagues, particularly though the rose-tinted glass of social media – but that will continue to happen throughout your veterinary career, not just as a new graduate.
Shared experiences
There’s always another side to every story as well. That friend who boasted of doing a solo splenectomy on his first night of work was actually immensely stressed, had either no support or the “second on call” vet didn’t answer the phone, had a textbook propped open, and was basically walked through the surgery by an experienced nurse who’d seen the procedure a hundred times before.
That doesn’t sound like an ideal learning environment to me.
Equally, when used correctly, social media and keeping in touch with university pals can be invaluable. My group of friends made a fairly big WhatsApp group when we first qualified. It was a fantastic source of support and a way of bouncing ideas around – and, generally, at least someone would be awake no matter what time you asked a question.
Finding your strengths
Mixed practice is still a great way to learn as a new graduate. As well as the transferable skills between disciplines, it’s a way of working out what you like and don’t like doing.
No matter how many student placements you do, I don’t think you can fully appreciate what it’s like to work in any type of veterinary job until you actually do it.
If you’re on the fence about cows, mixed practice will certainly teach you which side you actually sit on.
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