Vet Times

Tag: exams

  • What happens in OSCE Club…

    What happens in OSCE Club…

    —

    by

    Practising for objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) can be tough at home or work. The exams are set to assess specific tasks we carry out as part of our larger skills base. In particular, tasks such as checking a urinary catheter or carrying out tube feeding are a snapshot of the critical areas of safe…

  • Imposter syndrome

    Imposter syndrome

    —

    by

    The human brain is an incredibly cruel and capricious thing, especially to its owner. Here’s an example: the best things that happen to you are only remembered poorly, with a vague, warm feeling that a nice time was had, although the specifics are hard to grasp. Bad news, as well as uncomfortable or embarrassing moments,…

  • Mentorship

    Mentorship

    —

    by

    After reading an article on “What veterinarians and veterinary students really want”, I’ve been assessing the top three things wanted from a veterinary role. After looking into work-life balance and a positive team environment, this article will explore mentorship. It goes without saying, anything you can do to ease new graduate vets’ transition from studies…

  • All work, no play

    All work, no play

    —

    by

    Christmas is almost here, which means a much-awaited and deeply longed-for break from the 9 to 5 pattern of university life. The holiday period for Bristol students is starting a little later than normal this year, so, naturally, my friends and I are counting down the days until we get to retreat to the festive…

  • Positive team environment

    Positive team environment

    —

    by

    In the previous entry, we started to look at the article “What veterinarians and veterinary students really want“, which named work-life balance as the most important aspect for new graduates. This time we look at the second most important: working in a positive team environment. “Salary will not keep a young vet in a practice…

  • Who watches the Watchdogs?

    Who watches the Watchdogs?

    —

    by

    The Watchdog “expose” on buying veterinary drugs online had a lot of the veterinary community quite confused – many stories are dramatised for television, but framing the piece as an undercover report didn’t really sit right with a lot of us, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the way the report was filmed insinuated vets…

  • Soft skills seem to be the hardest learned

    Soft skills seem to be the hardest learned

    —

    by

    As clinicians, we’ve spent our whole lives learning, consolidating, revising and sitting exams so, one day, we would finally be practising. You would think after spending a couple of decades or more in full-time education we would be done with lusting after qualifications; that life would be about honing our newly acquired clinical skills, fixing…

  • Tackling the loneliness

    Tackling the loneliness

    —

    by

    As a new graduate vet, you face many challenges – not all of which are related to your working environment and clinical experience, or knowledge. Not only are you embarking on the very first steps of a career with a phenomenally steep learning curve in the first few months, but you’re also faced with the challenge…

  • Physician agency – striking the right balance

    Physician agency – striking the right balance

    —

    by

    I was terrified when I started my consulting career. As I walked out to call in my first client, I was full of doubt, just as everyone is. Could I do it? I wasn’t very good in most social situations – was this the right career for me? In the end, consulting actually came naturally…

  • Rest, relax and recharge

    Rest, relax and recharge

    —

    by

    As a final-year student applying for jobs, or as a newly graduated vet, one piece of advice that will come up time and again is “book a holiday”. Some will advise you not to rush straight into a job from university – “you won’t get the chance to take a long break once you start…