Vet Times

Tag: wages

  • Vet School’s Got Talent

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    When you apply to vet school, there are certain boxes you have to tick: achieve the right A-Levels (or Advanced Highers), complete a number of weeks of work experience, and pass that dreaded interview. What nobody tells you, however, is that being a vet student requires a number of other skills that seemingly have nothing…

  • Does insurance still work like it used to?

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    We’ve just received an insurance renewal, and although both our pets are with the same provider, one has been insured for 10 years and the other just one – so the difference in their policy paperwork is dramatic, to say the least. We have a 30% co-payment on Little Blue’s policy (the official term for the percentage of the bill the…

  • Thank you

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    It’s a well-established principle of motivational psychology that “carrots are better than sticks” – that is: motivating people works better when there is something in it for them than when there is a punishment. This works whether the “carrot” is a nice word or a cream bun, or whether the “stick” is an electric shock…

  • When is a law not a law?

    When is a law not a law?

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    It’s finally hot. SUPER HOT! Time to moan loudly about the lack of air conditioning, talk up the merits of wearing scrubs, and attempt to cover yourself in enough fake tan to hide the pasty white of working long shifts inside. Time also for pets to suffer: heat stroke, fly strike, grass seeds – they’re…

  • I blame the NHS

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    A couple of articles have been brought to my attention this week regarding the public perception of vets versus the reality. When somebody finds out that you want to be a vet or are studying veterinary medicine, there are a few arduous questions that usually follow: “Is it seven years at university for that?” “It’s…

  • The F word

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    This is going to be a tough one to write without winding somebody up. It’s about a taboo subject – one that trips a lot of new grads up. Sensitivity about this subject leads to a reluctance to discuss it openly, which then leads to high expectations but ultimately disappointment, embarrassment and complaints. I am…

  • Could I have a pet at university?

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    I’ve always had cats at home, and they often played the role of revision buddy/lap warmer. That was one of the things I missed most when I first went to university. Pets aren’t allowed in student halls, but now that I live in a flat with other vet students, pet ownership becomes a possibility (landlord permitting).…

  • Social mobility and the vet profession

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    I can’t help thinking that efforts to improve “social mobility” and help people from all backgrounds to get into “the professions” are looking at people from disadvantaged backgrounds only, and not looking at the whole picture. This means they miss out on a group who really would enrich and diversify our profession: the mature student.…

  • Pretend pedigrees

    Pretend pedigrees

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    On a weekly basis my wife peruses the local newspaper. In the back – after listings of fêtes, court cases and charity baked bean baths – there are the classifieds, which are often an awful lot more interesting. In recent years there has been a trend to name crossbreeds as though they are purebreds or…

  • No need for vet nurses?

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    A fellow Vetsonline blogger, Will Easson, recently wrote a post about the potential impact of an increased number of vet grads, in which he kindly remembered veterinary nurses. (Editor’s note: In his post “Recruitment and retention“, Will suggests that the increasing number of UK graduates searching for employment could result not just in a scarcity of…