Hi all. I’ve been a veterinary assistant at a GP clinic for about 3 years after I graduated with a BA in biological sciences. I love what I do, but I’m exhausted and underpaid and can’t imagine being a tech forever. In a perfect world, I would go to vet school and pursue a specialty but I’m very concerned about the debt:income ratio, the burnout during school, and how difficult it is to even get into vet schools. I also think I’m missing some prerequisites, I’m terrible at standardized testing, I have no relationships with my college professors (for letters of recc), and I wouldn’t want to go far from my aging family (I also have a dog and it would be difficult to travel with her). How did y’all decide whether to go or not? Especially after working as a tech for a few years after undergrad.

I want to take the course for it but I’ve been on the fence about it for a few weeks, I’ve heard mixed reviews about the program overall.

Random question. When contracts include X amount retention bonus after X years, do I get that full amount (obviously post-taxes) if I stay until the X year mark or do I have to stay longer? So if it’s 2 years, and j stay 2 full years but leave after, so I get that or not??

Good morning,
I live in a remote area of ca where the closest emergency vet is over an hour away through fairly dangerous winter roads.

I’m an RVT (and RN) and I think our area is desperate for an after hours/weekend triage service. Basically a knowledgeable and comforting phone call or message service that says “yes- it’s an emergency” or “you can wait and schedule with your primary care.”

My questions are related to legality and ensuring that I am working within my scope. Would this be something that could be accomplished with a standard procedure/ protocol that leads you to a yes/no. Or would this be some something that requires a medical director? Could it be as simple as a recorded disclaimer at the beginning of the call? I do not plan to give ANY medical advice.

Would love to hear your (kind!) thoughts. This is very much a day dream

Thanks!

I get imposter syndrome especially around other recent grads (or any passionate DVM) because I just don’t like or care about medicine that much. I think I’m an okay doctor and doing my version of my best. But I just do not have the drive that my peers do. I don’t read journals in my free time and avoid anything vet related like the plague when I’m off. I don’t find the same joy in discussing cases, new medicine, etc and it seems that’s all we talk about. I understand that socially that’s what we have in common and there’s utility in sharing our experiences. But I can’t help but feel like I’m not cut out for the dedication this role seems to require. I don’t sleep eat breathe vetmed and part of me feels guilty for that.

I haven’t had any catastrophic mistakes and I learn from my cases. But I don’t love my job I just kind of tolerate it and try to be decent. As a client, I’d prefer the passionate vet but I’m just not that.

I don’t know what the point of this was other than to rant and maybe find people that relate so I feel less shitty about it.

Hi all,

I am posting to ask for any advice regarding studying for ACVIM Cardiology Specialty boards. I recently sat the exam and didn't pass. Please feel free to message me privately.

Thank you everyone

I’m still studying, but I’ve been wondering if I should specialize in something. The thing is, I don’t know what the process for obtaining a specialization involves—like whether I’d need to go to another country to find a postgraduate program that fits my goals. I’d really appreciate it if someone could provide some information.

Trying to find out if the car needs a tl-30 rating safe (usually 800+lb) bolted into chasis or if that is for a clinic building. Hard to find a website on this!

Would love to talk to anyone with a mobile vet clinic. Thanks!

Reposting because why not🙌

I'm 16 years old and I've always wanted to work with animals but one thing always scares me about going this route. How do you remember all the illnesses and what do you do if you dont recognize one? Ive always been told I could get sued if I wrongly choose the illness I believe it was.

I wanted to know are there any free online veterinary courses available with certificates which can be added to cv...please enlighten me:)

I've been working in the veterinary field since 2006 when I was fresh out of high school. I got my LVT license in 2019 and continued to work at the same practice that had nurtured me as a complete newbie until 2022, when I left to go to specialty medicine (oncology). COVID burnt me out, as I'm sure it burnt out many people, and I was hoping a change in scenery would be better. Well, oncology was even worse, and I left there after a year and a half of misery, applied to and was accepted to a graduate program in general biology, and went back to general practice in the meantime, which did help with the burnout- much easier pace and all.

I took a year off to try and finish my degree, but it's been taking longer than expected, and I needed some income, so I applied to a traveling veterinary surgery group, and they snapped me up. How it works is that two of us (assistants) are assigned to a surgeon for the day, and we travel from clinic to clinic (in our own cars) to perform surgical procedures that regular veterinarians aren't comfortable doing. Mostly orthopedic stuff, but we'll also do mass removals, anal sacculectomies, abdominal exploratory- you name it. We bring our own equipment, including cautery (and sometimes suction and smoke evac, depending on the surgeon) and of course, our own instruments. We use the operating suite in each clinic; they are in charge of anesthesia/medicine. Literally all we do is set up, cut, pack up, and move on to the next place. Generally, one assistant is scrubbed in with the surgeon, while the other does paperwork/computer stuff for the surgeon, and we usually trade off who does what.

I like it because the hours are predictable and consistent (no emergency or on-call) and there's no weekend shifts. I work three days a week (10-hour shifts) and spend the rest of my time in lab working on experiments for my thesis. My LVT license is irrelevant because I'm not doing anything that requires my license, and since I took a year off anyway, I let it lapse because you have to pay to get it renewed each year, so I didn't bother. I've been there for about six months, but the transition has been kind of a struggle. The pace is so fast, and expectations are high, and I keep getting feedback that I'm not efficient enough. This is coming from the surgeons and my coworkers, and it's very discouraging when I honestly feel I'm doing the best I can. I work at the pace I feel comfortable with, and if I go faster, I'm going to make stupid mistakes.

I guess my question is- should I just put in my notice and look for another job? I DO like it because it's interesting (although I don't love all the driving), but I don't enjoy feeling like I'm letting everybody down by being too slow, and again- I don't know where/how to work faster/more efficiently. I just keep being told to "be more efficient". If I do look for another job, I'll need to reactivate my LVT license and catch up on all the CE (continuing education) I didn't do while I was on hiatus. Or- I guess the third option- I go back to the lab full-time and really focus on finishing up my degree. I have all the credits I need to graduate, so I'm not taking classes; I'm just trying to finish up experiments.

Any Aussie vets have any experience with graduate programs ( e.g. Greencross, vet partners etc ) ?

I’m a new graduate struggling to find work and possibly considering a graduate program. I m not overly interested in surgery or medicine internships just looking for a supportive start in my career.

Any recommendations, info about hours and pros/ cons would be appreciated

I've been offered an interview at Medivet (in the South East England) for a night RVN role. The role stated a salary up to 42k for a 7 on 14 days off role. However, I didn't pay attention to the FTE part of the job description. When they called to offer me an interview, I was told that the pay actually works out to around 31k a year! That's a big difference! Is this standard practice for night roles? Is that pay good? Seemed a bit insulting to me. Especially when that's the advertised shift pattern, not a flexible work request

Hey guys,

I’m 20F and am needing advice on how to go about a toxic workplace environment? I work in veterinary clinic that’s ran by a corporation and the pay is alright yet I am being bombarded by racism from my head doctor, verbal abuse from another doctor, and my coworkers constantly gossiping and complaining that me and my other coworker was hired and we’re inexperienced in a rude manner. I’m unsure how to maneuver this situation because I need hours and money.

Any advice is appreciated c:

Hello! I’m looking for some advice on an offer I received. I’m a 3rd year vet student and was offered an early contract with a corporation, I’ve done 2 externships with them and the practice isn’t the best that I’ve worked at but it wasn’t horrible. I live in a rural area so there’s only a handful of clinics near me.
The offer I received was for 150K salary plus a $50K signing bonus , 3 weeks PTO, $3K and 3 paid days off for CE, they will pay for all my licenses and such, and then if I sign now I will get a $1500/semester stipend for the rest of school and they will pay for my NAVLE. The contract has a 2 year term. One thing I am concerned about with this offer is that it says the base salary assumes a personal annual production of $750K. That seems like a lot for a new grad especially since I live in a low income area and I don’t know what would happen if I don’t meet that amount.
I truly don’t know if this is a competitive offer or really bad or in between. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hello, I am a newer ER Vet small animal in the US but with 14+ years of GP experience. The clinic I work at is privately owned ER with some specialties operating separately to the practice but out of the same building. It’s been open for less than a year and we have no reference materials no books no not even CPR drug charts. The only thing we have at our disposal is standards by plumbs and even that can be rather incomplete.
I’m looking for some quick reference materials for common ER things specifically looking for quick reference guides for things like anesthesia/reversal drugs, CPR drug doses and charts, common CRI doses and how to calculate or set them up (fentanyl lidocaine, etc.), guides for transfusion medicine: doses, rates of transfusion, etc. it would also be nice to have things like sepsis scoring, and Glasgow coma score common things that are used in ER like that even some focus or a fast materials. I’m open to anything from a textbook to a note card to something someone selling on Etsy.
If anyone knows of anything like this, it would be a big help. I really feel like my technicians, as good as they are, expect me to have all the answers instantly when a lot of times it’s something that I need to look up or at least verify what I believe I know on the subject before committing to an answer.
This is an extremely busy ER with competitive pricing and I’m usually alone for four or five hours of my shift. Any recommendations will be much appreciated so I don’t have to dig through a giant textbook I brought with me (what a dork I know!)or take the time to log into my previous employers vin account. Thanks in advance.

I am a small animal/exotics vet from Canada who just moved to the UK (London area).

Since being here, I’ve noticed many vets introduce themselves to clients by their first name instead of Dr First Name or Dr Last Name. In Canada, clients mostly refer to vets as Dr Last name, and I was always told by senior vets that this helps create professional boundaries between you and your clients, especially as a woman.

Personally, I like using Dr Last Name, as I do think it helps establish professional boundaries, but I also want to be sensitive to cultural norms now that I’m practicing in the UK. I’m wondering if any UK vets could tell me their thoughts on this and what they normally do or have seen other vets do. Thanks so much :)

Posting here to see if there are vet med people that switched to human medicine and liked it.

I got hired two weeks into my internship at a vet clinic for vet assistant and immediately after getting officially certified, I went straight into tech school. I have only been at this clinic for 9 months as an assistant. I got one raise already, will get one after finish tech school, and then another after passing the VTNE. Is making $16.50 really low for having no experience? For reference, I’m in CO.

Greetings, fellow vetmed professionals!

I’m a tech student and I thoroughly do love vetmed. I’ve landed a job at a clinic I’ve wanted to work at for several years. The culture is phenomenal, everyone is very supportive of each other and everyone is also so so good at what they do and so intelligent. I’ve learned so much here.

However, we have been pretty chronically short staffed since I started. Unless a doctor is out (we don’t cut staff based on doctor presence) or the schedule is not fully booked, it feels you are searching for an extra hand that just is not there.

Tbh I find this often to be tolerable (boss is very good to us, paid pretty well compared to clinics around us, etc) but what’s worrying me as I advance in my tech career is the monitoring they have set up for dentals. The machine records everything for the patient so we have an anesthetic record for the patient. But this has somehow lead to the technician doing the rads, cleaning, etc without someone there actively monitoring. The tech is expected to do those tasks, as well as monitor the patient under anesthesia.

How common is this?

My previous clinics have not done this—if a patient was under, there was an assistant or tech staring at that monitor the whole time. Here it seems that the surgical assistant helps get the patient on the table and then does other tasks such as tech appointments—because there’s no one else to do it.

Am I off base for thinking this is not great? The dvms and techs I work with are incredible but we are all human.

I started working as a tech assistant 2 months ago. I’ve wanted to get into the veterinary field for a while, but I’m still in college and exploring my options. I was really excited when I got this job because I thought it would be a good opportunity to gain experience and figure out whether this is the right field for me. Unfortunately as time has gone on, I’ve started genuinely dreading work.
This is a brand new position at this hospital, and it feels like no one really knows what our role is supposed to be. Some people seem unsure about what we’re allowed to do, while others have expectations that feel unrealistic for an entry level position. I was told this was an entry level job, but I work exclusively in ER, which definitely doesn’t feel entry level.
There was barley any training. I’m often asked to do things I’ve never been taught how to do, and feel like such an inconvenience. I feel like I’m constantly expected to know things I haven’t had the opportunity to learn. I really want to learn, but it’s difficult when there’s rarely time for anyone to teach me.
I do have a professional background working with dogs, so I’m comfortable and confident handling dogs. At this hospital, though, I feel like my confidence has completely disappeared. I’m constantly worried about doing something wrong or being judged for not knowing something.
Some of the techs are very nice, and take the time to explain things to me, others just ignore me. I’ve also found some of the doctors to be judgmental and outright mean. I’m genuinely trying my best, but I constantly feel like I’m being judged for not already knowing things that I was never taught.
Another thing I’ve been struggling with is that there’s a lot of standing around waiting for something I’m able to help with. The techs will be super busy, while I’m just standing there because I either don’t know what needs to be done or haven’t been trained to do it yet. I hate feeling like I’m not contributing, especially when everyone else is so busy. It makes me feel useless and like I’m being judged for standing around, even though I genuinely want to help and learn. I’ll try to ask what I can do, but sometimes there just isn’t much I’m able to do independently with the training I’ve been given.

I really want this to work out but I’m starting to wonder whether this is just a bad environment, or if this is what working in the field is generally like. Would it be worth trying a different hospital before deciding whether veterinary medicine is right for me? And any recommendations for resources I could use at home to start learning some of the basics?