Last week, I represented the MVMA New Graduate Task Force at a veterinary school mixer for first years. That’s what every incoming veterinary student wants to do, right? Party with a pregnant lady? Anyway, it was refreshing to talk to some of the new grads and even give advice. Most of them are in that excited, giddy stage before veterinary school. You know, the euphoria you have about getting into one of the most competitive programs in the country before veterinary school totally knocks you on your butt in one to two weeks. When you’re in veterinary school, you watch it happen to the incoming class every year. Their strides down the hall transition from a confident strut to a tired slump in a matter of days. That was me eight years ago. That’s right, EIGHT years ago. Optimistic, confident, hopeful, and maybe just a wee bit naive. As interesting as the transition from college student to veterinary student is, we’re going to discuss the tricky transition from veterinary student to veterinarian. I’ve touched on this subject before in other blogs, but it’s a dramatic enough change that it warrants its own post. The euphoria you get leading up to and following graduation from veterinary school can be quite similar to the euphoria of the young graduates I had the pleasure to meet last week. You’ve fought and worked through four years of a grueling curriculum. You’ve passed your classes, your clinics, and your board exams. That diploma represents YEARS of hard work towards a hard-earned dream. You should be euphoric! If you have a job offer after graduation, you have even more to be excited about as those student loans won’t pay themselves. After all the parties, get-togethers, and goodbyes to classmates, the dust settles and it’s time to get to work. However, living the dream (as I like to call it) isn’t always easy. If you’re a new graduate, you may experience some of the following things: 1. Isolation- One of the many great things about veterinary school is your support network. I met some of the best friends I have ever had in veterinary school. A plus is that you get to spend pretty much everyday with those best friends or battle buddies. When you graduate, it’s very likely you’re going to have to say goodbye to most of them. You may be taking a job in a town where you don’t know anyone. Even if you desperately want to make friends, it’s hard to find the time and energy to do so. Young associates are the workhorses of many practices and put in long hours. There are a lot of challenges when you first get out of veterinary school. You have a top-notch education, but you’re also probably pretty inexperienced. Facing those challenges after you have lost your support network is hard. It’s easy to feel alone, but the thing is, you’re not. I would fret about things for weeks and forget that my friends were only a phone call away. Most of the time, my friends were experiencing the same things I was and even had advice. I found myself wishing I would have talked to them weeks ago. When we made time to meet for dinner and hang out, all we could do was talk about veterinary medicine. It was like therapy! It’s true that your battle buddies are the only ones that truly understand this transition. Keep in touch with your classmates and make an effort to meet up with them as much as you can. Also, as a fellow, tired, hard-working veterinarian, make the kind of friends that come over in PJs, drink wine, and watch smut television with you. Not judging you on the clutter in your house is also a plus. 2. You will make mistakes. This is not unique to new graduates. However, there’s a lot to be said from learning from experience. They can’t teach you everything in veterinary school. A colleague of mine received some great advice from their boss: “...you will be ‘practicing’ medicine your whole career, and when you are practicing something you don’t always get it right.” I’ve discussed in previous blogs the impact early “mistakes” can have on new graduates. One thing a lot of us have in common is that we’re very hard on ourselves when we make those mistakes. I often think of patients I couldn’t save or cases I could have handled differently. The most important thing is that you learn from your mistakes. It’s okay to be a little bit hard on yourself because that’s what prevents you from repeating those mistakes. Being hard on yourself isn’t always a bad thing, and it can make you a great doctor. You probably won’t find that on a motivational poster, but it’s true. However, it can reach a point where being hard on yourself doesn’t make you better, but miserable. I’m my own harshest critic. It’s made me into the person I am today, but it’s probably also why I have slightly high blood pressure. Learn from your mistakes and push yourself to be better. You’re the hero of your own story, but remember that heroes are as much the sum of their faults as they are the depth of their positive qualities. Use your “failures” as opportunities for growth. That is what truly makes a successful person. 3. Your clients may doubt you or take time to get used to you. Coming to a practice in a rural area where both veterinarians were older men, my arrival was a bit of an adjustment for some clients. On my first few farm calls when I would pull up to a farm to deliver a calf with my blond ponytail and smile, I could literally see the look of “Oh s$#*!” on the producer’s face. Nine times out of ten, most of them were perfectly fine when they figured out I was competent and could do the job. Some of them were even easily impressed. On one call where I delivered live twin calves, a producer said, “Wow, you get right in there, don’t you?” Well, yeah. I want to get the calves out as quickly as possible. Not only so they will survive, but also because I have Netflix to watch. Also, I should add that it is technically impossible to daintily stick your arm in a cow’s vagina. Remember that change is hard for a lot of people, so don’t take it personally if people doubt you at first. Use that as an opportunity to prove yourself. It’s impossible to win everyone over, but most people appreciate hard work, a positive attitude, and most importantly, someone who is willing to listen. 4. Your bosses will probably laugh at you. Yes, part of being the new associate is that people are going to pick on you. I provided my colleagues and staff plenty of material for this. Things I got a hard time for included (but weren’t limited to) writing a “book” for my medical records, being slow in appointments and surgery, leaving things everywhere (like my coffee cups or my purse), not carrying a pen on me at all times, being “short” (by the way, I’m 5’ 6”, not exactly short but when everything in the clinic is set up for a 6’ tall male, you can have a hard time reaching things), getting covered in crap all the time (I’m a poop magnet, what can I say?), and many other things. Apparently I’m not the only one. A colleague of mine says, “I still remember my first patient. Older dog for an annual exam and I found a new heart murmur. I did a huge cardio work up and my boss laughed.” I’ve certainly been laughed at for similar things. Most of it is in good fun, so try not to take it to heart. If your boss has a good sense of humor, don’t be afraid to dish it back (but not too often because they write your paycheck). 5. Pets are easy (most of the time), but people are hard. So many times when I hear young kids or college students asked why they want to be a veterinarian, they respond with, “I love animals, but don't like people very much.” Veterinary medicine is actually not a good profession for those individuals because to be successful in this field, you very much need to be a people person. That's not to say that dealing with people doesn't come without its challenges. One thing my colleagues and I have discussed at length is how to approach the subject of euthanasia with clients and navigate them through that process. Learning to read clients and knowing when and how to approach the subject of euthanasia is an art form that isn't taught in veterinary school. In vet school, they mention the dreaded question of, “What would you do if it was your dog, Doc?” They teach us to dodge that question like the plague. There's somewhat of a good reason for this in that not every client will be in the same financial situation as you or have the same relationship with their pet that you do. However, I've found that most people that ask this question, especially in the context of euthanasia, just want to know that it's okay to say goodbye to their pet. They just want your honest opinion of what they should do. If you think about it, it's a reasonable question to ask, and there are ways to answer that question without causing a liability issue but also being compassionate. As a new graduate, I was afraid to even mention the word euthanasia, even if I thought it was the best thing for the pet. In veterinary school, they make you feel like you could get sued for even broaching the subject. It takes most veterinarians at least a couple of years to become comfortable with having these difficult but necessary discussions. Remember that these conversations are hard for everyone when you start out, but they get easier with experience. 6. You will probably give your clients too many options. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like my training in veterinary school taught me to give each client a whole host of diagnostic and treatment options. If you only offer or recommend the gold standard workup and treatment for pets, some clients may think you're just money-hungry and completely shut you out because they can't afford it. If you offer them every option, from the Cadillac plan to the Ford Pinto plan, clients just get confused. They may not fully understand the risks involved with the cheaper approaches. Giving too many options also kind of makes you sound like you don't know what you're doing or know what's best for their pet. If you only offer the bargain plans to people, you're really not practicing the best medicine. Not only that, but you're basically assuming the client can't or doesn't want to care for their pet adequately, which is a dangerous assumption to make. So what is a practitioner to do? My advice to new grads is this: throw everything you learned about the multi-option approach out the window. Most clients are coming to see you because they want your opinion on what is best for their pet. Make your recommendations with confidence and conviction. If you notice hesitation or think money might be an issue, let them know that there are other options available if that doesn't work for them. Some may disagree with this approach, and sometimes even four years after graduating, I still find myself giving clients too many options. It's a hard habit to break, but don't be afraid to give clients your best opinion. That's what they're paying you for and why you went to school for an ungodly amount of time. 7. You are probably going to feel (and be) broke. Having a “big kid” job for the first time is a great feeling. For once, you're making money instead of paying tuition. However, don't get carried away with this feeling. Remember, that six-month grace period on student loans runs out fast. I remember my first year out I spent a bunch of money on Christmas presents for family. I could finally afford “real” gifts instead of just making everyone in the family loaves of banana bread. Talking to a young vet student at the mixer event, I expressed excitement over getting some of the free plastic cups from Harpo’s (the bar) to sip my water in. The young woman said, “You know you have a big kid job when most of your cups aren't Shakespeare’s cups anymore.” Confession: my cabinet is still full of Shakespeare's cups. Confession #2: It’s probably best to be that practical. My advice to new graduates is that there's no shame in continuing to live like a college student for at least a few years after graduating. It's allowed me to make extra student loan payments, buy a practice, and build a house. Get your feet on the ground first and you can make those big-kid purchases later. So shop at Aldi’s, eat a lot of eggs, continue to drive a beater car, make homemade gifts (because all your family really cares about is that you thought of them, spent time with them, and hopefully don't have to leave to treat a horse colic in the middle of Christmas dinner), and don't buy expensive glassware because if you're like me, you'll probably break it all before too long anyway. Most importantly, just don't make stupid decisions with your money. School debt is a real issue, but if you're living like a Kardashian after veterinary school, it's hard for the rest of us to have serious discussions with leaders in our state and profession about lowering student debt without them laughing at us or shrugging us off as entitled whiners. 8. You'll soon learn that sometimes it's best to not tell people what you do. A colleague of mine gives some advice, saying, “Don't tell people you're a veterinarian if you ever want a normal hobby. I loved joining a running group where no one asked about my job or talked about their pets.” This may seem harsh, but most of us don't want to answer questions or hear about all of your dog's quirks on our off time. However, when you practice in a small town, it's impossible to live incognito. Sometimes you just want to get in and out of the grocery store after work and go home without spending an extra 20 minutes answering questions. Many of these people are repeat offenders and you learn how to recognize them in public quickly. I've hid behind things before. More advice to new grads is to never EVER tell the person next to you on a plane that you're a veterinarian. Another colleague of mine says, “I tell people on planes I'm a mortician...works like a dream!” Personally? I go with insurance salesman. 9. Work-life balance is difficult to obtain. As mentioned earlier, new associates are the workhorses of the practice. New graduates haven't mastered the efficiency of their more seasoned counterparts, but they make up for it in hard work and dedication (usually). I'm also pretty sure I was sore for the first year of practice. You use a lot of weird muscles in a mixed animal practice. I can castrate many 800 pound bulls in a row now, so don't even ask to arm wrestle me in a bar. Anyway, new graduates arrive at their new jobs psyched to save every animal and the world. We grew up looking at veterinarians as heroes. Sometimes the beginnings of a career don't meet expectations. At the end of a 65-hour work week of anal gland expressions, euthanasias, biting teeth and claws, and cranky clients, you may not feel like a superhero. This is because you're not a superhero. You're a veterinarian and a human being. Yeah, yeah, I know I said earlier that you're the hero of your own story, but that was symbolic. Veterinary medicine is a noble calling. Most veterinarians (including myself) love their job and care deeply for their patients and clients. But vet med isn't everything, and it can't fulfill your every need. In the end, veterinary medicine is a job that we do to make money so we can pay our bills and hopefully have a little extra left over to do the things we love to do. That's it. Understand that most of us love our job and care deeply for our patients, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that the notion that veterinarians are heros and our profession is a life choice and not a career does more harm than good and leads to dissatisfaction and compassion fatigue. No, that doesn't mean veterinarians only “do it for the money” as many of us are often accused. Most of us volunteer heavily in our communities and we truly care about your pets. However, I don't know one single person (including the people throwing out those accusations) that would show up to work without getting paid. So FYI, saying that any person only does their job for the money is an ignorant statement to make. I'm digressing here, but my advice to new grads in this regard is to get off your phones and your computers and go adventuring. Find things outside the profession you enjoy doing. Filling your bucket is so important, and you can't be the best doctor you can be without doing just that. A colleague of mine puts it best in saying, “..our profession doesn't define us, but if done well allows us to make a positive impact on our world.” In the very least, it allows us to make a positive impact in the communities we live in, which makes it worth fighting through so many of the challenges we face. All in all, chin up new veterinarians! Remember that first time feeling you had going into middle school, or high school, or Starbucks, then you felt like you got punched in the throat with stress and disappointment? Don’t worry, it evens out. Just take some of these tips so the aftermath isn’t as bad as it has been for some of your slightly more experienced, but still willing to help colleagues. Take the advice while you can because soon we’ll turn into old crotchety vets, saying things like, “They need to get it together and stop cryin’ and whinin’ and just get to work. Back in my day….” You get it.
1 Comment
Betty Stegeman
8/29/2016 02:26:31 pm
What an interesting story You could be a writer, too. I read every word and was impressed. I'm sure you are a good vet
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Jessica Stroupe, DVM
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August 2017
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