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August/September - Time flies

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Month two of work flew by! We were lucky enough that the practice partners had organised a full CPD day for us and the other practice vets with Polly Taylor MRCVS, anaesthesia specialist. General anaesthesia in horses can be quite intimidating, particularly for a new graduate. Despite both having seen multiple equine GAs during EMS and rotations, being involved in a greater capacity can be scary. Polly gave us some great tips and the day overall was a real confidence boost. We have since enjoyed using many of the techniques learnt with new cases that have come through the hospital. In an effort to improve our work life balance we headed out to Burghley Horse Trials as well as setting off on the inaugural Chine House Wheelers cycle ride. The newly founded practice cycling club had a very successful outing ending at the pub. As the days are getting shorter so will the rides, meaning plenty of time for a drink. Come spring we will be a well oiled peloton, next step is to get team jers
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July/August 2018 - New kids on the block

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It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, when two bright eyed and bushy tailed young vets pulled up at the Chine House car park to move into their new accommodation. It suddenly dawned on them that they’d be started new grown up jobs tomorrow! We had never met before as Millie had graduated from Edinburgh and Roisin had come over from Liverpool. We soon realised that being both the new girls together, made the new start slightly less daunting. Roisin has taken the role of house vet where she would be based in the hospital, and Millie has started out on the road. Day 1:  No horses, lots of paperwork. Starting a new job requires lots of induction, including learning how to safely use a step ladder (thank goodness!). Once up to date with the health and safety rules of the practice we were let loose on the yard to meet our new colleagues. Roisin: As the house vet I have moved into an on site flat at the practice and so my first job was to sort out the five years worth of belongings I had trans
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June 2018 - No longer a New Grad?!

Welcome everyone, to my last ever BEVA blog! This is my 12th entry and I guess I can no longer be counted as a new grad and thus, my new grad journey has ended. It feels like I graduated just yesterday and not a year ago, time truly does fly when you are having fun (and flapping around like a headless chicken). I know you may be thinking this is all rather cheesy but it’s hard not to be happy doing a job you’ve wanted to do since you were 6 years old. And even on my worst stressful, hectic, bewildering days; I still count myself lucky to be able to do this job and marvel at the fact I’m a vet at all. Well… that was the opening paragraph of this last blog post up until earlier this week when I just had the worst day. Several cases went wrong all together, I missed things, my client communication was poor and to top it off I went out to a collapsed dog which ended in euthanasia and very very upset owner. Dragging myself home after the 13hr day I was close to tears and not feeling the l
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May 2018 – This time last year

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Well this month has flown by! May has been sunny here on Jersey and the island is stunning in the sunshine. The month started with a lovely three-day weekend followed by an extra bank holiday midweek that just happens on Jersey – Liberation Day. Then a lovely trip to Croatia and then another three-day weekend (in which my birthday happened), I’ve been sea kayaking, and barbequing and spending all my spare time on the beach. So, it may be because I have had more days off than normal, and the sun has been shining down, but life seems good at the moment! My social media has also been busy this month, starting out with all my friends in their final year of vet school desperately studying for their final year exams, the celebrations having once sat them and then the trepidation but ultimate joy at finding out they had passed. I cannot believe it was just a year ago that I was going through the exact same thing. I thought my final year exam was awful, I left the exam hall definitely feelin
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April 2018 – Unhappy client, unhappy vet

Sometimes I forget I’m only 9 months out of vet school, when the routine of each week seems wearing and the on-call phone rings in my dreams. But other times I feel so out of my depth it’s like I graduated just yesterday. However I’m feeling, I obviously always try to do my best for the animal in front of me and think through the problem logically. Sometimes I get it wrong, and that feeling of inadequacy is the worst thing I can feel. Or, at least I thought it was… But what about when you think something went well but the client is unhappy with the service you provided? This happened to me recently and I was completely unprepared for the blow, it felt almost physical and certainly ruined the rest of my week. It’s one thing to know I’ve made a mistake but quite another to think everything was fine only to find out afterwards it was not. I suppose these mismatches in vet/client expectations happen to us all, but do you ever forget the first time? I know that I am still dwelling upon it
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March 2018 – It’s all in the mind

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The beginning of this month saw me navigating the slopes around Tignes in minus 20°C without a) hurting myself and b) killing myself. It was my first attempt at skiing since I was a small child and the 25-year gap between outings did nothing for my ability or confidence. As the days passed my skills sharpened up and falls became blessedly less frequent.  I found when I didn’t worry so much then my skiing became more relaxed and therefor more enjoyable. Overthinking is a knack of mine so this was a tricky task, I bit like mastering rising trot when I was learning to ride. The trick is to realise when you’re doing well then immediately think about anything else! And I did manage to let go and enjoy myself, although on one memorable occasion I thought I was on a blue piste and skiing happily along until I realised, somewhat belatedly, it was actually a red piste. I’m not sure how long I was unintentionally on this route but as soon as I realised my skiing became a lot poorer. The feeling
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February 2018 – How to job hunt as a student

Happy February everyone! This month has been a good one for me, consisting of an on-call week which wasn’t crazy, a weekend up at Glasgow for Old Boys which certainly was. As I was catching up with all my classmates up in Glasgow, we did the usual thing of comparing the ups and downs of new grad life, sharing horror stories and generally celebrating the fact we were in jobs we’ve wanted since we were children.  However, at least three of my friends have already left their first jobs, with another looking to make a move; all contributing to that oft-quoted statistic of new grads spending on average one year in their first jobs.  Between us I think we have come up with some useful advice for those of you starting to think about your futures beyond the safe confines of vet school. It was about this time last year that I started job hunting in earnest, before interviewing and accepting a position in April. I have friends who found jobs very quickly, and others that took a bit longer lo
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