Vets look like they just left school!!

[Babsie]

I am a young vet (well 29 now) but I have been asked by clients when my A levels are! It is hard to take it as a compliment after studying for 5 years. I think the best vets are the ones that admit their limitations.

I think that is true of people in general.

 

[Jack's-Jane]

I am a young vet (well 29 now) but I have been asked by clients when my A levels are! It is hard to take it as a compliment after studying for 5 years. I think the best vets are the ones that admit their limitations.

That short sentence speaks volumes !! :thumb:

 

[Mackers]

I am a young vet (well 29 now) but I have been asked by clients when my A levels are! It is hard to take it as a compliment after studying for 5 years. I think the best vets are the ones that admit their limitations.

That's a very good statement :thumb:.

 

[Sky-O]

I always find younger Vets far more likely to talk with me than to talk at me. IME many 'old timers' (rich coming from me, an almost 55 year old!!) are very much of the 'I'm the Vet, dont try to tell me how to do my job' attitude if they are questioned about any proposed treatment. Or heaven forbid if a client comes in armed with lots of knowledge about a condition and knows for a fact that what the Vet is saying is plain wrong.

I totally agree with this. My most favoured vets talk to me- one is freshly qualified (and really knows her bunny stuff), one qualified in 2007 (so still relatively young) and the other must be mid forties, ish.

I remember raising concerns with a vet at our old practice. It was about the Cylap vaccine (going back to 2007 here) and she said 'aw, did you read that in a book?'. It was a verbal patting on the head, and having seen her handle Sky like a piece of meat, we never went back.

All this said, I haven't found age to be a relevant factor in people skills or veterinary skills- thankfully.

 

[Santa]

I don't think it's a case of young v old either. Obviously older vets have more experience that they can draw on in identifying symptoms and coming to a diagnosis, and in treatment options that they've found worked before, but newer vets are more likely have done at least some rabbity training albeit minimal and may be more up to date on modern techniques, thinking and approaches which may not have been available in training years before. I do find some older vets a bit stuck in their ways and unless they're keeping an open mind and regular cpd, can risk missing the best option, and conversely younger ones lack the experience. Passion for the subject is really important I think, there's little point taking a bunny to a vet who doesn't really have an interest in rabbits and who maybe views them as children's pets with limited treatment options.

 

[Hugo's There]

I don't think it's a case of young v old either. Obviously older vets have more experience that they can draw on in identifying symptoms and coming to a diagnosis, and in treatment options that they've found worked before, but newer vets are more likely have done at least some rabbity training albeit minimal and may be more up to date on modern techniques, thinking and approaches which may not have been available in training years before. I do find some older vets a bit stuck in their ways and unless they're keeping an open mind and regular cpd, can risk missing the best option, and conversely younger ones lack the experience. Passion for the subject is really important I think, there's little point taking a bunny to a vet who doesn't really have an interest in rabbits and who maybe views them as children's pets with limited treatment options.

I agree with this completely. There is little point seeing a vet that isn't interested in rabbits. Our longest serving vet at our practice has little interest in what we do so we avoid her with our rabbits if at all possible. However she is a great vet for our cats. Our favourite bunny vet is the oldest vet there in age. He knows his stuff and we can have a good conversation with him. I think he likes people who have a bit of knowledge and can talk to "properly" about things. But he obviously hasn't got the best bedside manner as he made our neighbour cry when her dog was sick and she left the practice because of him. I don't think he is a "fluffy dog and here's a tissue" kind of vet!

We have a new vet joining our practice shortly. She is straight from vet school so it will be interesting to see what bunny knowledge she has

 

[Santa]

Yes the new vet at my practice has only been qualified a couple of years so I was really nervous about seeing her with a very poorly bunny that I had just collected last year (but she was the vet on weekend duty so I had no choice!) but I found her brilliant - we had a sensible conversation about the relative merits of baycox v septrin for suspected cocci and she chose a different painkiller to normal because she felt it would be a better option for the type of pain...you sometimes couldn't have that sort of conversation with a lot of vets with 20 or 30 years experience. But on the other hand, I know someone else who saw her with a guinea pig and wanted to run a mile. So it's not just the individual vet, it's the individual species with that vet.

 

[SarahP]

Yes the new vet at my practice has only been qualified a couple of years so I was really nervous about seeing her with a very poorly bunny that I had just collected last year (but she was the vet on weekend duty so I had no choice!) but I found her brilliant - we had a sensible conversation about the relative merits of baycox v septrin for suspected cocci and she chose a different painkiller to normal because she felt it would be a better option for the type of pain...you sometimes couldn't have that sort of conversation with a lot of vets with 20 or 30 years experience. But on the other hand, I know someone else who saw her with a guinea pig and wanted to run a mile. So it's not just the individual vet, it's the individual species with that vet.

I can't think who you mean!