Lyndall Grant, Senior Veterinary Surgeon Witham
I work at the Vets Now Witham Clinic in Essex. I've been working there now for eight months, and took over the role of SVS nearly four months ago.
In terms of location the Witham clinic is relatively close to London - I actually live in London and commute to work (around 20 min on the tube and 45 min on the overground from Liverpool Street - a perfect post-shift nap time!). Witham is a beautiful little village, and I really enjoy the train ride through the country side.
We have a very close-knit team working at our clinic. My experience is that everyone is pretty much on an equal footing, with the vets, nurses and receptionist working very hard as a team to mesh and complement our tasks with each other. While of course everyone is diligent in fulfilling the duties we are actually there for, there is no ‘vets do one thing, nurses do another'. It is very much that everyone supports and looks out for each other to see everything through. I really value the opinions and experience of our highly-qualified nurse and reception team, and value the friendships we have on a personal level.
In addition we are also lucky enough to be based in a clinic which has excellent facilities - both in terms of work and rest! The clinic is quite recently renovated with separate cat, dog and isolation wards, three consult rooms, two surgeries, two prep areas, all the necessary fancy diagnostic equipment, and a very helpful x-ray machine! Upstairs there is a fully-fitted kitchen, a fully-fitted lounge room (complete with comfy couches, tv with free view and dvd player), bathroom, and a fully-fitted comfy bedroom. The staff who work at our host practice work to a very high standard, and the clients we see at the client are very open and friendly.
I consider the best part of my job as the fact that I have no idea what will walk through the door on any given shift! There is a constant atmosphere of challenge, and still at least once a week I see a case I've never come across before and have to work out how to manage. It's a very fast--paced and stimulating ride, where I find I am constantly thinking and pulling myself through first principals for problem-solving. The sense of achievement you have though when you successfully work a case through though is immense, and really spurs you on. The CPD we have too, which complements and enhances this, is also fantastic - it's great to listen and suck in all the information that someone is happily handing over to us. I honestly don't think I could bear going back to normal day-practice again... EVER!
When it comes to the most fun part of the job I have to admit I actually get a kick out of the fact that I work at nights! Especially when I first started, for some reason it really tickled me the fact that I was awake and working, while normal, respectable people where tucked up at home in bed. It is fun also being, for the most part, the ‘sole vet' on - knowing that there isn't the presence of some tight-fisted boss looming over your shoulder who has his/her own precise views on how things should be treated, and how much money you should be raking in from clients...
Primarily though, I have great fun working with the rest of the team - from those times when we get to sit down and have a snack (Sunday night is sweeties night) to those really difficult shifts. In fact, it's on the hard shifts that somehow we fortify together to pull out the greatest sense of fun and optimism (... although that could also be slight mania from too many sweets!). Of course, there is as well the adrenalin rush most of us have during a challenging surgery or resuscitation - but I think most of the fun still comes from the people I am working with at the time.
Finally, when it comes to whether I would recommend working for Vets Now to a friend I think my answer is obvious! To be completely honest, while working at Vets Now I have started to enjoy being a veterinary surgeon for the first time in my life. Although I love veterinary work, I detest the ‘business' side that must go along with it. For me, often in day practice it feels like the veterinary industry is an unhappy marriage between a professional service (or ‘care industry') and a customer service(or ‘business') - with myself in the middle being constantly thrown around between these two often-conflicting masters. Because the problems we see OOH in animals are so immediate, this seems to cut through a lot of the fat of customer politics and gets straight to the steak of helping out animals which need our care - which is the reason why most of us came into this business in the first place.
I also am a very big believer in the notion that work should complement and enable our personal lives, but not dominate them. I found it was too easy to get swallowed into the veterinary industry and lose the other parts of my life that were important to me - right down to family, friends, or even just sitting still and peaceful by myself for a while. Because of the flexible rota we have with Vets Now, we are able to balance work with other interests. I myself, after completing drama school in London, am now trying to forge the difficult path through the professional acting industry - and find I can usually slip auditions, rehearsals and also performances in nicely around my work schedule (although coming to work after a day on set can sometimes be a bit bizarre!).
I would heartily recommend working at Vets Now to anyone who values following other passions in life besides veterinary surgery, and/or to anyone who is growing a little weary or disappointed with the demanding routine of regualar veterinary work!
To see what life is like at Vets Now why not click here to view our infomation movie!
