Being a good vet (Part 1)

“If your only tool is a hammer, all problems resemble a nail”. This section will stress the different factors required to make you a “good clinician” and gain confidence in your medical decisions.

Introduction

As a vet, you have the choice of various professional pathways upon which to embark. This choice should be made with prudence, because the areas of activity in veterinary medicine today are often very specialised, and making a transition from one field to another, whilst not totally impossible, is at least not desirable. A change from one veterinary field to another such as from a small animal practice to a large animal practice implies a loss of acquired knowledge and some element of “starting again”. Before making the decision as to which field of veterinary practice you want to work in, take time to:
 

• Think about your goals – where do you see yourself in five and in ten years? What changes are coming up in your preferred sphere of the veterinary profession? How will these changes influence you and your daily work?
   
• Get some insights and experience in the areas you favour, for example, by volunteering in this field, in order to help you make an educated decision regarding your future professional career. This way, you can get valuable information that you definitely can´t get by reading and can only come from first-hand experience!

Having said that you cannot get all the facts by just reading, you can still gain some good advice, and this chapter offers some practical steps to help you make the best possible start to your career as a veterinary surgeon.

Choose which field you wish to practice in

The first general decision to make is whether you want to work with small animals like cats and dogs or with large animals such as cattle and horses. If you are unsure where your future lies, here are some key factors to consider. (Box 1).

Think about the animals you will work with

Small animal medicine means providing solutions and services for pets living in a family, and that are playing the role of a companion or even the role of a child or life partner. Large animal practice is a very different kind of experience in which the vet is more of a livestock health manager for cattle or pigs, or as a doctor and coach for sports companions such as horses (Figure 1). 

Vets that try to cover all of these fields of the profession today are a somewhat endangered species, not least because they generally suffer from stress trying to constantly keep up with the veterinary specialists that exist in each of these areas.

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