What to do during slow time?

[aspirevet]

I've shadowed the techs and vets at one office 4 or 5 times and now I'm starting to get more comfortable being there. I still just observe and don't get to help out much but during slow times instead of just standing there I look for something to read like a vet magazine or things about upcoming appointments. But still slow times in the clinic can be pretty boring so I was wondering what I should do during those times?

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[bluesails]

At the referral clinic I was working at last year, I would make a list on my phone of things to look up (things that I didn't understand) and then look these up during slow times! Otherwise I usually turn to the Kindle app on my phone, but I only do that if the vet I'm working for retreats to work on his/her own computer.

 

[LetItSnow]

I've shadowed the techs and vets at one office 4 or 5 times and now I'm starting to get more comfortable being there. I still just observe and don't get to help out much but during slow times instead of just standing there I look for something to read like a vet magazine or things about upcoming appointments. But still slow times in the clinic can be pretty boring so I was wondering what I should do during those times?

If it's slow for the people working there, too, talk to them about the industry. I used to spend slow times talking to one of the vets about the business side of things.

Some days I'd just go into radiology and start pulling out rads to look at.

Other days I'd pull up dental rads on the computer and look at those.

Other days I'd find something to clean that looks like it never gets cleaned.

There are usually plenty of books laying around - find one and start learning something about anatomy, or medicine, or cytology, or parasitology. Pick up a parasit book in the lab and start learning.....

And some days I'd just shrug, decide it was going to be slow, and go home.

 

[that redhead]

I'd take the time to look up something you may have seen that day or expect to see later - maybe a surgery, maybe a specific treatment, etc.

Looking at rads can be fun, even if you aren't sure what's going on - just becoming familiar with how things look/are arranged can be helpful.

And yeah, restocking and cleaning is always a helpful activity.

 

[TooLove]

And yeah, restocking and cleaning is always a helpful activity.

Especially if you're looking to get a paying position there, this will get you big bonus points. Even if you're not, but you see that no one's cleaned the last exam room or the laundry is piling up - definitely take the initiative to get it ready for the next appointment or throw a load in. The staff will be super appreciative and they're much more likely to take the time to explain things to shadows who are willing to help them out rather than the ones who are messing with their phone. We used to have one who was doing a preceptor for tech school and whenever we couldn't find her she was either in the back hallway talking on her phone or outside smoking...you can bet she didn't get as much out her time with us.

 

[DVMDream]

It also never hurts to ask if there is anything you can help with. Often times there may not be any appointments or it may seem "slow" but there is still plenty that needs to be done. Maybe not even necessarily in the back office with the techs/vets, but the receptionists might be busy or something.

 

[that redhead]

Especially if you're looking to get a paying position there, this will get you big bonus points. Even if you're not, but you see that no one's cleaned the last exam room or the laundry is piling up - definitely take the initiative to get it ready for the next appointment or throw a load in. The staff will be super appreciative and they're much more likely to take the time to explain things to shadows who are willing to help them out rather than the ones who are messing with their phone. We used to have one who was doing a preceptor for tech school and whenever we couldn't find her she was either in the back hallway talking on her phone or outside smoking...you can bet she didn't get as much out her time with us.

Underline/bold/highlight "take the initiative". So many people that I have encountered personally and on SDN say how they "ask the techs if they can do anything and the techs say no". I understand not wanting to do anything that you might not understand fully/know clinic policy on/whatever, but you can always run a load of laundry, fold stuff, clean kennels out or clean counters. Showing that you are more than willing to get dirty and do the mundane tasks will definitely make you more likeable to the other workers there.

 

[DVMDream]

Underline/bold/highlight "take the initiative". So many people that I have encountered personally and on SDN say how they "ask the techs if they can do anything and the techs say no". I understand not wanting to do anything that you might not understand fully/know clinic policy on/whatever, but you can always run a load of laundry, fold stuff, clean kennels out or clean counters. Showing that you are more than willing to get dirty and do the mundane tasks will definitely make you more likeable to the other workers there.

Yes, even if the techs say that they don't have anything... if you notice something is low ask if you can restock it or ask if laundry needs to be done, or maybe if they just finished surgery see if you can help clean up from that.

 

[98cats]

I shadowed at a clinic that had 2 employees: a vet and a vet tech. That was all. So maybe it's different where you're shadowing. But I would always ask if there was something they needed done, and usually they would give me some puppy folders to set up or a room to clean. I'd also clean exam rooms after a visit without being asked because they had already shown me what to do. If I already asked, and there wasn't anything to do, the vet had a bookshelf of vet related books to read. I would ask if they have something like that so at least you're still doing something vet related. One time they had me watch a video on animal handling. I think if you're able to ask, then do so. If you don't ask, you're most definitely not going to have anything to do. As a last resort, like I said, ask for a book or something.
If it was really slow and I had a test to study for or something, I would tell the vet and she was fine with having me go home, but otherwise I would stay as long as I had planned unless they told me to go home because there wasn't anything else planned.

 

[WillowLeaf]

I've been told that it's illegal (in my region, anyway) for the clinic to ask an unpaid shadow/volunteer to do things that the paid employees normally do, so that may be why some techs say no when a shadow asks to be given work to do. When I volunteer on my days off, the techs will ask if I want to do something fun like learning how to tape a catheter, but they refuse to ask me to do any boring work (like cleaning or whatever) unless I clock in. I still do cleaning and stuff because I hate standing around, but if I ask to be given something to do they'll tell me not to work for free. So if someone is getting told not to do anything by techs, it could be worth asking them if they really mind if you go clean something or do laundry, because they might appreciate it but not be allowed to encourage you to do it.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

In the first few weeks of my current position, it was slow one day so I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the floors of the clinic. Definitely earned myself some respect by doing that!

Grab all of the product/disease/parasite brochures you can and read up! Know what flea preventatives do what, how they work, and if they also have dewormers in them. Know how your clinic approaches puppy/kitten vaccine series (because I've learned that every doctor does it differently...whether or not there is a single correct way to do it I can't answer). Ask if the vet has any cool charts you can read from past diagnoses, cool rads, or things they've pulled out of dogs' stomachs (we have tons of stuff in jars!).

There really will always be something to do at any job you end up at. Think outside the box. Clean under shelves that haven't been cleaned in years (you'll be able to knit a sweater made of cat hair!). Scrub the door mats. Bleach out sinks. Make the bathroom sparkle! I don't think a volunteer should feel like you are a source of free labor, but to me it looks back if you end up standing around.

 

[dovelover]

I think its good to find a balance between helping with some cleaning (if they'll let you) and doing some reading or looking at interesting things. While cleaning all the time sounds like a way to win people over, it may just make them feel awkward because, A, it kinda sorta is illegal in many circumstances, and B, they know that you're there because you want to learn, not to scrub counters. Looking at records is fun, and it's useful to become familiar with terminology and abbreviations, and I would also sometimes pull out the drug formularly and read about drugs we prescribed a lot... or more often for me, whatever drug we had just put my poor bird on... My favorite thing to do was looking at rads. I would also sometimes bring in a fecal from my bird and spend some time exploring all the fun things she had hanging out in her poop... and even diagnosed her with clostridium infections a few times. You will never ever run out of things to look at/read in the average vet clinic, as long as you know where to look... or ask.

But whatever you do, I would not advise sitting around on your phone or reading a non-vet book, or just looking bored. If you're going to do that, you might as well leave. Personally, it would annoy me (and our hospital manager) when my fellow interns would use their down time to study for an upcoming exam, but then again, I was out of school at that point, so maybe I would have felt differently in their shoes. I think in a volunteer or shadow setting, if it's so slow that you actually have enough solid chunks of down time to study, you're better off just saying, "hey, I have an exam tomorrow, do you mind if I head out since things are slow?"

 

[pinkpuppy9]

While cleaning all the time sounds like a way to win people over, it may just make them feel awkward because, A, it kinda sorta is illegal in many circumstances...

Why do you say it's illegal? I get that volunteers might take work away from paid employees, but typically you won't have a boss who is going to tell your LVT to go home once the volunteer shows up. That and, at least in my area, you're going to have to be in a union if you want to sue over something like "the volunteer cleaned all the counters instead of me." There are definitely fine lines when it comes to interns and volunteers, and I'm always more concerned for the ones providing the free labor than those who didn't take the initiative to clean the counters/scrub the floors/etc.

Reminds me of one of my current jobs. Our managers absolutely cannot help full time staff that are unionized because "It takes work away from them." Um...what ? You can't help us in the dishroom when we're 100 trays in and the full timer gets paid the full 8 hours either way?

Edit: To the OP, when you are searching for some things to do, understand that you are not going to be able to do some things for insurance purposes, probably. Volunteers and sometimes interns are not covered under the company's insurance, so it will vary from clinic to clinic what you can and cannot do.

 

[DVMDream]

Why do you say it's illegal? I get that volunteers might take work away from paid employees, but typically you won't have a boss who is going to tell your LVT to go home once the volunteer shows up. That and, at least in my area, you're going to have to be in a union if you want to sue over something like "the volunteer cleaned all the counters instead of me." There are definitely fine lines when it comes to interns and volunteers, and I'm always more concerned for the ones providing the free labor than those who didn't take the initiative to clean the counters/scrub the floors/etc.

The legality has nothing to do with taking jobs away from current employees. It has to do with what you are allowed to make a volunteer do/not do. Most veterinary places, shadows/volunteers really can't do anything (ie the clinic can not make them work); if they choose to do something on their own doing, then that is up to them.

Also, I would probably raise an eyebrow or two if I saw a shadow scrubbing floors on their hands and knees, for a number of reasons.

 

[SV88]

As someone who has had a few shadowers over the years, the ones I appreciated most were the ones who put the extra effort in an really spoke up to learn. I will talk all day if you ask me questions about my job, but if you hover by me and hardly make a peep then I'll start closing off. Heck even when I started as an employee I asked EVERY question - "What med do you like for HW?" "What does O.S mean?" "What do you mean by perivascular? orthopnea? rostrocaudal?" etc. Questions that are asked for learning purposes are almost always answered appropriately at every clinic I've worked at.

 

[Minnerbelle]

One thing that I really appreciated was being allowed to practice making blood smears and reading fecals (since these are super cheap for the clinic).

I had a clinic that would hold blood in the fridge for me for teaching purposes that were left over from diagnostic samples. And they were like, use all the slides in the world! So I would sit there and make dozens and dozens until I got really good at it. Every rotation/externship I've been on where I needed to make a smear, clinicians have commented on my beautiful smears and if there's a hematology book to reference, you can practice reading the slides too

Same goes for fecals. Ask for them to save you a sample from positive dogs (cause more often than not, owners will drop off waaaay more than they need). Just ask first to make sure it's okay, but you can also go to any pond and pick up duck/geese poop because they are always loaded with parasites. Farm animals are good too. It's nice to look at those types of super positive samples when you start out, because it's hard to get confident when you're practicing on negative sample after negative sample. It might take a sit down for you to learn how to do it, but a lot of it will be self study after that. Just have a book/chart on hand to reference. If you find something and have put in the effort to look it up, it only takes a second to politely ask someone who's free to take a look and see if they agree.

Clinicians who like to teach and watch students learn will generally appreciate your effort in self learning

 

[neocia]

My only quip on this topic was I volunteered at a clinic for over a year - during that time, I learned how to do a lot of stuff around there, but then when I got hired there, no one officially taught me how to do anything because they assumed I just knew since I had "been there a while." That aspect was really frustrating because the things I did as a shadow/volunteer were a lot diff than the things I was expected to suddenly know how to do as a staff.

Oh well, I explained that to people and then got officially trained