Banfield Pros and Cons

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camp0588

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Im currently in the middle of my 3rd year of vet school, and am kind of having a minor panic attack about the fact that I havent really found my niche yet. Im interested in many facets of vet med, but I havent found that one thing that I feel like I could be really passionate about. Ive had the opportunity to work and shadow a lot of different styles of practices and specialists, but the one thing I havent explored is the world of corporate vet med. Ive heard a lot of mixed reviews on what it's like to work for Banfield and it seems like something people either love or hate. I was just wondering if anyone could give me a raw, completely honest list of pros and cons of working for Banfield to see if its something I should put more time into exploring. Thanks in advance!

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Im currently in the middle of my 3rd year of vet school, and am kind of having a minor panic attack about the fact that I havent really found my niche yet. Im interested in many facets of vet med, but I havent found that one thing that I feel like I could be really passionate about. Ive had the opportunity to work and shadow a lot of different styles of practices and specialists, but the one thing I havent explored is the world of corporate vet med. Ive heard a lot of mixed reviews on what it's like to work for Banfield and it seems like something people either love or hate. I was just wondering if anyone could give me a raw, completely honest list of pros and cons of working for Banfield to see if its something I should put more time into exploring. Thanks in advance!

I haven't personally worked in a corporation job such as Banfield, but I do have colleges that have.
Pros: From our conversations I've gathered that they are very formal and organized. They have a known hierarchy and everyone has their place. The staff is generally well trained and people know their stuff.
Cons:
There is a protocol for everything. This reduces your ability as a doctor to do work-ups specific to the individual animal. Not everything reads the textbook.
Formality/Hierarchy: Some have mentioned that due to everyone having clear cut roles, there has been times of "that's not my job/responsibility."
Lastly, one person had told me she was leaving her corporate job because the environment was too strict and repetitive. She wanted to work in a more relaxed and friendly environment that wasn't pushing for 15 min appointments to make money.

Mind you, these are all opinions.
 
I haven't personally worked in a corporation job such as Banfield, but I do have colleges that have.
Pros: From our conversations I've gathered that they are very formal and organized. They have a known hierarchy and everyone has their place. The staff is generally well trained and people know their stuff.
Cons:
There is a protocol for everything. This reduces your ability as a doctor to do work-ups specific to the individual animal. Not everything reads the textbook.
Formality/Hierarchy: Some have mentioned that due to everyone having clear cut roles, there has been times of "that's not my job/responsibility."
Lastly, one person had told me she was leaving her corporate job because the environment was too strict and repetitive. She wanted to work in a more relaxed and friendly environment that wasn't pushing for 15 min appointments to make money.

Mind you, these are all opinions.
Been a long time since I last saw you around here!
 
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I could probably contribute to a Banfield conversation, but it would be more from a veterinary assistant position than a veterinarian position, and I'm not sure how useful that is.

I will say that even though you might expect that a corporate job would provide a more uniform experience across the board, that is definitely not the case, and it still depends a lot on who you are working with and the market you are in. Some markets are extremely well-managed, have great people in the medical and field director positions, and are just overall lovely for everyone. Some markets...don't have that. There is a lot about Banfield that looks and sounds great on paper but it is hard to actually get things to happen the way they are supposed to in practice, and that's when it starts to turn into a less than ideal situation.

So basically even if you were to get pros and cons lists from a few different people, your own experience is still going to be different unless you end up working at their particular hospital.
 
You still have a long time to figure out what your niche/real interest is at. Even some people that always knew they wanted to do "X" will end up doing "Y" after a certain senior hospital rotation. Working at Banfield is not for everyone. Consider spending some time/externship/preceptorship/what your school calls outside rotations at one to see if you'd like the type of practice. You can also ask that exact question to people that currently work there.
 
Veterinarian with 12 years experience here, currently working for Banfield for the third time. (Yes, third. LOL. Left once for a private practice, which had psycho owners. Came back, then left for a different corporation that had really crappy medicine. Came back again. Now work part-time and not planning to leave again unless it's to leave practice completely.)

Pros - pay, benefits, good quality medicine (maybe not "amazing" compared to some high-quality hospitals, but definitely above-average for my geographic area)

Cons - emphasis on metrics/production (though I've honestly experienced that in private practice too), dealing with clients who are frustrated by wellness plans and not understanding what's covered, emphasis on wellness care means you don't necessarily get a lot of emergency/surgery/etc. experience

I've worked at several Banfield locations and, as said above, there is a LOT of variation between hospitals as far as management, culture, etc. I like the fact that there are certain minimal standards that must always be met, though. You'll never be expected to anesthetize a pet without pre-anesthetic bloodwork or an IV catheter, never be expected to try a surgery you aren't comfortable with, never be pressure to do surgery under minimal sedation, never have to perform tail docks or dewclaw removals, etc. I've worked in some pretty sketchy practices, so the standards at Banfield are a huge plus to me.

Also, someone made a comment above about not having any flexibility in medical protocols - that's no longer the case. When I first worked with Banfield (2009-2012) they had just started phasing out the whole required-protocol thing. Now it's completely gone. You can practice as you see fit, as long as you're meeting their standards (which are really more of a baseline than anything).

I'd be glad to answer any other questions you have. No job is perfect, but Banfield is definitely the best fit for me at this time in my life.
 
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