Does a B in English look bad?

[cvanthof]

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I just read this whole thread, and from what I am still seeing of your posts, I think you should reread BlackDog's advice. There is a difference between making a judgement, being called out on it, and simply acknowledging that the poster had a good point but you still think you're right, versus accepting that you could be wrong about some things. I don't mean to say this in a negative way, but I used to do the same thing.

IMO, even simply giving advice isn't free from a professional in any other field, so why should it be in ours? Our hearts may be a bit more warm and fuzzy, but that feeling won't pay my loans when I graduate.

 

[LetItSnow]

I understand how a nail trim or any other thing takes time and such, but simply putting a pill in a cat's mouth? And if you take into consideration the price difference of education forty years ago compared to now, it's very significant. But I do understand what you mean.

Yes, even putting a pill in a cat's mouth. You're providing a service, you should get paid. Period.

Look at trash service. How hard is it for the trash guy to pull up with his automated truck that grabs my trash can and dumps it all without him doing squat. Hard to do? No. It's "simply" putting my trash into his truck. Big deal.

But it's a service. I don't want to haul my own trash, he does it for me, so I pay him to do it.

It's no different in veterinary medicine. If you use your expertise to provide a service for a client - big or little - you ought to charge appropriately so that the value for that service is maintained. It's simple business.

Sure, things get a bit more complex when you start looking at things like loss leaders and marketing and whatnot ... but in general, it is critical to good business that you charge for whatever services you provide.

 

[Kyoht]

I just read this whole thread, and from what I am still seeing of your posts, I think you should reread BlackDog's advice. There is a difference between making a judgment, being called out on it, and simply acknowledging that the poster had a good point but you still think you're right, versus accepting that you could be wrong about some things.

👍

One of the top things that I watch for when a new graduate is starting at the office is giving freebies. The clients sometimes take advantage of the new grads and the grads are often wanting to please (being new) so they give little freebies to get on the client's good side. I have seen them go out to a farm call for calving assistance and if the calf dies they sometimes do not want to charge the farmer for the full time because they feel bad or think that they failed. I always encourage them by letting them know that they performing a quality service and that they need to be paid for that service (no matter how easy or what outcome).

Laurren: I also found your comments about the vet assistants that work there offensive. I was working for minimum wage with a HS diploma as a vet assistant and was trained on the job when I finally decided that I wanted to go back to school to be a vet. I worked hard and now I am the office manager at this same office and train new people. Just because a person did not go to vet tech school does not mean that they are somehow lower or "just getting any job they can". I get compliments all the time from the doctors that I work with and they do not think that I am below the lic vet techs. Many actually prefer me because I have been there the longest, listen well, and try and be flexible on what they want me to do (every vet does things differently and there is more than 1 way to do things correctly).

If you really want to be a great vet you need to stop looking down on people because they do not fit into your mold of exactly how you think they should be IMO.

 

[BlackDog17]

If you really want to be a great vet you need to stop looking down on people because they do not fit into your mold of exactly how you think they should be IMO.

👍👍👍

Laurren, you're really in no place to be making these kinds of judgments about these people. You have a lot to learn about veterinary practice. It's clear that you don't understand the intricacies of being a vet and running a business. You could learn a lot if you would stop criticizing and really pay attention to the day to day challenges of the practice. Like it or not, these people are your colleagues in this field. They are professionals, and you need to respect that even if you don't necessarily agree with all of their practices.

I would also be a lot more careful about the kinds of things you post on a public forum like this. If I were a potential employer and I happened to find this thread, there's no way I would hire you after seeing how freely you badmouth your boss and your coworkers. Just food for thought.

 

[dyachei]

Laurren - Assume an average debt between $130,000 and $140,000. How much should my time be worth as a vet? A human doctor that looks at you for 15 minutes already gets paid way more. But if I spend 5 minutes giving a cat a pill, that is 5 minutes I'm not spending on a sick pet. My per hour wage divided to the minute is roughly how to come up with these numbers, on some level. Like when I have a client ask for me to apply soft paws. I charge a fee because it is time I took out to perform a service.

 

[Minnerbelle]

If you use your expertise to provide a service for a client - big or little - you ought to charge appropriately so that the value for that service is maintained. It's simple business.

👍

Something like 20% of charges go unbilled in vet practices across the board. Meaning, vets and techs either forget to charge, or decide that the little things here and there are no biggies and don't charge. All these little things add up to 20%.

TWENTY PERCENT is a huuuuuge deal. On production, a veterinarian gets paid ~20-25% of how much they charged their clients. Let's say an associate vet gets a shoddy contract and gets paid 20% production. To earn a salary of $70K, that vet has to charge $350K in a year. Think about it... if 20% of services were not charged for, that $350K is only 80% of what you could have charged. Had you charged appropriately for your time/services, you would have charged $437K which would have given you a salary of $87K.

I mean yeah, if you personally feel like you would rather not "take advantage" of your clients for charging for "silly thing" like nail trims and pilling and anal gland emptying, you can donate that $17K to your clients by providing free services. It only hurts you. NOT!

Actually, as an associate being paid on production, that is not true. You are hurting the business big time by donating $17K of your income. Your take home pay again is only 20% of what you charged your clients. That means that 80% of what your clients paid goes to paying things like the technicians and other support staff, the rent, utilities, management, equipment, supplies and income for the business owner. So again, if you missed charging for 20% of what you do and bill clients $350K, then the $280k that you didn't take home goes into paying for all those things. If what you should have charged was $437k, the money that goes into paying overhead now becomes $350K.

So congratulations, by not charging for the nail trim or that E-collar or whatever, you missed out on $17K for yourself and $70k for the business. You can pay for 2 more fulltime staff members for that money! And plus, let's have a little self-respect here. If the client wants to use our $150k+ worth of knowledge and skills to pill their cat even if they could do it themselves, why are we not to get compensated?

 

[hygebeorht]

One time, I brought a client back because an out of town client wanted us to give the cat a pill (a pill that the client had, we didn't have to furnish). He shoved it down the cat's throat and said, "put down twenty dollars," so I said, "twenty?" he said, "if he scratched me, it would've been forty." That's something that could of been done for free and it wouldn't of bothered anyone.

I think that's your B in English right there. Could have, would have.

I truly am not trying to be petty, but holy moly some science-minded folks seem to take pride in butchering English. I have a professor whose slides frequently have multiple words misspelled in multiple ways - ON THE SAME SLIDE. I understand having difficulty with spelling and usage and such, but it's something we should always try to improve. The ability to write like a professional is something that will serve you well in the future, should you choose to cultivate it.

You may find your professor infuriating, but by not tolerating sloppy writing she is doing all of you a HUGE favor. I used to teach English and I worked as an editor for a living. It can be tempting to just let bad writing slide, since correcting it is exhausting and thankless, but it's worse to send bad writers out into the world where their awful writing will earn them worse than a bad grade. If your personal statement or cover letter sounds *****ic, you won't get what you are applying for. If your correspondence sounds young and ignorant, you will not be taken seriously and your career may suffer.

I'd take the B and thank her for it! You must have done pretty well in the class to get a B, and I'm sure you can learn from her corrections too.

 

[twelvetigers]

 

[OwlandPussycat]

Truthfully, I'm just messed up beyond belief right now. All I do is worry if I'm getting into veterinary school or not. I'm also going to be taking twelve credit hours in the summer (eight hours a day, five days a week). And yes, I did have a ton of extra-curriculars, but I dropped them because I wanted to study. And yes, before you ask, I do have friends, and a pre-vet boyfriend who is just like I am.

I'm also taking classes outside of my major and pre-reqs. I'm going for a Business Administration minor.

But you are right. I do tend to point the fingers a lot. My stress is causing me a lot of anger.

Ok, I kind of think everyone is missing the point right now.
Laurren, based on this as well as the comment I quoted earlier from your initial post, I would encourage you to seek some sort of therapy or counseling. It sounds like the stress that you are feeling over grades and veterinary school is causing you a lot of stress, and is detracting from your personal wellbeing. I do not think that it is healthy to fixate on schoolwork and grades to the extent that you are.
You could probably benefit a lot just from discussing your stress with a counselor, and working on a self-care plan. You can do all of this while still working towards vet school admission, and actually improve your chances of getting in because modern adcoms really do look for well-rounded students who know how to take care of themselves.

 

[DVMDream]

Ok, I kind of think everyone is missing the point right now.
Laurren, based on this as well as the comment I quoted earlier from your initial post, I would encourage you to seek some sort of therapy or counseling. It sounds like the stress that you are feeling over grades and veterinary school is causing you a lot of stress, and is detracting from your personal wellbeing. I do not think that it is healthy to fixate on schoolwork and grades to the extent that you are.
You could probably benefit a lot just from discussing your stress with a counselor, and working on a self-care plan. You can do all of this while still working towards vet school admission, and actually improve your chances of getting in because modern adcoms really do look for well-rounded students who know how to take care of themselves.

I agree with this. Laurren from what I am getting from your posts.. you are still very young and have quite a bit of schooling to go through. You can only do an undergrad degree once... you are only first time in college once... try to enjoy it too. There is no reason why you should be stressing yourself out to the point that you are "a mess". That is overboard. Yes, study. Yes, try your best. Yes, if you are struggling with something ask for assistance. But break loose too... have some fun. Vet med is only one small aspect of what you want to do.. it is the career that you want, it should not be your entire life, you will burn out that way.

 

[KCgophervet]

I think that's your B in English right there. Could have, would have.

It can be tempting to just let bad writing slide, since correcting it is exhausting and thankless, but it's worse to send bad writers out into the world where their awful writing will earn them worse than a bad grade.

This. A thousand times over!

 

[hygebeorht]

I agree with this. Laurren from what I am getting from your posts.. you are still very young and have quite a bit of schooling to go through. You can only do an undergrad degree once... you are only first time in college once... try to enjoy it too. There is no reason why you should be stressing yourself out to the point that you are "a mess". That is overboard. Yes, study. Yes, try your best. Yes, if you are struggling with something ask for assistance. But break loose too... have some fun. Vet med is only one small aspect of what you want to do.. it is the career that you want, it should not be your entire life, you will burn out that way.

Unless you get to do a 2nd undergrad degree...haha!

I agree that counseling can help you too. I see a lot of little prevets that are wound super tight and lose their minds over the tiniest thing. It makes me want a blowgun with valium darts.