GP Job Interview Advice

[Cyndia]

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I have a couple of interviews set up over the next few months with general practices that I am interested in working for after graduation. My first interview is actually tomorrow, and while I've met the owner and found out a lot of information about her practice, my visit tomorrow will be the first time I'll be seeing the practice in person.

I know a LOT can be learned from an in person visit - does anyone have any tips/advice on what I should be asking about and looking closely at when I'm there? Obviously I want a feel for the culture of the clinic, and I plan to speak to some of the other doctors about what their experiences have been like (particularly the one that was hired as a new grad last year). But I'd love to know if there is anything obvious I'm not thinking about?

 

[epivetlove]

**following this**

 

[DVMDream]

I have a couple of interviews set up over the next few months with general practices that I am interested in working for after graduation. My first interview is actually tomorrow, and while I've met the owner and found out a lot of information about her practice, my visit tomorrow will be the first time I'll be seeing the practice in person.

I know a LOT can be learned from an in person visit - does anyone have any tips/advice on what I should be asking about and looking closely at when I'm there? Obviously I want a feel for the culture of the clinic, and I plan to speak to some of the other doctors about what their experiences have been like (particularly the one that was hired as a new grad last year). But I'd love to know if there is anything obvious I'm not thinking about?

1. Watch interactions between the support staff. Receptionists and technicians. This is important.
2. Try to actually talk with the receptionists and support staff. Ask their opinions too. It is amazing how much information that you can get from them.
3. Definitely talk to the other doctor, but also ask if you can get a phone number or personal email or something in case you think of additional questions. Some people have a hard time being able to be open while the boss is hanging about so a follow up is never a bad idea. And I wouldn't pressure anything, just if you think of something ask if they would be comfortable if you took down an email for questions later on.
4. Figure out how the scheduling will be. What is the walk-in policy? The emergency policy? The vaccination policy?
5. Are there any new client exam or new patient exam incentives? If so, what are they? (Currently hate the ****ing free exam for new clients, it brings in dinguses)
6. How are surgeries scheduled? Will there be someone to assist you if needed? Will that someone also be busy with appointments? How many surgeries are you going to be expected to do in a day? How much time will you have to complete surgeries?
7. How are appointments scheduled? Every 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes?
8. Ask each staff member how long they have been there. Lets you know if there is a lot of turnover. You will likely always have that employee or two who has been there forever. Pay attention to see if they have any ads out that they are hiring.
9. Pay attention to the flow of the clinic. Are techs doing blood draws, catheters, intubating? Are they calling back negative fecals and normal bw results? Are they able to do skin scrapes, ear cytologies, etc? Or are the vets having to stop their work to do these things?
10. How do they feel about you referring clients out to emergency clinics or specialty clinics?
11. Are you expected to see late night emergencies 5 minutes before close or is the owner ok with you having staff tell them to seek care at the closest emergency clinic. The last thing you want to do at the end of a 10 or 12 hour shift is see an emergency that may not show up for another 20-40 minutes and keep you at least another hour after that, that you will likely just be able to stabilize and then have to punt anyway. Eating up two hours of your evening is not fun and leads to burn out fast. Make sure they don't expect you to see anything and everything that calls right before close.

All I can think of for now, but sure I could come up with more.

 

[Cyndia]

Thank you, that is incredibly helpful!!

 

[DVMDream]

Thank you, that is incredibly helpful!!

Oh! Also, pay attention to medications that they have on the shelves. You don't really have a "style" yet for what you use frequently or do, but damn is it frustrating when something you really want is not available. Also ask what controlled drugs they keep on hand. Do they have medications for proper pain control? (Something more than butorphanol for an opioid option).

 

[allieh8607]

DVMD covered pretty much everything important that you should pay attention to!
A few other things that may matter to you:

-Look at all their meds; pain meds, pre-meds, abx, derm stuff etc...do they stock things that agree with the kind of medicine you want to practice? I am one month into my first job and I'm already pretty frustrated at my clinic's lack of derm stuff since it's a big interest of mine.
-Ask to see some of their current medical records
-Ask if you get a lunch break and is it a hard, strict, "no appointments during this time" type of thing or if you might get stuck working through your lunches
-I would say the rest comes down to personal preference- you can ask what their policy is on convenience euthanasias, declaws, etc.

Edit; I didn't see DVMD's additional post about the meds 🙂

 

[CalliopeDVM]

Ask to look at a few medical records - they'll give you an idea of how cases are worked up and written up, and you will be in a position to have to work from those records. Having to follow up on cases where the other vet didn't take decent notes is as frustrating (and harder to fix) than not having meds you might want on the shelf.

Don't be fooled by tech, or by the lack of tech.......each system has pros and cons, and each is dependent on the operator and user. Paper records can be as good as electronic ones, and electronic records can be as bad as paper ones. Bad digital rads can be as useless as bad film rads, but good ones of either will get you what you want. The presence of an U/S machine doesn't mean that the clinic practices good medicine, let alone produces useful U/S images.

I think DVMD touched on the most important thing right off: Watch the staff and get a feel for the vibe of the place and the general morale. IMO, that's the most important thing, and office politics are the worst part of any job. If the environment is right (friendly, respectful, not competitive), the other things will be much easier to handle because you'll be better able to ask (from staff and other vets) for what you need, whether it's help printing documents, new medications on the shelf, an extra hand in restraint, or hints on handling difficult clients.

 

[Coquette22]

I was prepared to write out a big thing but DVMD covered it. Check medical records if you can to see staff names. Are you seeing multiple doctors in a record in a short period of time? Are there numerous people in the records that are no longer working there? Is the boss planning on taking vacation as soon as you start? Look at surgical protocols. Is there adequate monitoring? Is there the generic bottle of BAG/BAA used as premed for everything? How do they handle walk ins and emergencies? If you're working solo, can you call other docs for support on cases?