horror stories

[KittenKiller]

hehe people were talking about awful working experiences in another thread and I thought maybe a horror stories thread might be fun - horror stories about a clinic you worked at.

I worked at a clinic for a year and when I joined up I said Id take a crappy salary if I could get experience. Nevertheless, I became the front desk girl, wasnt even allowed to handle the animals (only the certified technicians), and when I got a free moment my task was reorganizing our 10,000 files. Each day the vets would come in, not say a word to me, and leave when they were done. I tried my best to observe but got yelled at when I went into the back, neglecting the phones. When I left a year later (dont ask why I stayed...I thought I was just doing my time) and asked the vet (the one who hired me knowing I was planning on applying to vet school) for a recommendation, she said she didnt know me well enough to write one.

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[pressmom]

"At my first job (which I kept for two years) the doctors were wonderful, but the other techs were horrible to me. The head tech couldn't go to vet school either, and they all constantly made fun of me. (I was the only one going for vet school.) I remember the most hurtful time: I shared a birthday with one of the other techs (it was on the calendar) and I was working on my birthday. The other girl got a cake and a card (it wasn't even a co-cake) and one of the techs put the cake under my face and said, "I guess you don't get one." Also, I got nothing when I left after two years, not a cake, card or anything. I learned so much from the doctors, but there were days I went home and cried. I stayed for so longs for the LORs. One of the docs had a very good history of getting people in. (And I got in!)"

I think this qualifies as a horror story. There was one girl there that seemed to get pleasure from getting me to the verge of tears. But I never cried at work. Just at home. Near the end I was shaking whenever I had to work with her. They'd also talk about all going out together (with the female docs too) in front of me even though I was never invited.

 

[rexosaurus]

pressmom, i had an experience just like that once, i feel for you!

here's mine: i worked at a small animal clinic for about 2 years and it seemed like one of the older doctors was losing his marbles as the time went on. he did things that subtly compromised patient care just so he could be "right" in the end (nobody was allowed to be smarter or more informed than him, not even his colleagues!) anyway, he made a habit of telling clients that they could just pick up pepcid at the store (as it is the brand name of cimetidine) so they could save some money. i heard him on the phone one day with a client that just left the clinic (and i was in the room with them) and he proceeded to tell her that "no, cimetidine and pepcid are not the same thing. you will have to buy it from us." seriously. just so he could prove that he was in fact the doctor and the client was by no means close to equal intellectually! needless to say, he tought me about everything i don't want to be as a vet!

 

[RosieMoll3]

I became the front desk girl, wasnt even allowed to handle the animals (only the certified technicians), and when I got a free moment my task was reorganizing our 10,000 files. Each day the vets would come in, not say a word to me, and leave when they were done. I tried my best to observe but got yelled at when I went into the back, neglecting the phones. When I left a year later (dont ask why I stayed...I thought I was just doing my time) and asked the vet (the one who hired me knowing I was planning on applying to vet school) for a recommendation, she said she didnt know me well enough to write one.

Wait, you went to Harvard and you still put up with that ****?!
I understand the rationale behind "doing your time," but at least they should have let you watch surgeries or something (even if it was off the clock).
Hopefully the good that comes out of this is that you (and all of us here) will remember how much we appreciated the vets who helped & taught us, and will return the favor to others when we're "big-shot" DVMs

 

[thomphea]

I'm going through a version of that. Except I love where I work, great doctors, great interns & great techs...except for one supervisor. Nevermind the 4000 hours of small animal medicine experience I have (and how all of my other coworkers have no problem me)....she seems to think that I am better off doing laundry and detail cleaning. I think some people are just bitter that others are embracing their passion and following their dreams. So poop on those bitter bastards!

 

[Nexx]

Okay, so after reading all of these 'horror stories' I've come to the conclusion that I need to perhaps bring a little bit of the 'pre-med' forums here. In other words, apparently somewhat of a reality-check is in order.

90% (yes random statistic) of the horror stories being presented are from people who have just entered their jobs looking for hours to use as experience to apply to vet school. Here comes the reality -- GET OVER YOUR FEELINGS OF ENTITLEMENT.

To elaborate, the veterinary community is not there as a stepping stone for you and your education. It is there to serve the public and those animals that need care. If by chance you happen to learn a new skill or become a bit more educated in the field along the way THAT is a bonus. Veterinarians, technicians, receptionists, and other veterinary staff are not there for the sole reason of getting you into vet school and it seems that many people on this board seem to think that.

Starting out in the field generally means you have to start at the bottom. Yes, that means scooping dog crap, mopping, sweeping, changing litter, filing, answering phones, etc. You can't just start out popping in catheters, assisting in surgery, etc. Now if you want to volunteer your time doing that, go ahead. Otherwise get your ass back into the position you were hired to perform.

I've started as an intern in Vet med 10 years ago now and have worked through the ranks. Does that mean I won't stop to teach people what I know? It surely doesn't. In fact, I do all I can to pass on what I know. But everything has a time and place. But if there is other work to be done (and there ALWAYS is...) get back to it! Do not make other people pick up your slack just so you can 'learn' because you are going to be a vet one day and they may or may not be. Besides you don't get paid to learn about vet med, you get paid to do your job.

Sorry for the rant. After living in a college town for so long (and a vet-med town at that) I just can't stand this kind of thinking!

 

[KittenKiller]

Go crawl back into the hole you crawled out of Nexx, and try reading what people say before ranting about it. As far as I can tell, no one complained about mopping. Pressmom just talked about people taunting her with a birthday cake and laughing because she didnt get one. Sounds like third grade playground behavior to me, not this "caring veterinary community" you speak of.

Please, every job is about a contract, a negotiation between the employer and the employee. If the employer grossly neglects their half of the bargain, the employee doesnt have to be a groveling sycophant to the almighty boss, taking whatever is dished out to them.

 

[KittenKiller]

Go crawl back into the hole you crawled out of Nexx, and try reading what people say before ranting about it. As far as I can tell, no one complained about mopping. Pressmom just talked about people taunting her with a birthday cake and laughing because she didnt get one. Sounds like third grade playground behavior to me, not this "caring veterinary community" you speak of.

Please, every job is about a contract, a negotiation between the employer and the employee. If the employer grossly neglects their half of the bargain, the employee doesnt have to be a groveling sycophant to the almighty boss, taking whatever is dished out to them. The employee has rights too.

 

[rexosaurus]

Nexx:
here on this forum we are not harming anybody, hurting anyone's feelings, or turning anybody off to their dreams. if you have some negativity take it elsewhere, we don't need it.

 

[Cheska]

Okay, so after reading all of these 'horror stories' I've come to the conclusion that I need to perhaps bring a little bit of the 'pre-med' forums here. In other words, apparently somewhat of a reality-check is in order.

90% (yes random statistic) of the horror stories being presented are from people who have just entered their jobs looking for hours to use as experience to apply to vet school. Here comes the reality -- GET OVER YOUR FEELINGS OF ENTITLEMENT.

To elaborate, the veterinary community is not there as a stepping stone for you and your education. It is there to serve the public and those animals that need care. If by chance you happen to learn a new skill or become a bit more educated in the field along the way THAT is a bonus. Veterinarians, technicians, receptionists, and other veterinary staff are not there for the sole reason of getting you into vet school and it seems that many people on this board seem to think that.

Starting out in the field generally means you have to start at the bottom. Yes, that means scooping dog crap, mopping, sweeping, changing litter, filing, answering phones, etc. You can't just start out popping in catheters, assisting in surgery, etc. Now if you want to volunteer your time doing that, go ahead. Otherwise get your ass back into the position you were hired to perform.

I've started as an intern in Vet med 10 years ago now and have worked through the ranks. Does that mean I won't stop to teach people what I know? It surely doesn't. In fact, I do all I can to pass on what I know. But everything has a time and place. But if there is other work to be done (and there ALWAYS is...) get back to it! Do not make other people pick up your slack just so you can 'learn' because you are going to be a vet one day and they may or may not be. Besides you don't get paid to learn about vet med, you get paid to do your job.

Sorry for the rant. After living in a college town for so long (and a vet-med town at that) I just can't stand this kind of thinking!

WOW. I have no words for this.

 

[Bill59]

I've started as an intern in Vet med 10 years ago now and have worked through the ranks.

Intern?

 

[Nexx]

Please. That was FAR from being as negative as I wanted to be. If you can't handle that moderate amount of criticism towards other people then I feel sorry for you.

Furthermore, nothing I stated was anything far from what you will find in the real world. If you can't handle that, you should probably continue to hide here in this forum.

Most (if not all) of my post was not directed at Pressmom. Instead it was directed at others in this thread and others take it for what you will. Bottom line, take what you want from my response but you will surely encounter my opinion (about jobs as stepping stones) from your future/current managers.

 

[cyrille104]

You can't just start out popping in catheters, assisting in surgery, etc.

Sure you can. I did. Giving students an opportunity to learn is called social and professional responsibility.

This is also why I like unpaid internships. They're essentially getting free work out of you, so you can do whatever the hell you want.

Bottom line, take what you want from my response but you will surely encounter my opinion (about jobs as stepping stones) from your future/current managers.

And that's when you change jobs. I've NEVER had a boss give me that opinion, and I've had a lot of them, all knowing that I wanted to go to vet school. In fact, they all thought it was great that I was working my way up. I really don't know where you're getting all of this.

Nexx, no one here has the sense of entitlement that they have over on the pre-med board. We all worked our asses off for thousands of hours of experience, unlike the measly 100 hours of experience required for med school. You obviously need to do a little more research before you start bitching people out for complaining truly horrible jobs.

 

[Cheska]

Thank you Cyrille, very well said. Teaching those who are just beginning in the field is definitely one of our biggest responsibilities. If we don't encourage others, we will not have anyone to go into the profession and buy our practices when we retire

Furthermore, nothing I stated was anything far from what you will find in the real world. If you can't handle that, you should probably continue to hide here in this forum.

The above is NOT how the real world is or has to be!!!

Every clinic that I have ever worked at has known that they were a stepping stone for me to get experience on the way to veterinary school. I have never lied to them about it, and have been given some incredible opportunities because of it. This includes working at one of the top surgical practices in Arizona. These experiences were so great that I had enough experience to rock the state and national boards to get my CVT.

I have and would NEVER been involved with a veterinary clinic that has that kind of attitude. And I have been in the field for just as long as you have Nexx. If I had gotten this reaction from any of them I would have run in the other direction. As a vet assistant/tech, in many areas there are plenty of vet clinics to choose from- it is not worth sticking it out in a nasty environment.

Many of the vets I have worked with love having students as techs in a college town. Sure you will occasionally get a bad egg that is not reliable, it happens. Maybe that has you burnt out or angry. But the vets I know love the optimism-and-excitement-to-learn-anything attitude and are happy when their "students" have success and get into school.

 

[Nexx]

I'll tell you all what, reread the first post on this thread. (No I'm not really meaning to come down on Kittenkiller)

Then tell me why a self-proclaimed 'front desk girl' who was obviously hired as a receptionist, has any reason to take a break from her duties up front to go and neglect duties by sitting around in the back observing.

I have NEVER implied once here in this thread that clinics shouldn't provide a chance to learn. However, it should be done on your own time or picked up during the course of your normal duties. It should not be done in a manner that makes others have to pick up where you leave off and it shouldn't be done without the boss's permission.

So again my final point, you get hired to do a job--not to learn and gain experience for school. The learning/experience is a benefit akin to insurance, 401k, etc which is gained by working more and earning them.

If you wish to continue to discuss this with me, please feel free to PM me. Otherwise I am done here

 

[cyrille104]

I have NEVER implied once here in this thread that clinics shouldn't provide a chance to learn.

the veterinary community is not there as a stepping stone for you and your education. If by chance you happen to learn a new skill or become a bit more educated in the field along the way THAT is a bonus.

 

[Hollycozza]

I know the vet I work with on Sundays has from experience sometimes found vet students to be annoying as employees because some of them are unwilling to do things like cleaning, washing towels etc, which are part of the job as a vet nurse. And there was some complaint about doing those in this thread. But if they are a major part of the requirement to fulfill in the job you have, the best solution is to find a different job!

Surely thats all Nexx was really saying (though I can see why "everyone get over their sense of entitlement" rubs people the wrong way), is go ahead, get great experience, but don't do it at the expense of your clinic. If its a paid job then the most important thing is doing the job, and learning from it is a wonderful secondary bonus. Either way you still get to count the hours

It sounds like some of you have worked in horrible clinics though, where the people are so mean in that case just quit! Nothing gained by being treated badly!!!!