Investing in young talent

After a demanding and wide-ranging academic education, young vets start their professional careers armed with a wealth of knowledge. However, this transition to the real world tends to be quite challenging. As Wencke van der Meijden (Anicura Netherlands country manager) and Robert Favier (IVC Evidensia Academy programme director) explain, the two organisations invest in young professionals' development in order to get them off to a good start.   

Anicura and IVC Evidensia both offer a Graduate Programme - a multi-year training programme for young professionals - to ease the transition from study to work. Wenke van der Meijden: 'The Graduate Programme aims to give young vets the sense of safety and confidence they need to start a successful career. We provide clinical courses in partnership with our diplomates and associate professors. Thanks to the practical tools we offer, young professionals will know what to do in the consulting room 80% of the time. The courses also focus on interpersonal skills: How do you communicate with customers, how do you give effective feedback to colleagues, how do you supervise a paraveterinarian?' 

We want to shift the focus from 'how many continuing education credits do you need to get' to 'what can you develop to practice your profession with confidence'?

Clear learning objectives  

Young professionals tend to doubt their own abilities and aren't always sure what is expected of them, according to Robert Favier. This can lead to stress and high perceived workloads. Favier aims to change this situation through the concept of Entrusted Professional Activities (EPAs). 'EPAs are basically like a driving licence for specific procedures, such as ultrasound examinations on dogs or cats. The EPA specifies the clinical skills you need to master, as well as the necessary soft skills. Veterinarians evaluate themselves against the criteria and rate their ability to perform the procedures with or without supervision. This should help shift the emphasis from 'how many refresher course credits do I need to obtain' to 'which skills do I need to develop in order to do my job more confidently?'  

Emergency care under pressure

The demand for care is growing, both within and outside of standard working hours. Ensuring adequate staff for emergency care shifts is a major challenge. Favier: 'Emergency care can be quite stressful for young vets. You're aware that you haven't mastered everything yet, but you have to do it anyway. The resulting stress is one reason for the profession's high dropout rate. We concentrate emergency care in regional referral clinics to make sure there is always an experienced veterinarian nearby. That means the junior vets can work independently, but always have the support they need. As Favier explains, the pressure on emergency care can also be reduced by broadening the responsibilities of para-veterinarians. 'They could take over a number of tasks that currently still have to be performed by veterinarians. That will require regulatory changes, so the industry will have to do some lobbying.' 

Seventy per cent of all learning takes place on the job

Finding the time to learn 

Smaller practices don't necessarily have access to the same resources as large chains. Still, that doesn't mean there's no room for professional development, as Van der Meijden points out: 'Seventy per cent of all learning takes place on the job, regardless of whether you work at a large organisation or an independent practice. It's all about creating a development-oriented culture, in which it's considered normal to give each other feedback, learn from mistakes and near misses together, and stay focused on continuous improvement. We started a mentoring programme in cooperation with the faculty and the Platform for Junior Veterinarians. We ultimately want each of our clinics to have at least one mentor. That would be really valuable for young vets, but it would also be a great mentoring opportunity for more experienced veterinarians.' 

Van der Meijden continues: 'You need to find the time to learn, that might well be the biggest challenge of all. I think independent practices should make use of the resources larger organisations can offer. Many of our clinical evenings are open to everyone. Encourage young colleagues to gather new knowledge there and organise shadowing days or staff exchanges with other clinics. I firmly believe that we can motivate and engage people by offering them opportunities for development.'  

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