The Yorkshire Vet: We’ve struck lucky with our Lottie - Julian Norton
After a relaxing (well, not quite relaxing, because it was pretty action-packed) holiday in the French Alps, it was back to work. These days, it’s lovely to be able to take a few weeks. It makes the break feel like a significant rest. When the kids were younger and summer holidays involved juggling work and time off to meet the challenges of childcare, Anne and I could only manage a single week away together as a family. And, back then, a holiday for a vet was anathema. James Herriot himself reportedly spent his honeymoon TB testing cattle in the Dales. Thankfully, the balance between life and work has altered for the better these days, and we returned refreshed and raring to go.
At Thirsk, the building work to expand our practice is progressing. Last time I peered into the “old lawnmower shed”, which adjoins the building, there was just a series of blue lines spray-painted on the floor to indicate where the walls would go. Now, at least, there had been some actual construction, and the walls were taking shape. It was beginning to look like we’d hoped and imagined it would. And there was more exciting news, because Lottie, our favourite vet student, was back to complete the final tranche of her training. We’ve struck lucky with Lottie. She has spent several chunks of time with us, staying with her Grannie in Thirsk, and has gained a great deal of knowledge and experience during her stays. So much so that we offered her a job, and she starts work for us as a newly qualified vet in just a few months’ time. It’s a perfect situation for both parties. She knows the staff, where the syringes live and some of the clients, while we have helped to develop her skills so that she is perfectly placed for a seamless transition into professional life. It’s an opportunity that I can’t help feeling many vet practices do not make the most of, and I’m not sure why. It is a win-win situation, but I’ve only managed to facilitate such an opportunity on a few occasions.
My own first job came as a direct result of having seen practice at the country’s most northerly practice, in Caithness. They were amazed that any student should travel all the way to that far-flung place once, let alone three times. To one senior vet- who had a dodgy back and was trying to reduce the number of cows he needed to calve over the summer- offering me a temporary position seemed good for all of us. Many years ago, at Skeldale, we had a fantastic student called Michelle, who was as capable as she was enthusiastic. After some internal negotiation, I persuaded my colleagues that she’d be a wonderful asset to the practice and that our increasing workload would easily cover her salary. I was right and we all gained. Currently, one of our assistants at Sandbeck did a spell of seeing practice. He liked us and we liked him, so hey-presto!
Lottie is already making working life immeasurably easier for us at Thirsk. She can prepare animals for surgery, take blood samples and complete tasks under supervision with skill and efficiency. Yesterday, she assisted with a complicated surgery to repair a greyhound’s fractured hock. Having passed her exams a few months ago, the final part of her training involves more time in veterinary clinics, so these are halcyon days for her at the very inception of her career. Normally, the satisfaction that we all get watching the development of a new vet only starts once they start the job, but with Lottie, we are all getting this buzz already. Long may it continue and roll on December when she joins the practice as a fully-fledged veterinary surgeon!