We asked Catherine Wilkinson, Branch Partner and Veterinary Surgeon at Medivet in Middlesex a few questions on what a typical day is like for a vet.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I joined Medivet in October 2013 as a branch partner following a number of years working in small animal practices with experience both as a branch vet and within a hospital setting. I graduated from Cambridge University in 2008 and achieved a General Practitioners Certificate in Ophthalmology in 2011.
How does your day as a Veterinary Surgeon typically start?
“I work at a small branch clinic with no hospitalised patients on site. Any of our sick patients will be hospitalised at the nearby 24 hour centre, so I start the day by calling over to the main site to check how they have been overnight and then call the owners with an update.
Afterwards, I read the notes for patients coming in for appointments that morning and then have a two hour consulting period where anything can come in. This can be from a routine myxomatosis
What do you do during the middle of the day?
“We don’t have any scheduled appointments during the middle of the day to allow us to be flexible in what we do. Often we will start with routine procedures like neutering or a patient that requires their teeth to be cleaned, but there will often be more complex surgeries too. I have once had to remove nine golf balls from a boxer‘s stomach!
Any patients that need hospitalising will be transferred to our main centre for 24 hour care and I will go and check on any of our patients that are already over there. At this point I will perform any further diagnostic tests required and review the patient’s treatment plan for the next 24 hours.
Any patients ready to come home again will be transferred back to the Whitton branch. In between all of this we have to fit in time for reporting any test results, checking e-mails, having staff meetings, clinical audits and ensuring the general day to day running of the clinic.
Again, we will always fit in any emergency cases in between all this. I’m very food motivated(!) so I always make sure I have time for something to eat but it will often just be a sandwich whilst writing notes or in between phone calls!”
And what about the evenings?
“We offer more consultations after, then 4.30pm until 7pm which helps a lot of clients to come in for appointments after work. At the end of the day I check for any more results that may have come through and phone those owners. Any patients that need hospitalisation will be transferred to the main branch and details passed onto the night vet after evening consults.”
Congratulations to Snoop from Medivet Whitton on starting his weight loss programme! Source: Facebook
What do you do to relax outside of work?
“I work on a part time basis at the moment usually doing approximately 2.5 days per week. My one year old daughter keeps me very much occupied outside of work at the moment but I do try to fit time in for catching up with friends and going running as a way of unwinding.”
Catherine Wilkinson – Branch Partner and Veterinary Surgeon
Let us know in the comments below if you’ve got any questions for the Medivet team about being a Veterinary Surgeon.