PDSA Graduate Programme

I applied for the PDSA Graduate Programme when it opened in March and heard last week that I was unsuccessful in getting an interview for it.
I know how competitive the programme is as a couple of friends have done it so luckily I'd applied elsewhere and have already accepted a job but I was still pretty gutted as I've done countless weeks of EMS with them for over three years.
Birmingham are taking a graduate this year so it would have been perfect as I know the team, work well with them and (I think!) they like me as they've said a few times they'd love me to work there if they had a vacancy.

The application process was the longest I've seen with four Essential and 10 Sift questions to complete about why you'd want to work for them, how you would add value, how you have approached cases in the past etc.
Successful applicants are invited to an intense interview day where you have to complete a clinical case giving differentials and a treatment plan, then a group task, and finally do a mock consult with an actor. The top people at interview are then ranked according to the number of vacancies as the top person gets priority for which hospital they work at, then working down the list.

I know they have to differentiate applicants but it just shows how difficult recruitment is when it's done by Head Office and the hospitalyou'd be working with don't have any input.
Annoyingly I can't ask for feedback, not that it really matters now but I'd be interested to know.

I got an email two weeks ago, after I'd accepted my job, from PDSA Stoke as they'd spoken to Nam one of the vets I've seen practice with for a few years and she recommended me for a job. I was shocked and delighted to get the email but it was just bad timing.
Stoke is about an hour and a half from home with no traffic so I'd have to move up there which would be difficult with a dog as I'd need to find somewhere suitable to rent and then pay for doggy daycare etc.

I explained the situation and that I was really appreciative of the offer but couldn't take it.
I could still apply if they have a vacancy in a few years time so never say never!

Veterinary Recruitment Companies

I know some people have had great experiences with recruitment companies but knowing the way they work, I chose to avoid them.

Recruitment companies advertise jobs, recruit and screen applicants then forward the CV's of suitable applicants to a practice for them to interview; for doing this they charge the practice several thousand pounds.
The great thing about this is that their websites are often a one-stop-shop where you can filter jobs by sector (Small, Farm, Academia), location and various other things. They give you an overview of what jobs are out there and can be great for finding jobs. As a practice it's handy because they screen all the applicants and present you with a couple of suitable people to interview.

Their websites rarely give details of the practice, though if you know the area you can usually work it out, as they don't want you to approach them directly and cut out the recruiters. This can make it difficult to research jobs and see if it would be a good fit for you.
This works well for many industries where there are lots of varied applicants applying for the same role like Tech, Engineering etc but I know lots of people who have been put forward for vet jobs that are completely not suitable, because the recruiter just wants their £X,000 commission.

A friend of mine who graduated last year was really excited to get several interviews, the recruiter got her really excited in that she was exactly what they were looking for and offered her all kinds of things she was specifically looking for. She travelled for interviews (which can be expensive in itself) and realised once she got there that her and the practice weren't compatible at all but the recruiter just needed the figures.
It's so easy to get caught up in the excitement of your first job interviews and they're telling you everything you want to hear that you get swept away and then it turns out to be a waste of everyone's time.

I naively gave my email address to one recruitment company (it's common for exhibitors to scan your conference badge to enter their competitions etc) at BSAVA Congress in 2017 and once they had my details I got weekly emails and a couple of phone calls as they'd found the perfect job for me, in far flung regions of the UK ...I wasn't even applying for jobs back then!
I asked them to stop, which they did for a while, but then they picked up again when one of their employees set up his own company and stole my details and those of several others I know.
Clearly a breach of GDPR and it ended up going to the ICO but that's a whole other story...

Feeding time for Františka

Torunn my Norwegian friend came down to feed Františka with me today and took a few photos so thought I'd chuck them up here.

Tiška is still like marmite - she is amazing, easy to work with and great for introducing new people to birds of prey ...but she can also be stroppy sometimes and is baity (tries to fly off the glove when she's being held) which can be really frustrating!

New Foster Pup

I've joked about getting a Pug for a few years as they're equal parts ridiculous and cute but obviously with the #BreedToBreathe campaign and problems associated with brachycephalics I wouldn't actually buy one.

This little girl was posted on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, she's 8 months old and has been kept in a crate all her life so she's underweight and in need of a foster...


I messaged my housemates who agreed to help me for a few weeks and here she is;
Lilo arrived last Friday

She's super cute and playful. We're feeding her up so she's gone from 6.5kg when the charity got her to just over 8kg now.
Breathing-wise she isn't too bad as brachycephalics go, she has a nose and her nostrils aren't too stenotic but she still snores like a trooper!

Orthopaedic Surgery classes

Today we started our surgery practical classes which is pretty exciting as it’s one of my favourite subjects.

We started off with a lecture where they describe a procedure and then we practice performing the procedure on cadavers. We got to do fracture repairs with normograde and retrograde IM pinning, cerclage wires and plates.

All the best orthopaedic surgeons get their gloves stuck drilling IM pins 👨🏻‍⚕️🤦🏻‍♂️

Night shift with Gala

We have an American Staffordshire Bull Terrier in with us tonight as she was attacked by her daughter.

She has extensive wounds to her leg and an ulcer on her chest wall so that's all been cleaned and she's on pain relief. She's really timid at first but once we spent a bit of time with her she was bouncing around the room and playful outside - still not keen on seeing other dogs though!

Small Animal Hospital night shift

As part of our rotation block we have to do shifts in the Small Animal Hospital so we've done a week of 12hour days and tonight I'm on a night shift with Harriet.

We've been pretty Q-word (you're forbidden from saying it in practice as if it's muttered you just know an emergency will come in) so just looking after inpatients, given a few meds and taken everyone outside to pee.

We had a few hours sleep and got up at 5am to check on everyone and take them out again.

First job interview

I had my first proper job interview for a graduate veterinary job with Vets4Pets this afternoon and I think it went really well.

I was a bit undecided about what to wear as I'm not really a formal kinda guy and I know people have been asked to jump into consults and stuff during longer interviews. I wore chinos, a smart jumper and brown leather shoes but I guess if anyone is in the same position and wondering, chinos and a shirt would have been fine.

The clinic is about an hour away so I got there with plenty of time (over half an hour early), grabbed a coffee from the petrol station around the corner and then arrived bang on time.
The staff were great, I was waiting in Reception for a few mins at the start so chatted to an elderly man in the waiting room; his dog was in surgery and he was as nervous as I was!

The actual interview was pretty relaxed. We chatted about my unusual route into Vet Med, the JVP grew up in the same town as me and then just a bit about their set up and how they're linked to a couple of other clinics in the area.

Their website doesn't really give much away as it's all "Coming soon" but I was really impressed with the facilities. They have endoscopy and do lap spays as standard which is something I'd love to learn (and not mentioned on the website so an added bonus), dental x-ray as standard and three consult rooms. Downstairs is a bit cramped but upstairs isn't used to there's room for expansion up there to free up space.

A week of interviews

I'm back in the UK this week as we had our Pigs State last week so have a bit of time off and it coincides nicely with BSAVA Congress.

I've had a few phone interviews over the last of couple months and luckily been offered five job interviews in a variety of practices (Vets4Pets, IVC, CVS and an independent) which I've managed to book while I'm home.
Once I'd got a couple of interviews I was happy, then I was offered a couple more which I couldn't really turn down as I've only recently applied! I think it will be good to attend them all to see how the different practices work, interview and what they have to offer ...I'm never one to turn down an opportunity!

Five interviews sounds like a lot but I've been quite picky with the practices and would be happy to work at any of them; they all have good facilities, lots of surgery and well qualified teams who I think I could learn a lot from.
The teams range from 3 vets & 3 nurses to 22 vets & 32 nurses so they'd be very different clinics to work in so we shall see what gets offered...

First interview is tomorrow!

Diseases of Pigs State Exam

We’ve just sat our penultimate exam of vet school, the Diseases of Pigs State Exam.

After a month off for Christmas and a pretty chilled rotation block I found it hard to get back into study mode but in classic Lewis style I crammed it all and passed - with an A!

Františka

It's been a long time since I've posted about falconry, mainly just because it's a normal part of my life now and I forget to take photos!

I needed a photo of falconry equipment for my Diploma Thesis so who better to use than Františka...

Female Harris’ Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus shown hooded and tethered to a falconry glove with anklets, dacron jesses, swivel and leash

Castle Sundays: Šariš Castle

Back once again with Castle Sundays and this time we visited Šariš Castle above the town of Velky Šariš near Prešov, about a 40 minute drive from Košice - I don't think I've ever typed so many š's in one sentence before!
Céline got a bit car sick but we were prepared with bags so nothing to clean up this week.

The castle was about a 45 minute walk from the car park and is 570m above sea level so pretty decent views from up there.

Once again we had Annica the photographer who got some awesome shots of the dogs

Céline on top of the totem pole

Winnie and Céline posing on a bench

and my favourite, Henry on Kolin who is trying his hardest to smile

Apparently there wasn't enough castle in last weeks Castle Sundays so we tried...

Last day on the uni farm

We’ve reached the end of an era, Group 4's last day at Zemplinska Teplicka the university farm.
We started off vaccinating and castrating a load of piglets and then did pregnancy diagnosis of sows and vaccinated some bigger animals.

The very last pig to vaccinate was the big boar so a few of the girls went in to do it together. As soon as he stood up they ran away scared so I (pretending to be) confidently walked in and (absolute fluke!) managed to do it first time.

One of the teachers was watching us and said I was excellent so I asked if it deserved an A in the State exam 😂

Castle Sundays: Obišovce Castle

Slovakia has the highest number of castles per person in the world so it's only right that we visit a few...

Today we had a family day out to Obišovce Castle with five of the dogs, all from the shelter, including Nathan the puppy who is up for adoption.

Annica look these photos and I can't get over how cute they are!
Kolin, Henry and Céline...

World Spay Day 2019

Today is the 25th anniversary of World Spay Day, held on the last Tuesday of February to raise awareness of the importance of neutering and the work that rescue centres and charities do.

Last year we held a Charity Bake Sale on campus to raise money and awareness, so did the same again this year. WVS ITC Ooty are trying to raise 30,000 rupees for an Oxygen Generator so I'm hoping the money we raise can go towards that!

Celine was an angel and greeted people to the sale with cuddles and even shared her special biscuits with visiting doggos.


Overall we raised €205 which is great going and will support WVS with the work they do.

This little piggy...

...got castrated.

This morning we headed to a private pig farm to do some pigs work and it was actually really fun!
We had to don these sexy disposable overalls which are one size fits all, so a little snug.
My group started with castrations which I've never seen done in piglets before, the best age to do them is younger than 7 days old but the ones we had were just over a week so that we could practice giving intra-testicular anaesthetic blocks and being bigger I think they were a bit easier.

It was the usual "no no you do first" with people nervous to do it so I went first and it was pretty straight forward - kind of like a cat (scrotal incision and exteriorise) and a calf (using emasculators).
Afterwards we applied a topical antibiotic powder, injected iron, vitamins E, D, K and vaccinated them.

We didn't take our phones in to the pigs because of biosecurity with African Swine Fever and zoonotic Salmonella etc so no photos of piglets!

We're Going on a Job Hunt

I've been thinking about first job and where I'd like to work for a while, in that it's been in the back of my mind as I arrange EMS placements, speak to people and get a general impression of a practice. There are some locally that I know not to touch with a barge pole from the way they treat staff; you can generally tell as they have a high turnover and are always advertising for jobs. Others would be amazing to work at and rarely have vacancies as people never leave!
Cat and Bobby came out for the Vets4Pets Workshop a few weeks ago and I've been spurred on into applying for jobs.

I've been seeing practice regularly at the PDSA for three years which is a big charity hospital with a high caseload and lots of surgery, that's kind of become my normal so I'm looking for something similar.
PDSA have a graduate programme which I'd love to apply for but it's super competitive and speaking to a few grads we've had over the years the interview process is intense. The money isn't great but I figure I could live at home and it's more money than I'm on at the moment!

I know I want a busy practice within an hour of Birmingham where I can do lots of surgery, have decent support and seeing a few Exotics would be a bonus.
I'd also quite like a grad scheme as friends who have graduated in the last few years seem to be well supported so why not take the support if it's out there...

Vets4Pets Workshop

I got an email from Vets4Pets in September to say some Košice graduates on their grad scheme had nominated me to be a Student Ambassador.
As part of that I organised a workshop with Cat Curtis from Vets4Pets to come out with Bobby, a Joint Venture Partner, and Niamh, one of last years graduates, to come and speak to us about Setting Up for Success.

The workshop covered everything from writing a CV and cover letter to selecting practices, interview technique and how to make the job work for you - there has to be the right fit for both the practice and the candidate.
Feedback from my yeargroup was really positive in that they spoke generally and inclusively of mixed, farm and equine practice even though they all work in a small animal environment. They really didn't push the graduate programme at all and while the session was meant to finish at 4:30pm, people were still there asking questions at 6pm!

We went out for drinks on the evening and chatted more about jobs, recruitment and Vets4Pets. To be honest I'd never really thought about working for them before as I didn't know much about the group but speaking to Niamh and Bobby has changed that!

End of an era at the PDSA

I first started seeing practice at the PDSA in 2016, I've been there for a few weeks every year and I've loved every minute from the start. It's a busy practice with a high caseload, lots of surgery and the team are great. I've been to lots of practices before and since but this became like my "home practice" because I got to do so much and was able to be useful knowing everyone and where things are kept.

Last week I did my first flank (side door) cat spay with Tessa one of the vets and although she is really patient I fumbled through it and didn't think it went very well. I've monitored anaesthesia for a couple since then so got to watch the procedure and learn from other vets then today there was another on the ops list.
I started the morning with a dog castrate which went really well so the Senior Vet said I could do the cat spay all by myself, he was in Prep should I need anything so I induced and intubated the cat, helped prep for surgery and was pretty nervous before I started. I placed my drapes, measured with my fingers and re-measured, made my incision (which was the bit I was concerned about doing flank) and it all went smoothly so I was really glad I got to end on a high!

One of the nurses was doing post-op checks for this weeks surgeries and came in to ask if I'd done some of them as I close with intradermals as most other vets place skin sutures. The German Shepherd bitch spay I did was bouncing around and the intradermal sutures looked great which is always good to hear!

This was my last couple of weeks of EMS before my last semester of vet school and graduation so the team bought me cakes and a card signed by everyone which was really nice.

It was really weird saying bye but I've learnt so much from them so will always be grateful and they all asked if I'd like to work there in the future.
I'd like to apply for the PDSA grad scheme as I love the busy environment, there are often more complicated surgeries that would be referred in private practice that they get to treat, plus the added support of a mentor; so if there's a vacancy I'd love to go back!

Another week of charity practice

I'm back seeing practice at the PDSA for a couple of weeks and since I was here last year they've had a few new members of staff so it's been nice working with new people.
One of the locums has been asking me questions throughout the week, I thought she was testing me for revision, then on Thursday she asked me for the controlled drugs key and we both realised she thought I was a vet!! aha

I've got to do a fair bit of surgery and am confident with cat and dog castrates, fairly happy with bitch spays and closing the abdomen after other vets have done ex laps but I've still yet to do a cat spay!
I used to find dentals fairly boring to watch because you can't see much from the other side of the table but I enjoyed the session at BSAVA in Liverpool so made an effort to get stuck in as it were.
Tessa let me section some molars to extract them and it looks easier than it is so she had to help with some roots, we took out 4 molars and 3 incisors then did a scale and polish which is actually quite enjoyable! Later in the week I did another dental and have never seen teeth so bad and had to extract most of the teeth, bar the canines and a couple of incisors.

I'm quite aware that I'm happy with the practical procedures side but not as confident with internal medicine so Nam said I need to push myself and do some more consults. I've been calling patients in to take a history, do a clinical exam and then call a vet in at the end to dispense meds and answer any questions they owners have. They see lots of skin disease, ears and trauma (cat bite abscesses, RTA etc) so once you've seen a few you get an idea of the treatment plan and how other vets treat them.
Some of the diabetic cases are really interesting as the owners are more switched on and have really good control and we saw three dogs this week with ascites and Dilated Cardiomyopathy; sadly one which died at home overnight after we examined her as the owner hadn't been giving medication for the past month.

This afternoon the Friday (cat) cesarean came in which Nam sorted pretty quickly and she had two healthy kittens.

BSAVA Liverpool Student Conference 2018

This weekend I travelled up to the Uni of Liverpool Leahurst Campus with two friends to attend the BSAVA Liverpool Student Conference 2019. It is the second year the conference has ran and as we have a break before our next block, we decided to go and it was great value at £60 for the two days plus a dinner on Saturday night.
We stayed with vet students I've spoken to online for a couple of years but never actually met, so was great to meet them too!

Saturday morning kicked off with a couple of lectures and then an Endoscopy workshop. I've done a bit before at the Endoscopy Weekend and scoping birds with rigid endoscopes but it was great to practice.
We had to retrieve foreign bodies from a 'stomach' and as they say, teamwork makes the dream work and we got the best time!

Next up we had a lecture on fluids with Jacqui Seymour from VetsNow which I wasn't particularly looking forward to but turned out to be really useful! I think in practice we often put animals on fluids without thinking too much about what, how much and why so it was really interesting to think about it and practice evidence based medicine!

The second practical session I went to was Rabbit Neutering with Frances Harcourt-Brown, an RCVS Specialist in Rabbit Medicine and Surgery, and her husband who both have a wicked sense of humour!
Frances spoke about surgical techniques and spaying, particularly about where to place the cervical ligatures and her evidence base for it ...which is different to what I've seen in practice.


Saturday night we had a formal dinner which meant several bottles of wine and we don't remember much but we all had a good time and sore heads the next morning!


I think my favourite session was the Communication Skills workshop with Penny Barker from VDS Training. I often see posts about VDS and know vaguely what they do but never really paid attention to them, Penny was really engaging and interactive especially considering it was last thing on Sunday afternoon.

She spoke about DISC profiling and we worked out which profile(s) we best fitted into and how we react to conflict.

I definitely think I'm a High I, while apparently most of the veterinary profession are C and S.
I sat there thinking about various friends and colleagues and which profiles they fit into and then related it to clients and how to interact with them.

Overall we had a great weekend so thank you to all involved organising the weekend, the speakers and Becca for hosting us!

Skopje, Macedonia

I passed my Ruminants State exam on Wednesday and then at 7am on Thursday I headed off to Bratislava to catch a flight to Skopje, Macedonia with Tom one of my best mates (depending on which day you ask me; think Marmite)

The flight wasn't too bad (and a bargain at €9.49) but we landed and realised we hadn't researched anything - currency, taxi's/transport - so booked a bus into town which took about 40 minutes and booked into the Nordic N-box hostel, with everyone having our own little pod thing to sleep in.

The whole trip basically consisted of eating and drinking so I will try and make it sound more civilised with some nice photos.
We found a local bistro called La Puerto selling traditional Macedonian food (Mexican) which was so good we went twice!

We spent a few hours sightseeing and learning about Macedonian history on a free walking tour of Skopje. We were the only ones who turned up as it was so cold and out of tourtist season but Vasko was an awesome guide and we stopped off at the Old Brewery halfway round for a beer or six hahaha

His son phoned him to say he'd finished school and needed picking up so he had to leave us.

I saw online that Skopje had a Zoo which was 100 dinah to get into (80p) so of course we had to go. Some of the old photos make it look really bad but they've just spent millions on it and I was really impressed, especially considering the entrance price!
We were pretty much the only people in there, including a lack of keepers, so we had a good nose around. I didn't see any stereotypic behavious and the big cats had lots of space and enrichment.

The best encounter for us was with the Hippo which you can literally lean in and touch

He came up to the bars, we tapped on them and he opened his mouth waiting for food, bearing in mind Hippos kill something like 3000 people a year!

Drinks were so cheap that it would be rude not to so we went to a couple of cocktail bars and worked our way through the menu, returning the next night to complete the ones we didn't manage.

Our hostel had a 10 week old kitten they found freezing outside and called her Luna

Then Mom picked me up from Luton. Normally I can't wait to drive when I'm home but I think I was still wayy over the limit so Cal drove

Diseases of Ruminants State

Another one bites the dust! We all passed our Diseases of Ruminants exam and have finished for Christmas

To be honest I didn't really enjoy this block as much as I did Horses as we had a lot of free time (I was home for two weeks and went to the BVZS conference) which was great and we went on four farm trips which I really enjoyed, I just missed having a structure of daily lectures and practicals.
Anyone that knows me will know I need pressure to study and I didn't get "The Fear" until a couple days before this exam!

There were 'only' 17 questions for the Ruminants State so we are given 17 topics, study those, pick one from an envelope on the day and speak your answer to a panel of four examiners. The topics were really broad and of course I picked one of the topics I didn't want, Vitamins, but it was actually fine and I passed.

We're all heading home for Christmas over the next few days for some much needed time off.

4 States done, 2 to go before graduation!

New member of the family, Céline

This little monster came as a foster for ‘a few days’ back in April ...fast forward a few months and I signed her adoption papers this week.

Céline has her passport will be moving to the UK in summer