Starting my veterinary career:
Georgia Robb
Georgia graduated from The University of Liverpool’s School of Veterinary Science in 2022 and, later that year, started working at Pennard Vets’ Sevenoaks practice.
How did you go about finding the right practice for you?
In my fourth and fifth years at university, I secured rotations close to my family home in Kent, at Pennard Vets’ Tonbridge practice. It was a friendly and supportive team that made me feel comfortable and I never felt like a burden or hindrance.
After graduating I moved back to Kent. The team at Pennard Vets had always been very personable and the fact the company is an employee ownership trust, which means every employee has a stake in the business, made it seem unique and cohesive. I applied for a place on the company’s graduate scheme and was over the moon to be offered a job at the group’s Sevenoaks practice.
What are some of the things you wished you had known before you started your first job?
Initially, my biggest worries were making the wrong decision or making a mistake when there is so much at stake, and I found myself questioning everything at first, which was overwhelming. Even very routine things, such as vaccinations, are easy to over-think when you’re suddenly the vet rather than the student.
Not knowing the answer or potential diagnosis to every case was a constant worry at first. Thankfully, my colleagues are very supportive and always on-hand to offer help and advice.
How do you now find looking after students on rotations?
We regularly have final-year students in from the University of Surrey and I enjoy having them here. I know it can feel daunting on work experience, so I try to make sure they are happy and learning from their time with us.
Thinking back to my time at university, we often said that once we’d graduated, we’d always be nice and helpful to students in practice, and it’s a promise I intend to keep.
We’ve now had another intake of new graduate vets into the team and if I’m honest, it feels nice to no longer be the “newbie” and it has encouraged me to reflect and appreciate how far I have come.
How has your job met your expectations?
Since secondary school I’d had my sights set on becoming a vet and always felt sure it was a career I’d love, but I genuinely didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as this, which I know sounds cheesy.
This is partly because I work with such a great bunch of people, who are all supportive and want me to do well, but it’s also because I’m learning so much every day, so I feel like I’m continually improving as a vet, which is really fulfilling.
In this respect, the job is exceeding my expectations. However, the caveat is that I didn’t realise how much there is still to learn.
University prepares you to a certain degree, but so many cases don’t follow the classic “textbook” presentation that you learn in lectures, and this has certainly been a reality check.
What have been the biggest surprises?
I’m surprised at the elements of the role that I’m enjoying and have become passionate about. I’ve become fascinated by ultrasound imaging, which I never found particularly interesting at university. I’ve learned so much about it in the past few months that I’m now thinking it’s another area that I’d like to train in.
Image © Thirawatana / Adobe Stock (edited with AI)
I also love the emergency and critical care (ECC) work in our 24-hour emergency hospital. I enjoy the thrill of not knowing what we’ll be dealing with until it arrives and the urgent nature of the work.
It’s fast-paced, exciting and massively rewarding when it goes right. More recently, I’ve been working night shifts alongside our out-of-hours (OOH) team, which is a great way of increasing my ECC exposure.
What have been the challenges you’ve faced, and how have you overcome them?
An early challenge that I became aware of, as the first few months flew by, was how I was going to achieve a good work-life balance. Sometimes it’s difficult to switch off at home, especially after a tough day.
I knew I had to implement a better routine, as well as feel more confident that what I’d done today was good, and tomorrow would be fine as well.
As time goes by and with each challenge I’ve faced, my knowledge base and confidence increase, but I’ve come to accept that in the veterinary profession I’ll never know everything. However, that’s where textbooks, research and my colleagues can help, so I’m not afraid to approach them for help – and in the difficult times, I focus on why I wanted to be a vet.
Which are the worst days?
Dealing with euthanasia is difficult. In some instances, afterwards you find yourself questioning whether there was anything else you could have done for the animal.
One example was a young dog who didn’t look ill because he was bright and bouncy. By the time further investigations were pursued, his blood results showed a very extreme protein losing enteropathy, which required treatment that the owner simply couldn’t afford.
Alternative and palliative treatment was attempted, but he didn’t respond well, and in the end, he had to be euthanised. In cases like these it’s difficult to not be hard on yourself and wish you’d done different tests or investigated certain things sooner. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it never gets easier.
And which are the best days?
Thankfully, the good days more than make up for the bad. When I look back, these are always those days with interesting cases, or a day of consultations where the clients are lovely, or surgeries go well.
An example is a C-section where the bitch whelped two days prior to the consultation. She presented to me because the owner had noticed a bag of fluid coming from her vulva.
On abdominal palpation, I suspected a fetus could still be present, although there was nothing in the canal and she was not straining. After performing an abdominal ultrasound, I found a fetus within the uterus and there was a heartbeat – the puppy was still alive. I performed the C-section and the puppy has grown into a happy and healthy dog.
Good days also usually involve the rest of my team. I’m a very sociable person, so the opportunity to have a quick chat or laugh always brightens my day.
What’s the best advice you could give to those about to graduate?
It’s important to prioritise working at a practice that offers plenty of support. Although pay, working hours and facilities are important, at first you need somewhere that offers support spanning emotional, professional and mental health.
I noticed that every employer promises a supportive workplace, which made me apprehensive about how much support I would actually receive, but I have been impressed with Pennard Vets living up to its promise.
I have a mentor for my vetGDP and we have scheduled meetings once a week, although admittedly this doesn’t always happen if the day suddenly becomes manic. I also have monthly meetings with my line manager and dedicated internal CPD days with our leadership team. In addition, there’s always someone around for informal chats or for quick case discussions, if I am unsure of anything.
Plus, our regular reflections help me recognise how far I have come (although I still have a lot further to go), which is sometimes easy to forget.
I’ve also had the opportunity of working across most of Pennard Vets’ sites on a rotation and gone on to do sole charge work and had time doing nights with the OOH team, meaning I’ve had the opportunity to work in different teams of differing sizes, which has been valuable and given me exposure to lots of different cases and the management of them.
What advice would you give to yourself if you were starting the job again?
I’d say take each day as it comes and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Don’t take the quiet days for granted and don’t be too hard on yourself in those challenging cases or ones that didn’t go as planned – it’s all a learning opportunity and a chance to do better next time.
Recognise that asking for help or even reassurance does not mean you are incapable or bad at your job – you are working in a “team” so use other people and their knowledge to your advantage.
Be honest, both with yourself and with pet owners. At first, I thought I needed to know everything and would panic if I couldn’t formulate an immediate diagnosis for a patient. With experience, I have found that, if I’m stumped, it is okay to tell the owners I’m not certain, and might need to ask a colleague for help. They always appreciate my candour.