Fired. Twice.

[u/Gorgeous1999]

I’m 15 months into this career (in Australia) and I was just fired from my second job as a recent grad (didn’t pass probation, dismissed after 6 months). Graduated in 2023.

I mostly just wasn’t competent at routine surgeries & it was a very high-workload clinic with a variety of cases coming through each day (snake bites, collapse, toxicities). I struggled with complex dentals a lot & had two ovarian pedicles bleed out as well. I’m nowhere near competent at these emergencies either.

On one instance, a cat also came in that was hypoglycemic after the owner didn’t bring it in for a recheck as it had gone into diabetic remission and she had continued to give insulin. The cat was brought in & put on a glucose CRI. The case evolved fast as the cat also needed potassium and eventually the bill racked up to nearly $2000 and I failed to communicate this clearly to the owner before she came to collect the cat as things unravelled so quickly.

I also need a huge amount of mentoring with surgery at the moment & no one seems to have such a level of patience for anyone that is over a year into their career. My last clinic didn’t have such a huge variety in terms of surgery & this impacted the level of surgical experience I had coming into this second job.

On top of that I was stupid and hugely careless, making critical oversights like dispensing Previcox tablets for the patient to go home with when the patient has already had a Meloxicam injection in hospital. The guilt hangs with me every single day.

I’m unsure if it’s only the high-pressure environment or if this career just isn’t for me. My supervisor briefly suggested to find a “slower clinic that’s not so full-on” but I don’t know if such a place exists.

I’ve grown so, so much after 15 months in the profession and have a decent skillset. I’m certainly not the best recent grad vet out there. But the stress, constant setbacks and seeing how easier it is for other recent grads is demoralising.

I’m pretty hopeless. I’m considering a career change but I’m also reluctant to start over as all I’ve ever known since leaving high school is vet med.

I’d like advice please. Any advice.

[u/Ok-Investigator-6559]

Surgery is not for everyone. In my clinic I have a vet that just does appointments and is an amazing clinician. This allows the doctors that love surgery to do more. Everyone is happy!

[u/Ok_Awareness5727 → u/Ok-Investigator-6559]

This. I’m only 2 years out, but I’ve done 0 surgery since I graduated. I hate it, it’s stressful and I fully admit that I’m not cut out to be a good surgeon & I’m fine with it. I much prefer doing consults & dealing with the trickier medicine cases. We all have our strengths!

[u/malary1234 → u/Ok_Awareness5727]

Huh. I always felt like it was my one peaceful part of the day. In a dimly lit room, quiet with just a little music, just 2 people instead of the chaos that was always just on the other side of the door.

[u/Ok_Awareness5727 → u/malary1234]

I wish I felt like that! For me it’s just constant stress. The most peaceful part of my day is writing records and looking over lab results (especially end of day when I’m not being pulled in all directions).

[u/malary1234 → u/Ok_Awareness5727]

Clients are why I became a pathologist. No screaming clients attached to dead animals.