Hello there,

I am hoping someone can help guide me on how to deal with tax stuff. Production confuses me so much and this is the first time since I started working that I've had to update my W4. My clinic is opening an urgent care for the first time and I will be working it so I am getting a raise + a change in production. I asked my tax preparer and she said that I should withhold xx% from each check. She said that this change in salary puts me into the next tax bracket.

When I go to my W4 to change how much is withheld, obviously it asks for a specific number, not a percentage. How do I figure out how much to withhold from each check when my production paychecks are wildly different from my normal ones? Also, when I am putting in a number in this box on the W4, do I put in the entire amount I want withheld or is there like a standard amount already withheld that I have to subtract from the total?

I was looking at some of my paystubs from previous months and the amount withheld from my production paychecks is basically double what it is on a regular paycheck.

Thanks so much. This stuff makes me feel so inept.

I recently graduated from vet school (in the EU) and am currently doing an internship in small animal medicine in Italy. I racked up a certain sum of debt from student loans during university. I would like to know what advice you have for a fresh graduate, what do I do to maximize my financial income? Do you recommend specializing? Doing a PhD? Striving for board certification? I'm asking for Italy specifically, but other advice applicable to the EU is also appreciated.

Hello, another career change post here.

I am so utterly sick of being an accountant, which is a path I only took after many other failures, and while I'm doing okay now, I find it so hard to stomach being an accountant anymore. I want to go back to what I was passionate about and want to try to go to vet school.

I am single, in my early 30s, with no debts, CPA exams completed, and live in the midwest. I think I could have another good 30 years of working life ahead of me, and I want to be a vet!

I'd like to think I have a good idea of what vets do, from my interactions with my vet for my cat to my experience almost a decade ago as a vet assistant, shadowing, and doing a few externships in lab animal medicine. I know I have to redo my prerequisites; money is not an issue but time and flexibility is. I've never counted the hours, but I think I have enough.

My plan is to attend UNE's online post bacc for my prerequisites for its flexibility. I still have some questions regarding how labs are done and how it's seen by the admission committees, so if anyone else has gone through UNE, please do share.

I hope to attend vet school with minimal debt, so I would like to go for the HPSP scholarship and be an army vet. Is there an age limit to these?

My other concerns are, between work and coursework, I don't think I would be able to have the time to continue gaining more clinical experience. I am hoping that with just coursework completed, I'd be ready to apply in 2 years. But I am wondering how I can vouch my previous experience from years ago with people I am no longer in contact with, or if something like this will be considered at all? Are there slightly different expectations for nontraditional students regarding how many clinical and healthcare experience they bring in lieu of other work experience? For example, I worked for a while as an IRS Revenue Agent, which meant I got to go to farms a lot and talk to farmers about their businesses, learn a bit about their medical expenses (among other larger expenses), and so on. I'm reaching, but if those kinds of experiences are something the schools would look favorably on, I'd be interested to know.

Thanks.

Hi I am just now 2 months out of school as a new grad. I am now completely on my own with rooms and surgeries (altho I have great mentors that will still be there to help when needed). But I cannot help but feel like I’m forgetting to run a test or potential diagnosis or forgetting to add something to my treatment plan. Is this normal and any advice?

Hello, I am a new grad working in a shelter that also does access to care for our community. Last week we decided to help with a foreign body/ex lap for a dog whose owners could not afford an exlap at a local ER. I was asked to scrub in with a surgeon who had performed FB removal before and who would walk me through the surgery. This was my first exlap/ enterotomy. Surgery went ok- patient had foreign cloth material in the cecum, jejunum, and part of a rubber ball in the pylorus which we could not milk to the stomach but we could milk to the duodenum. The surgeon with me walked me through the enterotomies and closures and all seemed ok. Cut to the weekend and earlier this week- owners noted patient was not eating and they could not admin meds since the dog dogs tries to bite them in their home. The patient had a large amount of serous discharge from her skin incision with partially dehisced. External sutures were placed and owner were counseled on medication administration and close monitoring.
Yesterday the dog presented to a local ER, the dog was taken to surgery, and was found to have a septic abdomen from dehiscence of one of the enterotomy sites. The owners are demanding all of their money back and are threatening to file a complaint (unclear if they mean to the board). The dog is now hospitalized but stable. I feel so defeated and guilty. I feel horrible and just want this dog to recover.

I think the owners are justified in their frustration and I understand that this was my fault. I am wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and if it resulted in a board complaint. I know dehiscence of enterotomy sites happens, but would the owners have a case here? We had the dog come in for multiple rechecks and were in close communication with them about how she was doing until about Wednesday when they stopped responding.

I posted this over on VetTech but thought I’d post here as well.

My husband and I have started discussing the possibility of moving back to the UK in the future. He’s a British citizen and I am unfortunately an American. I have almost 20 years of experience, graduated an accredited school and have been licensed in 4 states.

My question is, what is the field like over there? Is there a need for techs/nurses? I would have to likely get a skilled worker visa to move over so just wanted to start researching things now on the chance we finance the decision to move back.

I’m just here looking for a discussion, I’m not here for any political banter or other nonsense. Thank you 😸

For reference: I work in a 4 doctor clinic in a city, have a BSc in biology that focused as pre-vetmed and years of experience as in animal care both in vetmed and other related careers. I’ve also been an actual manager before and in supervisor roles involving training others, too.

I recently got promoted and, at the same time, there’s been change with management. So there’s not a lot of oversight/instructions nor training/guidance for my new responsibilities and how to do certain tasks. On top of that, my new role is to get my department better trained and more capable of supporting the flow of the hospital plus the techs and doctors.

Efforts I’d made in more recent months resulted in this new role being created… and now I just want to throw in the towel because I have more work than I can handle due to fixing all of the issues in my department plus having to train and create workflow. I did not have seniority when promoted - I was fixing and quasi self-training to perform the job duties expected and needed; I’ve got the experience that made that possible.

I noticed our clinic has had an increase in being fully booked for days since around mid- May/June, which was also just around the time I was having to assist with training a new hire (even though it was not my job, but it benefited myself and the clinic). When I was first hired, we used to put out a sign daily that read “walk-ins welcomed” because we would have chunks of the day without appointments. Prior to this, there was a lot of turnover in my department and, even more so, a lot of issues that resulted in disgruntled clients because the department didn’t have much vetmed experience. Business wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t busy every day.

Now my despair is that I’m supposed to supervise/lead this department, but there’s 1 person who’s been employed longer than me that has repeatedly unprofessional conduct. I’ve heard so many of my colleagues and superiors complain about the mistakes and lack of responsibility as well as lack of professionalism for this person. Let’s call them “C” - it became known to me shortly after I was hired that there was a lot of frustration that “C” was creating more work for others. Despite the attempts to accept and bit get overwhelmed, I can’t not feel resentment when I see something done passive aggressively or carelessly by “C” at this point.

“C” is clocked in while not actively in the clinic working (and they aren’t working from home). I tried to have a meeting with the person now that I’m in this role where I’m supposed to “wrangle” my department into better shape only to be met with a confrontational attitude from “C”.

And there’s no one to support or guide me. I find that I’m getting more work placed on me while “C” refuses to do some of the basic tasks and duties for their role plus disappears for majority of their shift to talk with the rest of the staff.

However, I can’t fire this person nor does anyone who can hold this person accountable do anything.

I’m just ready to give up… I have a lot of patience and can be strong, but between the majority of my department being undertrained and the absence of a manager, I’m breaking. I feel like this place has just turned really sour now…. I realize most of these issues got worse when my promotion was announced and the process to hire a new manager began. “C” had already showed this behavior to some degree when the manager wasnt present - it’s just so much more extreme now and I don’t know how to handle it. I’ve raised this to who I can but these are the same superiors who have turned an eye to this behavior, even if unintentionally catering “C”s irresponsible and problematic attitude.

So essentially, I just applied to a local veterinary clinic in my area and they agreed to an on the job interview, it’s been something I’ve considering going to school for, but I can’t make up my mind between this or something in the anthropological field any tips or pointers to make a good impression as if this is something that I enjoy it would be nice to make a long-term career out of it and good impressions last. she also mentioned she would be able to assist with me getting into schooling in the event that I decided to pursue a long-term career in the veterinary field. I’ve always loved animals and to be honest, preferred animals over people sometimes. I also noticed that I am the only guy that would be working at the clinic so I’m kind of guessing this is a female dominated field.

As I prepare my application packet for the VIRMP, I've started to pacick a little bit. I have 3 LOR from different doctors I've worked with rotations. One of them, is a highly known doctor in the field. However, when I requested a letter from her, I did not ask the typical question and it was right after my first rotation of the year (considering it's a field I'm interested in). Now that I'm pretty much done with my application packet, I've heard other people say that sometimes, if not asked appropriately, the letter may not be the best you could get. My other 2 letters, I'm sure will be positive and from areas that are important for what I want to do in the future. But I'm not sure if this is enough. Now, unfortunately my last few rotations have been in large animal fields, but also, I've started to feel more confident about my performance and in one of them, I received very positive feedback about my participation. I wonder if having an additional/4th letter from a large animal vet (assuming this doctor will say yes) is weird or not recommended. I'm thinking that they may be able to talk about my participation and how engaged I was with the learning process in a more positive way than the doctor I worked with during my very first rotation.

Hello,

I am 18 and have just applied for undergrad, I'm already in one program and expect ot get into another. I'm majoring in animal science. All I've heard about is that stock vets don't make anything and get hurt early, forcing them to switch fields. I've worked with livestock my whole life, so I'm used to all types, but I'm still worried. Is being a livestock vet ever worth it? Should I pivot to something smaller? I just feel like I'm investing in something hopeless.

Hello dear veterinary community:) I was wondering if there are any vets from the UK who were doing their certificate with improve? I’m currently doing one from ECC and I was wondering about your tips of how to prepare for case base scenario exam? What should I expect with this one?

Hello,

I'm considering a veterinary receptionist position at an animal hospital. It would be my first time time working in this role. I've been given the option to interview over the phone or in person. My preference is for in-person, but I like the convenience of a phone interview. What are your thoughts?

im 17f and i go to a career tech high school for veterinary science, just like everyone else in the field, ive always wanted to be a veterinarian ever since i could remember. recently, i have been writing a research paper for my college writing class. the topic was something relating to our ideal career path, i elected to write about rehabilitation techniques in canines. with that being said, i was asking my program instructor (vet tech for many years) about it and she lended me her project from when she took the same class, and even wrote about something similar. i noticed in her assignment she wrote that she was going to a good college to start her journey of becoming a veterinarian, out of curiosity i asked why she had changed her mind. she responded by saying how her classes were too difficult and some other things that made me feel doubtful. fast forward to this past monday, we had a representative from a college come in and one of my classmates was talking about how she was interested in becoming an exotic vet and both my instructor and the representative started going at her about how hard it is and how smart you have to be and you dont get payed anything and they know dog trainers that get paid 6 figures and how you can never make that as a vet. i just feel like these are the people that are supposed to be uplifting and helping you take the next step to achieve our career goals, i think me and my instructor have a lot in common and i feel like if she couldnt do it, i wont be able to. if anyone has any advice or words of encouragement i would appreciate it a lot.

I am a current 3rd year in the US. My current interest is surgery and ECC, but my actually career plan is likely going to be geared towards UC or ER, maybe even GP. With some of my friends graduating already and deciding between ER mentorship programs and rotating internships, I am wondering about the pros and cons of going either the mentorship route vs pursing a rotating internship. I will also graduating with a pretty heavy load of student loan debt (~$200k) so that also is a factor in deciding.

Is one really better than the other? Will one vs the other make a lasting life long impact on my career? Wb work-life balance?

I'm an associate with 4 years experience as a vet, 15 years experience in the industry. My current medical director drove away half the staff in the summer due to her nitpicking, harshness, and blame on the technicians for mistakes. We have been training new employees for the past 2 months, all with minimal experience in the field (it's hard to find technicians!), and her behaviors are all coming back again. She made someone cry due to her harshness. I've tried talking to her and she turns the conversation around on me and somehow now it's my fault because I'm "too nice" to the staff. Our practice manager is aware and trying to navigate the situation but doesn't seem to be getting anywhere either. I love the staff I have, I see a lot of great potential in the newbies that I think they just need time and experience. To make matters worse, I'm going on maternity leave soon and I'm worried when I come back, no one will be around. I love my clinic and clients, but I don't know how much more I can put up with this toxic boss.

Just needed to vent!

Hello all,

I’m a veterinarian completing a rotating internship. Originally, my goal was to pursue residency and specialty. I truly don’t think I’ll be happy in GP. However, recently I’ve been having doubts….specifically in relation to my personal dog.

I have a 6 year old large breed dog in impeccable health who is very active. Believe it or not, I’ve had no trouble giving him plenty of attention and exercise throughout my internship. But now that the match deadline approaches, I’m starting to get incredibly worried about upholding his quality of life as a resident. I worry that with the increased time demands of residency, he’ll spend the next 3 years (and possibly his last 3 years) just waiting for me to get home. At which point I’ll likely be exhausted and just want to sleep.

Am I crazy for questioning my goals and possibly putting my career on hold to ensure I’ll have plenty of time for my dog? This dog is incredibly special to me and I’m having a hard time with this decision.

Hi, i'm applying for a vet texh program at my nearest college and i am a freshman who is nearly finished with my pre program classes. I have been working as a kennel technician for over 2 years, and they need me to fill a form for work experience. Do you think 2 years would be good enough work experience to be selected for the program?

For any of you that had to apply multiple times before getting accepted I have questions.

1. What did you do in the off year/years before you got accepted that you think/know made the difference?
2. I had a rough covid year and it dropped my gpa but the other 3 years of undergrad I did great, wondering if I should do a masters program, retake sciences?
3. anything else you can give me

I have a client pronouncing THAT drug I prescribed like this. It took me about 3 times to figure out what she was saying.

I want to work in the veterinary field, either as a veterinarian or a vet nurse(even though the pay isn't great). The issue is, I'm not the greatest at math or chemistry. I'm able to read things and I'm okay at calculating when I have formulas, but I have issues in the more advanced areas. Am I still able to become a veterinarian despite not being great at those things?

Hello, I am currently studying veterinary medicine and working on my final anatomy project, for which I need either an X-ray or ultrasound image. I am missing two images, preferably of the head, neck, or chest, but I haven’t been able to find them. If anyone has any and could share them, I would greatly appreciate it.

Sorry, I just need to vent.

Today was just one of "those days". I'm a licensed veterinary technician in my state and an office manger. I was covering a shift for one of our technicians that called out.

Every fluid pump decided it wanted to yell at me every 10 minutes. My DVM kept going back and forth on treatment plans, dilly dallying, and chit chatting with the other DVMs on staff. I got screamed at by a client because she decided she was determined to get free services "because she knows my DVM" (my DVM doesn't even give his own son a discount 😅). I've hit my head on the kennels more times than I can count... hence the wild hair. I spilled the mop bucket when cleaning up after a dog with blowout diarrhea in an exam room. It was just rough, and felt like one thing after the other. Of it was something that could go wrong, it did.

I came home and just zoned out until I was ready to do my evening routine.

Ever have those days?

I’ve been in GP for 4 years now, had my tech license for 1 year, and am thinking of leaving my crappy corporate chain for a shelter medicine county job. I’m worried about not being able to handle it though- i find my current job boring, no real challenges or learning experiences, and the number/money pushing is pissing me off. I love the fast paced, urgent cases, but my mental health is already not well and i’m worried seeing bad cases in the shelter will make it worse. what has been your experiences?

Hello everyone,

I’m a recent graduate in veterinary medicine, and I’ve been working for a month now in a small clinic for small animals, but I’m feeling quite demotivated.

The clinic has some activity, but there aren’t really any new clients – most are long-time clients who bring their pets either for routine check-ups or because new issues have arisen with their animals. At the moment, I’m mainly giving vaccines.

I’m also interested in exotic animals, but I knew that at least in my country, it’s harder to start out in that area. Since I wanted to begin working, earning money, and gaining experience, I decided to start with small animals.

The truth is, I know that a month isn’t much time, but I don’t feel excited about anything (or at least very little) in this job. Could it be the place I’m working at? Could it be my anxiety, which isn’t letting me enjoy things right now? Or could it be that this isn’t for me?

I also know that vaccines aren’t the most exciting thing in the world, but the thought of starting to handle other cases scares me a lot. So, I’m feeling a mix of anxiety and lack of motivation. I also didn’t expect dealing with people to be so challenging...

Did any of you feel this way when you first started working?

Thanks in advance :)

I’m going to community college for an associates in vet technology at 17, does anyone know if there’s any actual jobs that would hire a minor so I can get early experience in the field? I’ve done spca volunteering and feel that I could work a vet assistant job or something similar that’s entry level but am struggling to find anywhere that would hire me before I turn 18.

Our office has been on Avimark for 10+years never had any issues. They are planning on switching to Covetrus Pulse. Should I be worried? Any comments?

I’ve been an RVT for 7 years, primarily at this practice that I helped open over 10 years ago as a reception/TA before I went back to school to become an RVT. They sold to corporate a few years ago and while I was on my first maternity leave they hired an RVT as practice manager. Then Covid hit and I came back full time, eventually offered a hybrid RVT/assistant manager position about 3 years ago. They told me after I came back from my second maternity leave that I’d be taking over as PM and the current PM would be moving on. That was 2 years ago and I’ve since started to shift my focus to management, in preparation to take over. I’ve started taking courses to prepare myself for a manager role. Well, now it’s been 2 years of promises to take over this role, nothing has happened and I see no movement from the current PM. I have expressed my frustration and also reached out to ask for a raise/commitment to this position opening up and have gotten no where. My current PM told me that actually the small raise they offered me, I should be grateful for and not complain because I got more of a raise than she did. Mind you, I haven’t asked for anything in the last 2 years as I was under the impression I was going to be taking over the PM position. I applied for a PM position with a different corporation and it sounds like they’re going to offer me the job.

Here’s my dilemma: I love the practice I am at, minus the PM and feeling frustrated with that situation. I think my DVMs are fantastic, I jive with the medicine they practice and I love everyone else I work with. It’s also 3 minutes from my house and my children are 5 + 3, their daycare and school is 5 minutes from home. The practice I applied at is a 30+ min commute and I know no one at the clinic. They are a 1 DVM practice and currently have no RVTs - I would be taking over as PM and they would absolutely need me to be an RVT.

Do I take the chance on a new practice? Do I stick it out and wait for the PM to eventually move on? I will get salary information next week, but the new practice/corp sounds like they are very interested in career development. Fear of the unknown - help!!!!

i F (20) work at a vet clinic as a veterinary technician. I am not certified but i was trained as such. I know my way around appointments and how to work appointments, blood draws, testing etc. my veterinarian M (75) acts like he hates me. i have been here since August which is going on 3 months now. i’m trained to a point, but since i never went to school i still need help on things. I made to take the easy appointments (annuals), the ones i know im professional at.

A little back story, at the beginning he did like me. We joked around and made small talk, but as the weeks went by, i could tell that he was starting to dislike me. Here, if they want you gone, they won’t fire you due to not wanting to pay for unemployment. Instead, they will treat you like garbage and cut your hours. This week i’m sitting at 15 hours. (i was hired to be full time)

This morning I walk into the clinic before i was supposed to be there, i sat down at the computer to clock in and he comes around the corner and yells “why aren’t you clocked in yet?!” i politely told him that i was waiting for the computer to turn on.

Little time goes by and we’re walking the animals and he goes crazy about a bag of food that was open and started getting mad about it being open (his grandson opened it and he knew it. ) me and my coworker still had to take the beating for it.

just a little bit later he tells my other coworker F (26) (has her LVT and has worked here for 5 months) that he doesn’t want me touching a single appointment. this has gone on for weeks and i feel like im walking on egg shells around this place. I would leave, and im going to put in applications here next week, but what do i do to fix this situation? he blatantly ignores me if i try to speak to him, and if he does talk, i feel like im a kid again getting yelled at by a parent. what do i do?