Students and new members encouraged to attend webinar on handling difficult situations early in practice

Veterinary students and those who have recently joined the RCVS Register of Veterinary Surgeons – whether as new UK graduates or overseas-educated vets – are encouraged to attend a free one-hour interactive webinar next month on how to handle some of the difficult situations they might encounter in the first few months in practice.

The webinar, ‘Dealing with Difficult Situations’ takes place on Tuesday 7 December from 7.15pm and will feature some veterinary surgeons who recently joined the Register giving examples of some of the challenging situations they themselves have faced, how they dealt with what confronted them and their reflections on what they learned and how it changed the way they practised going forwards.

Gemma Kingswell (pictured), RCVS Head of Legal Services (Standards), said: “We recognise that starting in your first job as a veterinary surgeon is very exciting, but that the first few months in practice can be daunting too as you encounter challenging situations for the first time.

“This webinar aims not only to provide some practical guidance on how to deal with difficult situations in a pragmatic way should they arise, but also provide some reassurance that you are not alone in facing them. The webinar will also explore how the speakers have reflected on the difficult circumstances they have encountered in order to build up the knowledge, confidence and resilience to deal with similar situations in the future.”

Among those sharing the situations they’ve encountered are: Izzy Hocking who graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2018 and now works for the Blue Cross in London; Hannah Prestwood, who graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2018 and has worked in farm animal and, latterly, small animal charity practice; and Bolu Eso, who graduated from Budapest in 2019 and works in small animal practice in London. They will be covering topics including the provision of pragmatic care; how to have difficult conversations with clients; and how to handle client confidentiality.

Gemma, as Head of Legal Services (Standards), will then explore the scenarios further in reference to the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons and its supporting guidance and what these say about how best to handle such difficult situations.

You can sign up to the webinar via our Eventbrite page. 

Those who are interested in attending can also submit questions about the Code and supporting guidance in advance via the Eventbrite registration page. There will also be opportunities to ask questions throughout the event.

For those who aren’t able to make it on the day, a recording of the webinar will be made available shortly afterwards via the RCVS website.