Welcome to Week 4. My name is Rachel Whittington, and this week, we're going to focus on professional skills that are essential for vets in practice. The first part of my career was spent in small animal practice. 11 years of which I spent as a partner in Honeybourne Vet Center in Cheltenham. When I was at that school, many of the skills I needed day-to-day in practice were not taught in our course, so it had to be learned by trial and error while working. This sometimes made for some very tricky situations and created a really strong interest in me in how to develop good client relationships, how to lead, manage, and motivate the team that worked for me. And I lead the professional skill course at Edinburgh, which is designed to make sure that our graduates are well-prepared for all of these aspects of practice. A well-run veterinary practice will be made up of a range of different staff all trained to do the best job in their area of responsibility. Vets tend to either be employed by the practice, or they can be owners of the practice, where they have more responsibility for the management, and leadership, and financial success of the business. Veterinary nurses, veterinary receptionists, and animal care assistants all complete veterinary team. And the most successful practices use their staff to their full potential and match their responsibilities to their individual skill set. The veterinary nurse's role is a crucial one to allow vets to focus on their clinical decision-making and more complicated procedures. An efficiently run practice will use their veterinary nurses to perform procedures, such as blood sampling, dental work, minor surgery, radiography, and anesthetic monitoring under the vet's direction and supervision. They care for inpatients and often have a client facing role with responsibilities such as running puppy parties, weight loss clinics, and with the appropriate training, giving bereavement counseling. Receptionists give the first and last impression of a veterinary practice. A good practice will invest time and money into choosing proficient receptionists and training them to a high standard. They need to be good at multitasking. Often managing and triaging our incoming calls, arrival of clients for appointments, and taking payments whilst remaining friendly, welcoming, and empathetic. Veterinary practices rely on their animal care assistance for all of the day-to-day care of their inpatients and for keeping their practice clean and uncluttered. To be a succesful vet working practitioner, you need to enjoy working with people as well as animals. It's a myth that people are born leaders or managers. Communication, emotional intelligence, leadership, management, and client care skills can all be taught in the same way that we teach clinical skills. For many of you, emotional intelligence may be a new concept. So in the next section, Stacy Spielman is going to tell us a little bit more about it
