| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Has anyone got a spare Jolly Roger ? | |
| Posted by: | Charlotte Kasner | |
| Date/Time: | 20/01/15 10:29:00 |
| Apologies for the typo, although may I point out the lack of possessive apostrophe in the last sentence of Mr Brooks' reply (perhaps we could set up a mutual proofing service?) I cite the following in terms of salary: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/veterinary_surgeon_salary.htm The average starting salary is around £21,800 to £33,500 a year, depending on experience. Further training and experience can increase salary to £36,500 per annum. Senior vets can earn around £44,000 to £53,000+ This staring salary will have followed a minimum of 7 years (expensive) training, with a legal requirement to self-fund further CPD. Many high street vets will not take on a new vet with less than 10 years experience, but they will still be on a lower rate for some time as there are many vets chasing few jobs. It is not uncommon to have one or two vets per month turning up at the door with a CV in hand. I agree that owners and partners do earn around the £43,800 quoted or more, but many vets are much nearer the lower rate. Nurses are much lower still. In a high street practice or emergency vet, this includes unsocial and very long hours. Clients turning up late or without an appointment, often with a very sick animal, can entail an additional 2-3 hours work at the end of a shift. It is not just the consulting but the recording of accurate notes, preparing lab samples and sheer cleaning up that is required, after which the vet will need to attend to any in-patients and write up their notes as well. Of course you have to be on to of your game throughout even when you are tired and hungry. There have been many shifts where I was due to lock up at 18.30 and I finished clearing up by 20.30 leaving the vet writing up notes and with a 07.00 start the next morning. Neither of us were paid for the additional time. It does indeed take training to take an ear swab and the lab report is just a basic measure that will need to be interpreted in the context of the full history not just reacted to. Handling animals that are unwell and may be frightened and reactive is a skill, I promise you. Obtaining a full sample from a wriggling dog that is in pain from a sore, dark, hairy ear is not as straightforward as you may think, especially when so many owners do not habituate their animals to being handled. The potential to do futher damage to the ear is high. The vet's concern is not whether the owner will sue for malpractice, but that the patient is not frightened or hurt and the correct quantity and quality of sample is taken to enable successful diagnosis and treatment. I make a choice not to heat my home as I do not wish to live without a dog. I only mentioned it to point out that owning a companion animal is a choice and a privilege and, once undertaken, carries moral and legal responsiblities as well as financial implications. I feel that I am probably a lot more healthier for the mental and physical work out that I get with exercising and training my dog, never mind the lower blood pressure, high oxytocin levels etc etc that comes with inter-species companionship than in having central heating instead. Quoting "retail" prices for drugs does not give a complete picture. There are a range of wormers which have different effects and therefore which are priced commensurably. Economies of scale are vastly different between a high street vet in a single practice, a large chain vet, a pet supermarket and an online drugs supplier, so the amount charged will vary. As stated previously, vets will take a loss on some routine procedures and will often cap a client's bill with complex or lengthy treatment. This loss will be made up with a mark up elsewhere, so, even locally, prices will differ slightly, but overall will be similar. So, please, stop carping about the cost of vet bills and treating your vet as if he only sees you as a cash cow. No one made you get a pet and, if you really think you can do better, why not offer yourself as a volunteer for a week and see what it is really like behind the reception. |