• DVM360_Conference_Charlotte,NC_banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

"Nobody's got time to train veterinary team members!"

June 12, 2015
Melissa Tompkins, BS, CVPM

Veterinary Economics and Firstline will be publishing dozens of personal stories, in-the-trenches advice and bright practice management ideas in the coming months-all from the final nominees in the 2015 Veterinary Economics Practice Manager of the Year contest, sponsored by VPI-Nationwide. The final winner will be announced at a special reception CVC Kansas City Aug. 30.

When I started working at my hospital, it was normal for new hires to receive training for a day or two and then be left on their own. For someone like me-coming from big corporations with a lot of training-this was a huge change. Because I had very limited veterinary knowledge, for the first year I struggled to learn all the policies and protocols. My team was used to the environment and didn't realize the benefits that good training could provide. But once I was promoted to practice manager, I made it my personal goal to create an effective training program.

The early complaint? “I don't have time for this!”

The new training protocol was not well received. In many instances, the team members insisted they didn't have time to train. No one ever really told me why they thought it was a waste of time; they just insisted that we didn't have time to do it. It took me a few years of staff changes to build a team that not only viewed training as essential but asked for it. I'd like to think that I “convinced” them that we needed to have a trainer, but in reality I think I just wore them down by creating more and more training protocols until we had so many that it was obvious that we needed someone to teach them.

I promoted one of my RVTs as the first clinic trainer. I met with her on a weekly basis to help her understand what was expected of her. I helped her create an effective technician training manual, and she helped make a lot of improvements to the phase training protocols that we had in place.

Two ways our training was tested

Advertisement

When we hired our next veterinary assistant, we were ready. The trainer spent the first three months working closely with the new hire.

It wasn't always easy. Some of the senior team members again complained that we were spending too much time on training. But the decision to thoroughly train paid off when the assistant eventually passed her RVT exam and is now prepared to train any new assistants.

After the success of training in the treatment area, we branched out to reception. A new receptionist worked one-on-one with our front-office manager for the first month.

Our training recently hit a road bump, however, as our treatment-area trainer had to reduce her hours. This made it more difficult to ensure new hires had someone to work with. The trainer tries to assign others to work with the new hire, but this doesn't always work. Team members still need reminders that they need to take the time to properly train new employees. And I remind the doctors that if they want a better-trained team, they need to be patient and give us time.

This has been a small step back, but I believe most of the team now understands why we need training because so many of them wish they would have had better training in the beginning.

Melissa Tompkins, BS, CVPM, is practice manager at The Cat Care Clinic in Orange, California. Read more about past Practice Manager of the Year nominees and winners as well as new nominees in the next few months at dvm360.com/PMOY.

Related Content:

TechniciansPersonnel Management
Veterinary tech students awarded national scholarship
Veterinary tech students awarded national scholarship
AAHA seeks applicants for its board, including for a newly created veterinary technician role
AAHA seeks applicants for its board, including for a newly created veterinary technician role
A technician’s true value
A technician’s true value

Advertisement

Latest News

3 Must-reads from Fetch Charlotte 2023

A practical approach to a fever of unknown origin

Bridge Club aims to bring groomers and veterinarians together

ABVS approves full recognition for shelter medicine practice

View More Latest News
Advertisement