GradTrack is a joint collaborative programme designed by SPVS and VDS Training to provide non-clinical training for veterinary graduates and those supporting them in practice. Starting work in practice can be a baptism of fire – we know, we’ve been there! There’s the negative thoughts, the stressful consults, the challenge of working in a team and the difficult conversations with owners (and your boss!). However, it doesn’t have to be like this and the support you receive in your first few years will make a huge difference to both your wellbeing and your performance. Through practical tools and strategies, GradTrack will help empower you to become the vet you want to be. GradTrack, for graduates working in independent practice, is a programme of eight specialised workshops (four workshops of two consecutive days), with each two-day workshop held at Coombe Abbey Hotel in Coventry. GradTrack is a rolling programme and you can choose to start on any of the dates below. The workshops can be booked as a full programme, or you can choose to attend single days.'Really great course, would definitely recommend it to any new grad- even if one or two years graduated'
GradTrack Delegate
For Veterinary Graduates
2020 Dates
Date: Tuesday 11 – Wednesday 12 February 2020 Speaker: Carolyne Crowe The veterinary profession is always going to be pressurised but it doesn’t need to be stressful. What is stressful to one person is motivating to another and how we perceive the challenges has a direct impact on the outcome. Being able to manage, navigate and lead our thoughts, feelings and behaviours through the many challenges we face on a daily basis is an essential skill that needs to be developed and continually worked on.
Date: Tuesday 12 May 2020 Speaker: Kirsty Sturman Stress is a normal physiological, mental and emotional response to pressure, but it’s important to identify when stress becomes burnout and put preventative measures in place. The veterinary professional requires us to be empathetic, resilient and compassionate and we’ll explore how to spot the signs of compassion fatigue and how to deal with the challenges of a busy and pressurised practice environment without affecting your wellbeing.
Date: Wednesday 13 May 2020 Speaker: Penny Barker As vets we are working in a variety of different teams every day, ranging from a one-to-one relationship with our clients to the wider practice team. Those teams and their dynamics change day-to-day depending on what you are doing that day, who is working what shifts and the size of the task – from a “one vet, one nurse” pairing through a large emergency to a full practice meeting. During the course, we will look at why teamwork is important within the profession and how important it is that we build high performing and resilient teams within practices. We’ll look at the specific challenges you face in practice with regards to teamwork and give you strategies and techniques to deal with them. You’ll understand why trust is the foundation of an effective team and how to build it with your clients and colleagues.
Date: Wednesday 16 September 2020 Speaker: Christine Magrath Having the skills to cope with challenging clients helps to both build confidence and take the stress out of difficult situations. No-one would expect to be competent or confident driving a car without practising under the guidance of a trained instructor. In a similar way this day provides an opportunity for graduate vets to get into the driving seat, practise their skills and receive genuine feedback from clients, along with constructive and supportive help from colleagues and an experienced trainer. The day is also a unique and personal opportunity to address any specific areas that graduates may experience during the early stages of their career. By recreating situations that are challenging or creating situations that individuals fear, delegates will be given the tools to deal with them effectively in the future. Furthermore having the opportunity to practise and rehearse these skills in a safe environment has been shown, by extensive research, to produce long lasting positive effects. And although the training looks at specific tools, the experienced facilitators and simulated clients (educational role-players) will help mold them to each individual’s personality. Areas that are covered are set by the learners and the range can be far reaching and often includes talkative clients, clients who won’t commit to a procedure or surgery, emotional clients who may exhibit anger or tears and anything else that individuals find personally challenging. Attending this wet lab will help turn the theory of communication into practice; good communication is much more than just the words we use and helps bridge the gap between evidence based medicine and working with individual clients.
Date: Thursday 17 September 2020 Speaker: Brian Faulkner We’ll discuss the commercial aspects of practice to develop your awareness as well what you can do to improve your own financial remuneration in due course. Exploring what a reasonable financial return is as well as ethical ways in which to improve your financial productivity by proposing and promoting justifiable proactive veterinary care. We will also look at commonly missed charges as well as some simple ways that your practice can help you generate estimates accurately and quickly but in a way that allows you to cope with the likely probability that your surgical speed is lower than more experienced colleagues.
Date: Wednesday 14 October 2020 Speaker: Brian Faulkner The Colourful Consultation helps veterinary surgeons develop their ‘veterinary intelligence’ (VQ) which is required to pursue the four essential outcomes of clinical resolution, client satisfaction, financial resolution and colleague satisfaction whilst working in general practice. This day will focus on the addressing the specific challenges associated with pursuing these outcomes during the 5 types of veterinary consultations in fist opinion practice which are the primary consultation, the re-check consultation, the vaccination consultation, the long-term medic check and the euthanasia. A key challenge for less experienced vets is coping with the challenges of uncertainty and urgency often perceived whilst consulting. This is relevant because “stress = uncertainty x urgency” and it is essential that we are able to recognise, understand and manage these crucial variables, as failing to do so, often causes feelings of self-doubt. The Colourful Consultation will clearly explain how to this by honing into the exact moments when this happens using veterinary examples.
Date: Thursday 15 October 2020 Speaker: Brian Faulkner There are two sorts of vets that we see when we observe consultations. Those who have differentials on tip of tongue and those who don’t… and those who don’t struggle with their own sense of command during consultations as well as the trust, confidence and value perceived by clients. Whilst common things occur commonly, this doesn’t mean that we should leap to conclusions about what is causing a patient’s symptoms based on the limited information that is yielded by the physical senses deployed during a history and an exam. However, clients do expect us to know what is possible and probable, and then how we should proceed to manage the case based upon these suspects In order to do this well we do to know our “Differential Diagnoses 3-packs”. In other words we need to know which 2, 3 or maybe 4 differentials account for 80% of the cases that present with a particular symptom. This day will focus on nailing the top 3 differentials of the core 20 symptoms (including diagnostic parameters e.g. azotaemia, jaundice, cardiomegaly….and others ) in the core 3 species (dog, cat and rabbit) in small animal practice. The second part of this day will discuss how we incorporate talking about money into our conversations about options, as well as what we can do to set, confirm and adjust expectations about costs to ensure that clients are not surprised about their bills when they arrive at reception to settle their accounts.
This one-day course for employers and mentors of recent graduates helps equip employers and mentors with the skills and understanding to develop and support their recent graduates. You'll learn to help them flourish, to quickly assimilate into the practice team and to become effective, productive and positive employees The day is split into two sessions: Coaching and Mentoring New Graduates to Reach their Potential, with Carolyne Crowe, and Coaching Confidence During Consultations, with Brian Faulkner.For Employers
Date: Wednesday 2 September 2020 Speakers: Carolyne Crowe and Brian Faulkner Morning Session: Coaching and Mentoring New Graduates to Meet Their Potential Coaching and mentoring skills are essential when working with and developing your new graduates in practice. To enhance others performance and make your life easier its vital you understand your own communication and leadership style and how to motivate and engage others effectively. This workshop is designed to give you the practical tools and techniques to develop you as a coach and mentor in practice and understand how to get the best out of your new graduate to benefit you, your graduate, your team and your practice. By the end of the course, delegates will be able to: Afternoon Session: Coaching Confidence During Consultations This course focuses on supporting your new graduate ‘on the ground’ during the clinical operational aspects of veterinary practice. During the workshop you will learn to conceptualise the breadth and depth of the skills your graduate will need in order to pursue the four essential outcomes of clinical resolution, client satisfaction, financial resolution and colleague satisfaction. The course uses a 'models-and-moments' approach, looking first and general principles, and then applying these principles to specific instances and ‘moments’ that your new graduate will find challenging in order that you can anticipate and prepare for them.