Even the older members of our profession remember the trials and tribulations of securing our first job; working out what we wanted to focus on, what the practice had to offer, what the rota was like, and what we were going to be paid. Our profession has, and is changing, but many of these fundamental questions still exist for our new and recent graduates...
For some time, BEVA has listed practices offering internships for new graduates and these positions can be ideal for new graduates seeking to enter the equine veterinary profession. However, it is also true that these junior positions can sometimes be poorly structured, and used more as cheap labour, rather than acting as a positive and inspirational introduction to a career as an equine vet.
Consequently, BEVA has been working on developing a toolkit for new and recent graduates. The first phase of this was the production of a PDF document that outlined the sort of things new graduates should consider when looking at their first job, be it an internship or an assistant position. It provides practical advice when looking for a first or new job within the equine veterinary profession. It covers how the job should be structured, what skills can be expected to be acquired, the professional support provided, what facilities at the practice to look for, the potential benefits provided as part of the employment, and finally how the first job can help career progress. This document can be found on the BEVA website here: https://bit.ly/3vOpX9Y
BEVA are working on the second phase, to revamp the BEVA Internship Awareness Programme. This was launched in 2013 to provide a link between practices offering internships and new graduates looking for such jobs. With generous sponsorship, BEVA has been able to provide free student membership for BEVA and this has gratifyingly swelled student numbers within the Association. The current programme only lists available internships and BEVA wishes to progress this towards an “approved” programme where practices “sign up” to outline guidance of what an internship should entail. We have established a provisional list of skills that an intern should acquire. BEVA recognises that internships vary considerably between practices and so have developed three separate lists for “hospital-based”, “reproduction”, and “ambulatory” internships. These lists are very much at the development stage but are to encourage dialogue between BEVA and practices interested in becoming part of this programme. These lists will be presented as guidance only but we feel they help inform both practices and new graduates on what should be expected during an internship.
View the provisional list of skills here: https://bit.ly/3wQ93rp