Mentoring for Surgeries
I just wanted to get a few different opinions on this issue and see if I'm being difficult or my clinic manager is being somewhat uncompromising. I'm a fairly recent grad (2024) and have only been working since Sept 2024. I do not like surgery. At all. I do spays, neuters, lumpectomies. I've done a few dentals (although I'm not experienced/good at them) and an enucleation. Doing surgeries makes me highly anxious but I still do them because I know it's part of the job. Having said that I'm not someone who's really willing to watch a surgery on YouTube a couple times and then try it myself. I will do my research on a new surgery but then I want another vet scrubbed in with me while I'm doing this surgery to walk me through it/catch if I'm making any mistakes etc. I have a cystotomy booked under me on Thursday which I've never done or seen before and I requested that either another vet takes over surgery for the day or a vet scrubs in with me (or even just stands in the room the whole time I do surgery). My clinic manager said this wasn't possible as the other vets need to be doing appointments and we can't have 2 vets doing a single surgery. I know that vet med is very much a learn on the job profession and that many vets will do a new procedure with nothing but an open textbook to guide them but I'm guessing these are probably pretty confident surgeons and I don't feel capable of that and I worry about making mistakes and harming the patient. Am I being unreasonable?
Update: Clinic manager spoke with my boss and my boss agreed to come in and help me with surgery. So I'm still nervous and doing a bunch of research but at least I'll have help!