u/waaaasssguuud

I’m currently an assistant with 4 years of experience at a small privately owned GP. I am OTJ trained and developed basic skills such as blood draws, iv catheter placement, rads, anesthesia monitoring/surgical assistance, running in house diagnostics, and reception. I am currently looking for a new job because I’m getting bored of GP work, want to develop more skills, the culture of my clinic is not the best, utilization of assistants is poor, and I don’t work with any licensed technicians.

I applied to an ER position and ultimately didn’t get the job because I lack ECC experience. I decided to apply to an urgent care/IM clinic as a bridge between GP and ECC. I had a video call today with the hospital and I think it went bad.

I was very nervous and struggled to communicate my experience without rambling. They asked about skill set and dug into specifics like triage protocol, treatment sheets, and medical math which I don’t have much experience with and it highlighted how capped out I am in my current role as the doctors I work for do these things. One of the doctors I work with likes technician work and I am mainly a glorified animal holder when I work with her. My current clinic also lacks structured training protocols and investment into staff development. I’ve had to ask to learn to place IVs, blood draws, in house diagnostics, etc. and wouldn’t have learned it if I didn’t ask or make an effort to learn. My “training” and skill set feels half-assed compared to what these higher volume hospitals expect.

I am so eager to learn/improve on skills and desperately want to break into urgent care or ER. I enjoy sick cases far more than routine wellness exams, but I feel like I'm practically back at entry level when it comes to standard ER workflows. I don't want to badmouth my current practice in interviews, but the structure and standards there are just so much lower than the places I'm applying to.

I would love some advice on how to professionally frame these skill gaps in interviews without sounding negative and whether applying directly to dedicated UC/ER hospitals is realistic or if I should target larger GPs with strong UC components first to bridge the gap?

I have a phone interview set up on Saturday for a privately owned specialty / ER hospital. I’ve shadowed there and really enjoyed my time and think it’ll be a great place to grow my technical skills.

I have a BA in biology and four years of GP experience in a small/large animal practice (mainly SA with rabbits, goats, and horses every now and then). I have experience in surgery, iv catheter placement, blood draws, running in house diagnostics, radiographs, and am cross trained to work reception. I currently make $20/hr and am in the mid west.

The job posting is for an RVT and says $20-25/hr with shift diff. I’m in the process of deciding whether I want to pursue an RVT or go to vet school.

What do assistants typically get paid for in an ER? What pay should I ask for? I don’t want to ask for a lot and come off ignorant as I know I’m not an RVT and they would prefer that, but I don’t want to take a pay cut because the drive will be longer and I will have to pay a toll fee (I live on state border and the hospital is in another state).

I shadowed at an ER in a speciality hospital back in July and really enjoyed my experience. I was still nervous about applying for a job so I talked to my partner about it and then my current job about it. I’ve worked out a schedule that would allow me to work in the ER on Friday and Saturday afternoon/evenings. I’m a vet assistant with 4 years of experience.

I emailed the nursing director and lead tech asking if they’d be willing to offer me a job and they haven’t responded. It took a few weeks to schedule my job shadow, so I’m trying not to worry too much. It’s been a week now and I’m not sure how long I should wait to send a follow up email? Is it annoying if I do so?

Did I wait too long to email them? It was about a month after my shadow and they have taken down their Indeed posting within the last week :(

Saw this online and wanted to post in this sub to hear everyone’s thoughts on it!

The clinic I work at doesn’t have an Imagyst, but even if we did, I doubt it would be trusted 100%. Nothing over powers a pathologist review.

I recently shadowed at a speciality hospital in their ER. While I was with an intake tech, I asked about what the hospital allows assistants to do vs RVT/LVT/CVT. She told me there was a leveling system they have and she couldn’t remember it, but it was in her employee packet in her car. I wasn’t going to ask her to go grab it and forgot to ask another person while I was there. I’m kind of confused simply because I know there are things I can’t and shouldn’t do not being registered. I’ve been working as an assistant at a small GP for almost 4 years.

What does the skill level system look like and what skills are included with each level?

The clinic I work at is always cold so I usually wear a jacket or a sweatshirt. I want to get some compression shirts, preferably long sleeve, and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations?

I love the Fig ones, but I cannot spend $30 on one shirt especially when it might get blood, poop, or pee on it lol. I’m also relatively small, barely 5ft tall. I want a very tight one I can wear under my scrubs.

Hi all,

Looking for advice on my parents 4 year old Goldendoodle. She is spayed and has been pretty healthy her whole life with the exception of a suspected chicken allergy (she would lick and chew her paws so they switched her to a salmon diet and she does better). She is on Credelio Quattro monthly. For the last 2 months, her appetite has decreased and she has lost 10 pounds (usually weighs around 50). She regurges water sometimes after drinking and has soft stools here and there. My parents also feed her human food to try to stimulate her appetite. She also drinks a lot of water.

She tore her CCL in March and the vet put her on Carprofen and Gabapentin. Her appetite started to decrease around this time, but not horribly. Her pre op panel was normal. She had surgery on April 1st and it’s been downhill since.

Her personality is not like how she was before surgery. She was a very energetic, hyper dog and now she doesn’t care to greet guests or move around the house a whole lot. She will sometimes eat a bit of her food, then refuse meals later in the day. Or she will eat a new food for a little and then refuse it. Or she’ll refuse all food/treats.

They took her to the vet and ran some bloodwork and a 4DX. The 4DX was negative and the CBC was normal. Her chemistry showed low albumin (2.1 g/dL), elevated globulins (3.9 g/dL) and a normal cPL. The vet thought Addison’s, but the resting cortisol was normal. They said it could be PLE secondary to IBD (but couldn’t definitely say without ultrasound/biopsies) or irritation from the Carprofen. They told my parents to stop the Carprofen, started a hydrolyzed low fat diet, gave her an anti-nausea shot (which seemed to help), and a prescription for sucralfate. They said if she didn’t get better, they could try a steroid but she needs a wash out period from the Carprofen. My parents are apprehensive to start a steroid if there’s any ulcer/irritation. A few days later, she refused all food so the vet put her on ondansetron and they started Hill’s Low-fat Z/D. She ate the food over the weekend and started to drink less water. But today, she has refused all food and seems lethargic.

My parents don’t have a lot of money, but I know her condition warrants a further workup like X-rays or ultrasound. Would it be reasonable to bypass the ultrasound due to costs and start the steroid? With GI issues, does the appetite come and go?

TLDR: parents dog had CCL surgery, has lost 10 pounds since, decreased appetite, low albumin. Vet said maybe PLE secondary to IBD and recommended a hydrolyzed diet + maybe steroids if no improvement. Dog did ok with anti nausea meds and new food, but now not eating