A Student, A Coffee and Me!
I was asked by 2nd year, AHT Student, Victoria, from Olds College if she could interview me. Of course, I said yes!
What a joy to sit down for coffee and chat about my journey in this the veterinary industry and hear her perspective as a newcomer to the profession. It was heartwarming to reflect back on where I’ve been, where I’m at and where I’m headed.
Thank you, Victoria for a delightful conversation!
Here is her summary of the interview.
Becky Taylor is an RVT with an MA in communication and specific skill in teaching communication in the veterinary field. Becky Taylor is an amazing RVT with so much knowledge and experience in both the veterinary field and communication. Listening to Becky talk about her job, seeing the passion she has for her role, seeing the decisions she made to get there, and hearing the advice she had to give was very helpful and informative. The special attention she has given to communication in the veterinary field has made me want to focus on those skills in my future role as an RVT.
I connected with what first drew Becky to the veterinary field because those same things drew me. She loved animals and had many around her when she was younger. Because of that, it was not uncommon for her to visit the vet clinic. There, she learned what an RVT was and decided to enter the profession in that role.
Learning of Becky’s surprise at what RVTs could do to help animals was wonderful. And, hearing about the impact she made in her role when she first became an RVT was very inspiring. More interesting still were Becky’s memories of the craziest things she’s seen in clinic. Whether it be a dog with a strange foreign body, or a cheetah with conjunctivitis, the variety of mixed practice was excellent to learn about.
In the realm of clinical skills, I fully sympathized with Becky’s struggles in dentistry and radiology. As she stated, both are finicky and require a high level of finesse. Both are a study of angles and are not always the easiest to do effectively.
Seeing how inspired Becky was by different people mentoring her in the beginning and how that has helped push her life toward the capacity she is now in, has inspired me to someday be a good mentor to others. I especially appreciated her reflection on why Gail Cooper was so inspiring to her as an RVT. Without knowing it then, Becky had an appreciation for good communication skills.
Hearing about Becky’s transition from working in mixed practice as an RVT to becoming a teacher at Olds college was inspiring to hear. It showed me that one job/role like RVT can be applied in so many different capacities.
Becky had my attention when she talked about using her skills in difficult conversations. It was enlightening to hear how she was able to successfully navigate those conversations and come to a resolution. Becky highlighted that communication is a set of skills; something that can be learned and improved. This gives me great hope for my future in clinic as I know that good communication will be incredibly necessary.
Becky’s perspective on the change she’s seen in the veterinary profession was very eye-opening. I believe Becky was right when she said that the advances in medical care are amazing, but with that advance comes cost. Cost to both veterinary professionals and their clients. With this balance of care versus cost, there is now a source of struggle for owners. Just because the best care is available doesn’t necessarily mean that the owners can afford it. I feel that this perspective is very important to keep in mind when communicating with clients about treatment options.
Another change that Becky noted was the specialization of practices. When she first became an RVT, there were many more mixed animal practices. Now, there are many different specialty practices which offer specific care to specific animals and mixed animal practices are less common. Being interested in mixed animal practice, I sympathized when Becky said she felt a loss in that change. I also agree with her statement that, although the variety of practice has diminished, the potential for increased quality of care has risen.
I especially enjoyed hearing about the most rewarding part of Becky’s job. When she works with veterinary professionals to build their dialogue skills and then hears from them how much it helped. “That their job is getting easier because the conversations are less painful.” Her interest in communication sparked from the realization that they were skills that could be taught.
Becky’s advice on building skills with conflict and growing one's dialogue skills was excellent. I agreed with her statement that the biggest communication mistake that people in the profession make is not knowing how to deal with conflict. I appreciate this perspective because it reveals a skill that I can work on when I am in clinic.
I feel that Becky Taylor’s parting piece of advice for all RVTs was extremely valuable.
“Remember to spend as much time, or more time thinking about the joyful parts of the day as you do thinking about the challenging parts… when we see something that is outrageously amazing, that we don’t take that for granted and we say, this is good and this is why.”
Recorded & Summarized by Victoria, AHT Student, Olds College
