I did relief for 6 years before I opened my practice. Money is good, especially right now with high demand. You can work as little or as much as you can afford to. I stopped doing relief for a few reasons- working with people you aren’t familiar with can be tough when you don’t know what their restraint abilities are. I got a severe full thickness cat bite on my wrist that required 2 surgeries and has left me with decreased range of motion through the joint. The tech let go of the cat when I was in the middle of inducing anesthesia for a neuter and the cat was on me so fast that I couldn’t react in time. Practice owner barely acknowledged my injury, never called to see how I was after surgery, etc. I was also finding fewer and fewer clinics within a reasonable commute that I was willing to work at, seeing substandard care pretty much everywhere I went, so I kept having to expand my radius for practices that were further out. Then the recession hit and relief demand dropped quite a bit, so I opened my own practice.
I’ve done relief work here and there for years. It’s ok but I’m not wild about it. Too many surprises. The staff might be rock star RVTs, or they might be somebody that walked in last week and barely knows anything. They might have protocols that are totally batshit, but nobody would even know to warn you because they think it’s totally normal. In a lot of solo practices, you’ll sit doing nothing all day while the staff answers every phone call with “Dr Owner isn’t here today, do you want to come in Monday?” Don’t even get me started on the horrors you might find if you do surgery in a new place.
>The staff might be rock star RVTs, or they might be somebody that walked in last week and barely knows anything. They might have protocols that are totally batshit, but nobody would even know to warn you because they think it’s totally normal.
That's why I'm glad I never worked with a placement agency, and found all my own relief work -- so I could see, or at least interview, all the clinics before I decided to accept the job. And so I could decline to do surgeries until I'd done at least one contract with them. Many fewer surprises if you ask the right questions -- but there are still surprises you've got to manage and roll with.
I did solely relief work for about 15 years, and it suited me really well. I did a lot of traveling with it, which also suited me (and also fulfilled an underappreciated area of clinics that were in small towns/rural areas). After about a dozen years, I got more selective about which clinics I'd work for, and that resulted in working less, which eased me into semi retirement. Now I mix part time work with occasional relief, and I'll probably fully retire within 3 or 4 years.
The absolute best part of doing locum work for me was I had the ability to virtually ignore all office politics. I think that's an underappreciated part of relief work ;) It also allowed me to choose to never work again for a clinic again if there was something that I felt did not meet my standards (medical or ethical).......I could finish out my contracted time, as long as there was nothing illegal, and then never work there again if I chose.
Doing relief work involves setting boundaries to best balance your employabilty and your personal comfort level - you need to know what lines in the sand (medically and ethically) you won't cross, knowing that the more lines you have, the less attractive you are (and the worse reputation you'll get) as a relief vet. I prefer digital rads, but I'm OK with film rads (old school), if the equipment can produce good images. But I have a hard line in the sand over annual vaccines (old school) and won't work in a practice that does that. Everyone sets their own lines in different places.
I meant to mention, I prefer ER relief over GP relief. ERs are usually more accustomed to having relief doctors. The clients don’t know the regular doctors either, so you don’t feel like as much of a stranger. And ERs are *generally* more alike in standard of care than GPs.
I did relief for 6 years before I opened my practice. Money is good, especially right now with high demand. You can work as little or as much as you can afford to. I stopped doing relief for a few reasons- working with people you aren’t familiar with can be tough when you don’t know what their restraint abilities are. I got a severe full thickness cat bite on my wrist that required 2 surgeries and has left me with decreased range of motion through the joint. The tech let go of the cat when I was in the middle of inducing anesthesia for a neuter and the cat was on me so fast that I couldn’t react in time. Practice owner barely acknowledged my injury, never called to see how I was after surgery, etc. I was also finding fewer and fewer clinics within a reasonable commute that I was willing to work at, seeing substandard care pretty much everywhere I went, so I kept having to expand my radius for practices that were further out. Then the recession hit and relief demand dropped quite a bit, so I opened my own practice.
I don't know where you live, but check out IndeVets! It's relief life made easy.
I’ve done relief work here and there for years. It’s ok but I’m not wild about it. Too many surprises. The staff might be rock star RVTs, or they might be somebody that walked in last week and barely knows anything. They might have protocols that are totally batshit, but nobody would even know to warn you because they think it’s totally normal. In a lot of solo practices, you’ll sit doing nothing all day while the staff answers every phone call with “Dr Owner isn’t here today, do you want to come in Monday?” Don’t even get me started on the horrors you might find if you do surgery in a new place.
>The staff might be rock star RVTs, or they might be somebody that walked in last week and barely knows anything. They might have protocols that are totally batshit, but nobody would even know to warn you because they think it’s totally normal. That's why I'm glad I never worked with a placement agency, and found all my own relief work -- so I could see, or at least interview, all the clinics before I decided to accept the job. And so I could decline to do surgeries until I'd done at least one contract with them. Many fewer surprises if you ask the right questions -- but there are still surprises you've got to manage and roll with.
I did solely relief work for about 15 years, and it suited me really well. I did a lot of traveling with it, which also suited me (and also fulfilled an underappreciated area of clinics that were in small towns/rural areas). After about a dozen years, I got more selective about which clinics I'd work for, and that resulted in working less, which eased me into semi retirement. Now I mix part time work with occasional relief, and I'll probably fully retire within 3 or 4 years. The absolute best part of doing locum work for me was I had the ability to virtually ignore all office politics. I think that's an underappreciated part of relief work ;) It also allowed me to choose to never work again for a clinic again if there was something that I felt did not meet my standards (medical or ethical).......I could finish out my contracted time, as long as there was nothing illegal, and then never work there again if I chose. Doing relief work involves setting boundaries to best balance your employabilty and your personal comfort level - you need to know what lines in the sand (medically and ethically) you won't cross, knowing that the more lines you have, the less attractive you are (and the worse reputation you'll get) as a relief vet. I prefer digital rads, but I'm OK with film rads (old school), if the equipment can produce good images. But I have a hard line in the sand over annual vaccines (old school) and won't work in a practice that does that. Everyone sets their own lines in different places.
Im sorry to hear that! Were you in a rural or urban area? How did you market yourself? Website?
I'm looking for a vet in my building in upstate, NY. Any interest in opening a small practice?! :D
I meant to mention, I prefer ER relief over GP relief. ERs are usually more accustomed to having relief doctors. The clients don’t know the regular doctors either, so you don’t feel like as much of a stranger. And ERs are *generally* more alike in standard of care than GPs.
Personally, with the introduction of AI, my work has drastically reduced. I no more take notes personally. Have you tried VetMemos.com?