• Sign Up for Beta
  • What is DVM Mentoring?
  • Benefits
  • How it Works
  • Blog

DVM Mentoring AppDVM Mentoring AppDVM Mentoring AppDVM Mentoring App
Menu
  • Sign Up for Beta
  • What is DVM Mentoring?
  • Benefits
  • How it Works
  • Blog

Being Wrong

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Being Wrong

Being Wrong

CategoriesBlog

Howard Zeigler

August 31, 2019

0 0

Share this post

The other day, I was in an exam room with my mentor doing a physical exam.  We were talking to the owners and I felt something on palpation that I hadn’t felt on my first pass.  I asked my mentor to feel what I felt and he asked me what I thought. I told him my idea, which was based off of part of the history as well.  He told me that I was probably wrong and why I was wrong. I nodded, and the day continued as normal.

Now, this doesn’t feel like it should be a big deal at the center of a blog post, but it is.  Veterinary students do not like to be wrong – we’re high achievers and are used to being at the high end of the bell curve.  For veterinarians, being wrong can be the difference between a pet living or dying. When I’m with my mentor, neither of those things matter.

When you ask someone for help, there is an intrinsic element of humility involved – you’re admitting that you can’t do something by yourself.  That humility carries over into the whole mentoring relationship. It’s okay to be wrong with your mentor. It shows that you’re still learning, but that you’re also being vulnerable in a way that is difficult with an employer.  

Once a new graduate gets a job, it feels like we’re expected to be fulling functioning veterinarians.  Any time we ask for help, we’re not living up to the expectations surrounding us. Not only that, we’re preventing other veterinarians from doing their jobs.  Being wrong on top of that is something that many of us are just not comfortable risking – it feels like we’re putting our jobs on the line any time we ask a question.

Something that hits closer to home for me is the willingness to speak up in class.  When instructors ask questions to their veterinary student audiences, typically nobody wants to raise their hands and answer. Many of us are paralysed by the fear of not just being wrong, but being wrong in front of our peers.  This paralysis prevents us from making the most of our education – information sticks better when you interact with it.

It’s not just okay to be wrong; it’s also healthy.  We’re part of a high achieving profession that doesn’t like to be wrong, and that’s okay too.  The humility intrinsic to a mentee in a mentoring relationship helps alleviate that aversion to being wrong and helps us to learn and grow to be more than who we are today.  That’s why DVM Mentor can help a new graduate so much, connecting us with mentors that we can be wrong with and also have no risk associated with being wrong.

Related Post

AUGUST 8, 2019

Compassion Fatigue

Someday, I’m going to own my own business.  Because of that, I asked my mentor if I...

00

AUGUST 8, 2019

Frustration

The two months of my externship was full of surgical experience and by the end, I was...

00

AUGUST 8, 2019

Why a good mentor isn’t...

I’ve talked to some of my classmates about whether they would want a mentor when they...

00

AUGUST 8, 2019

The Most Personal Instruction...

This summer I have the privilege of having not just one, but two different mentors. ...

00

JULY 29, 2019

How a Mentor is Different

Like many veterinary students, I’m a perfectionist.  I like to do things right. Early...

00

Popular Posts

  • Compassion Fatigue
  • Frustration
  • Why a good mentor isn’t necessarily your boss
  • The Most Personal Instruction Possible
  • How a Mentor is Different

Copyright © 2019 by VetMed 2.0 & DVM Mentoring | Austin, TX - Contact us at dvmmentoring@gmail.com