• 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

How a Mentor is Different

  • Home
  • Blog
  • How A Mentor Is Different

How a Mentor is Different

CategoriesBlog

Howard Zeigler

July 29, 2019

0 0

Share this post

Like many veterinary students, I’m a perfectionist.  I like to do things right. Early on in my summer externship, I was able to help out on a surgical case that didn’t go as planned.  I blamed myself. Thinking that I screwed up made all of the normal, small mistakes I made the rest of the week seem so much worse. I needed someone to talk to, I needed a mentor.  

In contrast, if I had called my mom for advice, I probably would have heard something along the lines of, “It’s OK, everyone makes mistakes.  You’re great and you’re going to be a great doctor.” On the other hand, I can imagine if I had made this mistake at work after graduating. I can hear my imaginary boss saying, “You could have lost the patient and the client and you definitely cost us a lot of money.”  Thankfully, I was intentional about looking for a mentor for my summer externship. My mentor was not fazed by my mistake and told me, “I understand the risks of taking on an intern and you did a lot of things right.” Then he explored with me what had happened to try to discover the source of the problem.  In this instance, there was a specific tool that I had been training on that caused me to have an artificial sense of security. ” We then worked on specific ways to avoid making that mistake again.  

This is the unique perspective a mentor brings.  He doesn’t have the emotional blindness of unconditional love or the managerial burden of a boss.  A mentor is in the best position to give emotional support and professional advice. He can be sympathetic and push for more.

I am excited about DVM Mentor because this is going to allow more veterinarians to experience the benefits I have from a good mentor.  Our profession is currently enduring a wellness crisis. The infusion of quality mentoring relationships could be the treatment for this daunting problem.

Related Post

AUGUST 31, 2019

Being Wrong

The other day, I was in an exam room with my mentor doing a physical exam.  We were...

00

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

Leave a Comments Cancel Reply

Please active sidebar widget or disable it from theme option.

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