Angela Wright

I'm back at Pet Vet Clinic doing relief work. I'll continue to work here until I get my Tennessee license.

I learned on my interview this clinic was a "hybrid" clinic, meaning there was still a percentage of the clinic still being owned by the owner and the rest owned by corporate. We were a 5 doctor clinic with having initially 2 registered technicians. We were always very busy. We saw a lot of walk-ins along with scheduled appointments. I saw a lot geriatric pets with chronic illness as well as a lot of acute traumatized patients. I saw some cases that personally I've never seen in a clinic... like feline parvovirus and possible canine distemper! About a year into my employment , me and my husband made the bold decision to start make plans on moving back to our home state of Tennessee. We really like the surrounding areas of Knoxville and the close proximity to the Great Smokey Mountains.

This was a large 10,000 sq ft clinic that was comprised of a hospital, boarding and a playcare/ training facility. I worked with 2 other doctors. It was here I was finally able to see clients again in the exam rooms following the pandemic. The clients really had their best interest in their pets well being and I found them to be very compliant. The staff and doctors were wonderful to work with. Almost 9 months into my employment, the owner of the clinic decided to sale to corporate. I thought in my best interest to leave and to try to find a job.

This was my first corporate job. It was a very busy hospital that offered wellness plans that provide preventative care. On a daily basis we did a lot of dentals, soft tissue surgeries and we saw a lot of drop offs. Most of our drop offs were patients who were on a wellness plan and were there to get yearly exams, routine bloodwork, heart worm test, vaccines, urinalysis, ECG's and ocular pressure checks. This job forced me to be organized and use the most out of your time. Because you see a lot of drop offs, your on the phone a lot doing call backs and communicating with the clients. There are strict protocols that have to be followed And a lot of paperwork that has to be done but just like working at an AAHA hospital this ensures things are being done correctly.

Scheduled appointments were seen every 15 minutes however we also saw a lot of walk ins. Surgeries and other anesthetic procedures were done in the late morning to early afternoon hours. We performed in house bloodwork, digital radiography, soft tissue surgeries and dentals. We treated a lot of parvo, heart worm positive, hit by cars and attack/trauma patients. This was my first experience working at a AAHA certified hospital. Being a AAHA clinic requires certain protocols are met. There was extra paper work to be filled out but the outcome resulted to practicing better medicine.

I primarily worked by myself. I had scheduled appointments in the morning and the afternoon. On certain days, the mornings were blocked off for surgeries and dentals. I had the luxury of being able to ask for advice, etc from Dr Mees (whom now is a board certified Dentist and has her own practice in Roswell) when I had difficult dental procedures. She and I worked in the same building. This clinic was owned by two individuals who purchased the clinic from a previous vet. At first it felt a little unusual working under that type of management, but in the long run things ran smoothly and we seemed to work well as a team.

At most clinics I was scheduled to see appointments and do some surgeries. Working as a relief vet allows you the chance to work in a variety of working environments. One must be willing to adapt to each environment and use good communication and organizational skills. Being a relief vet pushes you to rely on yourself. You learn to be efficient, flexible and dependable. Besides working at day clinics , I did some shifts at the Cobb Emergency Hospital in Marietta.

I actually worked between 2 clinics. After hour duties and emergency calls were done by myself. At the south clinic I worked with multiple doctors and at the north clinic I worked by myself along with a technician. We treated a lot of largo cases, hit by cars, trauma victims and heartworm positive pets. We rotated on rooms and surgeries. This was the first clinic where I learned to work by myself. At first it was a little scary but then after learning how to be self efficient, I enjoyed it. If I needed help, I could always call the other clinic. I learned on this job to be more self reliable, productive and trust worthy of myself.

Here at this clinic I was one of four doctors. We rotated on seeing rooms and doing surgeries. This was a huge newly built clinic with the hospital occupying one building and then another building housed the kennel. Here I experienced for the first time having a certified technician. We were high volume but we also did good quality medicine. The doctors were excellent mentors. At this hospital I really was able to practice better medicine and also was able to get more exposure with soft tissue surgeries and become more comfortable with anesthesia.

This was my first job straight out of school. I worked with two other doctors who had years of experience. Most of my time was spent seeing exam rooms. This was an extremely high volume clinic. I got my first exposure with working with the public and I had to learn to work fast. All of our appointments were walk ins. Every third day and every third weekend I was on call taking emergency calls.