President’s message from Dr Diana Barker – September 2023

There has been a dynamic shift within the veterinary profession over the past 20 years. In addition to scientific and business changes, pet owners’ expectations have also evolved as animals have become more like family members. Research suggests the traits of individual veterinarians are under scrutiny as clients’ expectations increase when it comes to communication skills, clinical expertise and the ability of vets to empathise.   

When veterinarians graduate, they have the clinical expertise needed but don’t necessarily have all the personal and leadership skills essential for managing a team, career success and satisfaction, and longevity in small animal practice.  

I remember my first job in mixed practice. I felt I had enough knowledge to approach my clinical work but lacked the skills to manage my first difficult client or workplace conflict. Now as a practice owner I see the same gaps in ‘non-clinical skills’ that I lacked but nowadays client and workplace expectations are so much higher. Examples of these skills include taking care of your wellbeing, working with people, enhancing professional effectiveness and creating positive workplace cultures plus many more.  

The VetSet2Go Employability Project identified 18 key capabilities that are consistently important in veterinary contexts. These capabilities have been aligned to broad and overlapping domains of psychological resources, effective relationships, veterinary capabilities, professional commitment, and self-awareness. 

In response to an identified gap in the market, the AVA launched the AVA Chartered Veterinary Practitioner^TM (AVA CVP) earlier this year. The pilot program has been very successful, enjoying an impressive 98% overall satisfaction rating from enrolled students which include practice owners, recent graduates and more seasoned vets employed by others. Students like the practical nature of the course which allows them to put what they learn into practice right away. They also really enjoy interacting with a cohort of other vets on their learning journey. 

The AVA CVP is more than just another course. It develops and recognises excellent small-animal general practitioners, through a national professional accreditation - one that will help you stand out in your career.  

Registrations for 2024 are now open and I encourage you to look into undertaking the AVA CVP yourself or supporting your employees to take part. You can find more information here.

Veterinary Business Group Summit 

I was fortunate to attend the Veterinary Business Group (VBG) Summit in Brisbane earlier this month. It was wonderful to see a group of engaged current and aspiring business owners looking at what they can do to create better workplaces.  

As a business owner, I relished the opportunity to take time out to listen to inspiring speakers and compare notes with others. As the AVA President, I found it really uplifting to see how much attendees got out of the summit and am proud that we are able to create such high quality learning opportunities for our members. Read more highlights from the summit here.