2 answers
Alay'la
Student
Moncks Corner, South Carolina
2
Questions
Asked
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What type of soft and hard skills would be best to work on to become a veterinarain?
I am very friendly and outgoing and those are some of my strongest skills.But I want to know what other skills would be better to have going into veterinary sciene, meaning what skills I should improve on. #college #hardskills #softskills
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2 answers
Ashley Tucker
28
Answers
Goleta, California
Updated
Ashley’s Answer
Soft skills: communication, problem solving, organization, grit
Hard skills: All the medical knowledge and specific skills learned at school
Hard skills: All the medical knowledge and specific skills learned at school
Eleanor Harowicz
Business Operations Support
47
Answers
Wind Gap, Pennsylvania
Updated
Eleanor’s Answer
The hard (or technical) skills are straightforward - all the education and training required to obtain the required licensing.
The soft skills can be a bit more difficult because they aren't necessarily part of the curriculum of Vet school. Communication skills are absolutely necessary, but to go deeper into what that actually means, let me say this: you need to be able to explain scientific concepts/diagnoses/etc in easy to understand terms. Depending on what type of veterinary practice you have, you very well will be dealing with clients who have little to no veterinary knowledge (or clients with just enough knowledge to be dangerous) - and most of the cost of care is not covered under insurance, which puts financial strain on clients that can result in lashing out at you.
I would also spend time truly adopting self-care techniques. The veterinary profession is unfortunately rife with mental health challenges because of the extremely demanding work. You will need the be preventative around mental health challenges instead of reactive. Best of luck!
The soft skills can be a bit more difficult because they aren't necessarily part of the curriculum of Vet school. Communication skills are absolutely necessary, but to go deeper into what that actually means, let me say this: you need to be able to explain scientific concepts/diagnoses/etc in easy to understand terms. Depending on what type of veterinary practice you have, you very well will be dealing with clients who have little to no veterinary knowledge (or clients with just enough knowledge to be dangerous) - and most of the cost of care is not covered under insurance, which puts financial strain on clients that can result in lashing out at you.
I would also spend time truly adopting self-care techniques. The veterinary profession is unfortunately rife with mental health challenges because of the extremely demanding work. You will need the be preventative around mental health challenges instead of reactive. Best of luck!