WHAT IF I MAKE MISTAKES?

We all make mistakes. Mistakes don’t mean we are bad veterinarians; often they even make us better. The key is to own our mistakes, learn from them, and not repeat the same ones.

Remember that communications training from veterinary school? If the mistake is life threatening, handle that first. Pull in a senior team member if needed. Then discuss the mistake with your mentor/boss. That conversation should include a review of what happened and what could have been done differently. Together develop a plan to prevent similar mistakes from happening in the future. That could be a checklist, change in protocol, or other. If necessary, contact your professional liability, that’s what it is there for! 

Talking to a client about a medical error is stressful! Take a moment to prepare for that conversation before it happens. Remember that as stressed as you are, the client more than likely will be stressed as well. Speak clearly, check in, explain what changes will be made to prevent similar errors. Oftentimes clients may be very understanding depending on how the mistake is communicated to them. Other clients will be ready to be upset regardless of how you communicate, or how big or small the mistake was. That’s okay too, everyone handles these things differently. If a client becomes increasingly upset, remember not to respond in kind. Try to stay calm, and pull in a colleague if needed. 

Don’t beat yourself up when you learn a painful lesson; you will remember these incidents for future reference. Sooner or later most small animal veterinarians will spay a tom cat, equine veterinarians will tear a mare’s rectum, and bovine veterinarians will deliver a calf and not check for a twin. Hopefully it doesn’t happen twice to the same colleague. If there’s a mistake to be made, chances are someone before you has made it.

If you feel you need more support than your job and network provide, email [email protected] to be paired with a mentor or to gain admission to the Vets4Vets® confidential support group. Vets4Vets® is a confidential support group available at no cost to all veterinary students and veterinarians through the VIN Foundation. You can learn more in the Thrive in Five Toolkit.