Please bear with me as this is a long read:
The title says it all. I’ve (20F) had years of kennel experience but I need to get more experience in treatment before I apply to vet school. I know how intense working in the medical field is, but this specific clinic almost made me reconsider my career choice.
During my first week, I kept forgetting to label bloodwork and put it in the fridge which happened a total of three times on two different days. I owned up to that situation and have been improving since then.
They’re very inflexible with the schedule. During the interview I explained that I’m currently in school taking summer courses but the manager brushed it off and I never got the chance to talk about what days I needed off. Upon hiring me, they originally scheduled me to work 36 hours a week. It was such a hassle trying to talk them down to 30. When fall semester starts next month, I have to reduce my hours to 25, as I’m taking 17 credits. I already know that talking to the manager won’t be easy.
As a VA, I have to start exam rooms by taking a medical history and communicating with the doctor. The vet that I’ve worked with the most says I’m doing a great job, but there was one day where the practice manager was shadowing me to see my progress. I got really uncomfortable with her micromanaging that day and kept messing up certain tasks or stuttering which caused her to condescendingly correct me in front of clients. Then the practice manager suddenly told me that I’m only allowed to do vaccine rooms and tech appointments (nail trims and anal glands) instead of sick rooms. However, whenever there were clipboards piling up with rooms I’m not allowed to take, she starts yelling at me about why nothing’s done.
Today both the manager and supervisor talked with me and gave me a writeup form for the three times I’ve forgotten bloodwork. Not only that but she also said that whenever there are clipboards that I just sit there and don’t grab them (most of them being sick rooms) when SHE is the one telling me to only do vaccine rooms. One second I’m told that I’m doing a fantastic job by either her, my colleagues or the doctors, the next second she tells me I’m not progressing. This was within the span of a week in a job with a steep learning curve. I keep getting mixed signals about my performance and I don’t know what to do anymore.
I’ve honestly never cried so much at a job, especially one that I’ve barely been at for a month. I even had a panic attack in the bathroom. I feel like an idiot for quitting because this is the third clinic I’ve worked at (the first one I was laid off because of COVID after 7 months, the second one I left after a year to finish my VA externship which couldn’t be done at the place I worked at).
They wrapped up the meeting by saying they’re trying to help me become the best vet assistant I can be, yet they gaslight me into thinking I’m the one being uncooperative and not communicating, but whenever I try to communicate by asking questions or voicing my concerns, I’m met with a sense of hostility. Whenever I’m not sure about something and ask for help they give me attitude, but when I try to do something without guidance I’m in the wrong.
If I quit, it’s not like I’ll be unemployed. I have a paid research internship coming up and I could work at school as a lab technician while I take a break from vet med.
I just can’t handle this place anymore.