Vet Tech Journals: The staff (LONG)

Takayuki wrote:

"L." wrote:

Mischief wrote:

Oh and btw, Dr. G is paying me 3 dollars MORE than what I was making at
my old place. To go from $9 to 12$ an hour is not something you just
shake off.

I don't know where you live but you are grossly underpaid. I made
$16.50/hour GROOMING, alone. When I started teching, my salary
increased dramatically.


I didn't want to say anything but yes, I also thought that a qualified
vet tech deserves more.

Well, I thought wages here in Southern California would be
higher (Kristi lives in the San Fernando Valley, as do I)
but I haven't had reason to look into "fresh out of school"
wages for many, many, MANY years. (When I entered the
workplace, fresh out of college, I thought I was lucky to
get a salary of $180 a MONTH - most of my friends were only
getting $160!)

"Mischief" wrote in message
oups.com...


But enough about him. V, the head tech is a great woman and is
starting to become a good friend too. She attended the same college I
did and is and RVT. We chat easily together and she's never on me if I
make a mistake. If ever I want to try to perfect my skills at
something, I only need to ask and she's willing to let me.


This is the person, I'd discuss your problems with "A" with. If I
understand it correctly, she is in charge of all technicians and should also
be in charge of "A" as well as you and the other new kid on the block. If
all of you are having problems with "A" then "V" would be the person to
approach the head vet. I'd think that he'd rather have three great
technicians than one "fantastic" one. I suspect that you wouldn't be the
first tech that this woman has run off, and, unless stopped, you won't be
the last. I'd think that the practice would rather have a stable group of
workers than a practice in turmoil all the time. Use your good sense and
your abilities at diplomacy and maybe if you and the other newbie talk to
"V" together something constructive can be done. Personally, I'd rather
replace one worker than two or more.

Pam S.

"Mischief" wrote in message
oups.com...

I will call her 'A'. 'A' was born and raised and schooled in Mexico
and has a veterinarian degree from Mexico. She is not licensed to
practice vet medicine in the US, but wants to work as a technician for
a while to get the feel for how American vet medicine works. She is
very knowledgable. But she's also a major B*TCH.

I've wondered if it's the language barrier, that she fails to know the
exact words in english to express what she's trying to say. It's
possible that the words and expressions she uses have worked so much
that she fails to see that when spoken they come across as rude. Then
again, she could just BE a rude b*tch. Several times I have bristled
not just at what she said, but HOW she said it.

For example, "Please clean this up." becomes "Clean it up" Short,
brisk and rude.

Small things can easily be brushed off, but after a while they tend to
get on your nerves.


I have the same problem with my doctors, who are Indian. I think it's a
cultural/language thing. They are so abrupt that they come over as very
rude; they seem to have no idea what politeness is in English culture.
For example: I enter the room. Doctor is tapping away on the computer and
ignores me. I stand there for a minute or two. I am not greeted nor
invited to sit down. So I sit down anyway and wait. He eventually turns
towards me and looks at me. This is my cue to tell him why I have come to
see him.
He listens to me and writes a prescription. I try and ask what he thinks is
wrong with me. Mostly he says "it could be a wirus.." (that is deliberate,
not virus) so what he probably means is that he has no interest whatsover in
finding out what is wrong.
So when I finally get to the hospital I am not used to doctors that examine
me inside out and try and find out what is really wrong. Then I start to
find it intrusive and scary.
I can count on the fingers of two hands the amount of times my primary care
doctors have actually touched me in the last twenty years. So I'm not used
to it.
Once again, it's a cultural thing. Indian doctors do not like to touch a
woman unless there is a chaparone. It is not allowed so mainly they duck
out. These are the older doctors I am talking about now, coming up to
retirement age. They don't bother to keep up. I am so lucky as all my docs
are Indian and near retirement :-P

Tweed

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Mischief" wrote in message
oups.com...


I have the same problem with my doctors, who are Indian. I think it's a
cultural/language thing. They are so abrupt that they come over as very
rude; they seem to have no idea what politeness is in English culture.
For example: I enter the room. Doctor is tapping away on the computer
and
ignores me. I stand there for a minute or two. I am not greeted nor
invited to sit down. So I sit down anyway and wait. He eventually turns
towards me and looks at me. This is my cue to tell him why I have come to
see him.
He listens to me and writes a prescription. I try and ask what he thinks
is
wrong with me. Mostly he says "it could be a wirus.." (that is
deliberate,
not virus) so what he probably means is that he has no interest whatsover
in
finding out what is wrong.
So when I finally get to the hospital I am not used to doctors that
examine
me inside out and try and find out what is really wrong. Then I start to
find it intrusive and scary.
I can count on the fingers of two hands the amount of times my primary
care
doctors have actually touched me in the last twenty years. So I'm not
used
to it.
Once again, it's a cultural thing. Indian doctors do not like to touch a
woman unless there is a chaparone. It is not allowed so mainly they duck
out. These are the older doctors I am talking about now, coming up to
retirement age. They don't bother to keep up. I am so lucky as all my
docs
are Indian and near retirement :-P

Tweed




My doctors have been Indian or Egyptian as well! Are there no American
doctors anymore? It's difficult to understand their accents for one, but
you're exactly right in saying that it seems like you're just kind of
wasting their time. What's up with that?

kili

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Mischief" wrote in message
oups.com...

I will call her 'A'. 'A' was born and raised and schooled in Mexico
and has a veterinarian degree from Mexico. She is not licensed to
practice vet medicine in the US, but wants to work as a technician for
a while to get the feel for how American vet medicine works. She is
very knowledgable. But she's also a major B*TCH.

I've wondered if it's the language barrier, that she fails to know the
exact words in english to express what she's trying to say. It's
possible that the words and expressions she uses have worked so much
that she fails to see that when spoken they come across as rude. Then
again, she could just BE a rude b*tch. Several times I have bristled
not just at what she said, but HOW she said it.

For example, "Please clean this up." becomes "Clean it up" Short,
brisk and rude.

Small things can easily be brushed off, but after a while they tend to
get on your nerves.


I have the same problem with my doctors, who are Indian. I think it's a
cultural/language thing. They are so abrupt that they come over as very
rude; they seem to have no idea what politeness is in English culture.
For example: I enter the room. Doctor is tapping away on the computer
and ignores me. I stand there for a minute or two. I am not greeted nor
invited to sit down. So I sit down anyway and wait. He eventually turns
towards me and looks at me. This is my cue to tell him why I have come to
see him.
He listens to me and writes a prescription. I try and ask what he thinks
is wrong with me. Mostly he says "it could be a wirus.." (that is
deliberate, not virus) so what he probably means is that he has no
interest whatsover in finding out what is wrong.
So when I finally get to the hospital I am not used to doctors that
examine me inside out and try and find out what is really wrong. Then I
start to find it intrusive and scary.
I can count on the fingers of two hands the amount of times my primary
care doctors have actually touched me in the last twenty years. So I'm
not used to it.
Once again, it's a cultural thing. Indian doctors do not like to touch a
woman unless there is a chaparone. It is not allowed so mainly they duck
out. These are the older doctors I am talking about now, coming up to
retirement age. They don't bother to keep up. I am so lucky as all my
docs are Indian and near retirement :-P

Tweed




I had two new doctor experiences at our Urgent Care Clinic the last few
months. Urgent Care is for not an emergency, but really shouldn't wait a
couple of days for your regular doctor.

The first one was a young woman of East Indian background. The lovely 24
karat gold jewelry and the last name. Her first name was Gigi. So I'm
guessing her family has been here for a while. Many families have fourth
generation entering the workforce.

A week later I went back for a follow-up and saw another young woman. She
was Muslim I believe. Wearing a white scarf draped around her head. But
also speaking California girl English.

My own doctor told me Friday that he is leaving the area. I really like him
and really hate to see him go. And really really hate to have to choose a
new doctor.

I don't do well with a doctor if English is their second language. Only
because it makes it very hard to read their lips. The hearing implant is
great but I do need the added input of reading lips.

Jo

On 2006-07-30, Christina Websell wrote:

Once again, it's a cultural thing. Indian doctors do not like to touch a
woman unless there is a chaparone. It is not allowed so mainly they duck
out. These are the older doctors I am talking about now, coming up to
retirement age. They don't bother to keep up. I am so lucky as all my docs
are Indian and near retirement :-P

It used to be the usual thing for a doctor to have his nurse in
the room when doing a pelvic exam and so on, partly to reassure
the patient and partly to reduce the chance of a false
accusation.

Of course, vets have their techs on had to make sure the patient
doesn't escape.

Bud

"William Hamblen" wrote in message
. ..
On 2006-07-30, Christina Websell
wrote:

Once again, it's a cultural thing. Indian doctors do not like to touch a
woman unless there is a chaparone. It is not allowed so mainly they duck
out. These are the older doctors I am talking about now, coming up to
retirement age. They don't bother to keep up. I am so lucky as all my
docs
are Indian and near retirement :-P

It used to be the usual thing for a doctor to have his nurse in
the room when doing a pelvic exam and so on, partly to reassure
the patient and partly to reduce the chance of a false
accusation.

Of course, vets have their techs on had to make sure the patient
doesn't escape.

Bud

As far as I know, that still is the usual thing. In fact, my female
gynecologist always has a nurse in the room when doing a pelvic.

Joy

"kilikini" wrote in message
.. .

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Mischief" wrote in message
oups.com...


I have the same problem with my doctors, who are Indian. I think it's a
cultural/language thing. They are so abrupt that they come over as very
rude; they seem to have no idea what politeness is in English culture.
For example: I enter the room. Doctor is tapping away on the computer
and
ignores me. I stand there for a minute or two. I am not greeted nor
invited to sit down. So I sit down anyway and wait. He eventually turns
towards me and looks at me. This is my cue to tell him why I have come
to
see him.
He listens to me and writes a prescription. I try and ask what he thinks
is
wrong with me. Mostly he says "it could be a wirus.." (that is
deliberate,
not virus) so what he probably means is that he has no interest whatsover
in
finding out what is wrong.
So when I finally get to the hospital I am not used to doctors that
examine
me inside out and try and find out what is really wrong. Then I start to
find it intrusive and scary.
I can count on the fingers of two hands the amount of times my primary
care
doctors have actually touched me in the last twenty years. So I'm not
used
to it.
Once again, it's a cultural thing. Indian doctors do not like to touch a
woman unless there is a chaparone. It is not allowed so mainly they duck
out. These are the older doctors I am talking about now, coming up to
retirement age. They don't bother to keep up. I am so lucky as all my
docs
are Indian and near retirement :-P

Tweed




My doctors have been Indian or Egyptian as well! Are there no American
doctors anymore? It's difficult to understand their accents for one, but
you're exactly right in saying that it seems like you're just kind of
wasting their time. What's up with that?

kili

It is true that most doctors I've seen seem to come from other countries.
However, I haven't had that problem with them. My cardiologist is Indian
and my gastroenterologist is Chinese. They're both excellent. My
gastroenterologist usually calls me either the evening of the day I have an
upper endoscopy or the day after, to see how I'm doing. (I have to have
them annually) The first time I asked him for a copy of a report, he
actually made the copy himself and handed it to me. Now, he gets the report
printed up, including copies of the photos taken, and gives it to me while
I'm still in the recovery room. I have a little more trouble understanding
my cardiologist, but he always listens to my heart - and to my questions -
when I see him.

Joy

"Cheryl Perkins" wrote in message
...
Joy wrote:

As far as I know, that still is the usual thing. In fact, my female
gynecologist always has a nurse in the room when doing a pelvic.

This must vary by region or custom; I've never had a nurse in the room
while a pelvic exam was being done - not even when it was done by a male
doctor. I've always had the vague impression that I could ask for a female
to be present, but never bothered since a private doctor's office is
usually staffed with a (or several) medical secretaries, not nurses.

In a hospital setting, it's more likely a nurse will be around, but almost
all my physical exams have taken place in a private practice office.

I never had much trouble with accents, although I've encountered a few
medical personnel of varied ethnic backgrounds I wouldn't visit again for
varied reasons.

I cannot even imagine a gynecologist in private practice who did not have a
nursing assistant of some sort. Mine works with a Physicians Assistant.
Others I know have a Nurse Practitioner on staff. And they can hire nurses
with something less than an RN quite reasonable.

I would think their malpractice insurance would require it.

Jo

Jo Firey wrote:

"Cheryl Perkins" wrote in message

This must vary by region or custom; I've never had a nurse in the room
while a pelvic exam was being done - not even when it was done by a male
doctor. I've always had the vague impression that I could ask for a female
to be present, but never bothered since a private doctor's office is
usually staffed with a (or several) medical secretaries, not nurses.

I cannot even imagine a gynecologist in private practice who did not have a
nursing assistant of some sort. Mine works with a Physicians Assistant.
Others I know have a Nurse Practitioner on staff. And they can hire nurses
with something less than an RN quite reasonable.

I would think their malpractice insurance would require it.

I think the US is a more litigious culture than Canada, so that might
be part of the reason.

I always specify that I want a female for gyn exams, because that
feels more comfortable to me, and I then don't feel the need to have
someone else in the room during the exam. But I don't think those
who do have someone else in the room are doing it for my comfort
anyway. As Jo says, they might even be required to do it.

Joyce