Graduate Mentoring Programme

At Westway Vets, we pride ourselves in having a team mentality to our day to day running. In recruiting and training our new graduates we would like to take a similar approach.

As a practice we feel we have an inclusive atmosphere that well supported staff lead to an environment more conducive to learning. On a day to day basis there are always other vets around to help with cases and lead clinical discussions. On top of that we are launching a mentorship programme across our branches, which will see all new graduates paired with a senior vet. This will allow our recruits to have a dedicated member of staff available to them. This will include informal weekly meeting to touch base and ensure any issues can be highlighted and tackled promptly. As well as a more formal monthly meeting to make sure they are happy with their progression through their professional development phase (PDP).

This will tie in with the Vet Partners CPD modules that launched this year. A system of 10 modules including: skin and ear disease, feline medicine and dentistry.

We know that the pressures of starting clinical work after university can be tough. During this transition period we want our graduates to feel they have a system in place that encourages them to develop. Although a lot of the clinical coaching will include professional development we will also ensure time is taken to promote mental wellbeing too.

At Westways there is the best of both worlds, a strong group of senior vets, including several certificate holders. Giving a good source of knowledge for you to fall back on. But also a group of new graduates in the same boat to give that much needed peer support.