Mentorship

Mentorship Matters

New graduates want mentorship. Being able to define what mentorship looks like in your practice will help to set you apart from the competition as you work to recruit early-career veterinarians into your practice.

But over 30% of new graduates will leave their first practice within 12-18 months. The number one reason for this? Lack of Mentorship. Following through and providing a great mentorship program can help improve retention.

Want to Successfully Recruit and Retain Early Career Veterinarians? Define Mentorship in Your Practice

The Veterinary Mentorship Manual was designed as a guidebook to take your clinic step-by-step through the process of setting up a mentorship program. This manual is designed to be used as a guide and customized to meet the individual needs of your practice, mentors, and mentees. Each section can be used in one of two ways:

  1. As a template for setting up a mentorship agreement and plan with a specific mentee who has been hired with your practice

–OR-

 

  1. As a guidebook to outline a mentorship program before you’ve hired that new grad so you can demonstrate the exceptional mentorship you will offer should they accept the position.
veterinary mentorship manual now available

The Mentorship Investment

Remember that good mentorship is a long-term investment. Adding an early career veterinarian to your staff can have an initially higher cost due to decreased productivity when compared to an experienced doctor and the time investment that experienced team members will make in providing mentorship. While hiring a new graduate may seem costly at first, providing strong mentorship will help to reduce turnover and add a well-trained, confident associate to your practice. Remember that the financial cost to hire and train an employee can be as high as 50-75% of the annual salary for that position, so reducing turnover will pay off in the long-run.

Read More from Dr. Boatright on Mentorship:

Mentorship Resources

Whether you’re looking for support as a mentee or want to share your expertise as a mentor, here are some great mentorship programs.

  • MentorVet: Evidence-based mentorship to support early career veterinarians through group and one-on-one mentorship opportunities. All 2023 graduates are eligible for the MentorVet Connect Program through a partnership with the AVMA. MentorVet Leap and MentorVet Tech are also available.
  • Ready Vet Go: Small group mentorship created to augment your in-clinic mentorship and provide extra support for new veterinary graduates.
  • Pawsibilities VetMed: Mentorship for pre-veterinary students, veterinary students, pre-veterinary technician students, veterinary technician students, veterinarians and veterinary technicians from underrepresented backgrounds. The program aims to increase diversity in veterinary medicine and invites veterinarians and technicians from all backgrounds to enroll as mentors.