Mentors-R-Us

By Tim Ireland, VMD

If you are like me, you would have graduated at a time when no one really talked about mentorship very much at all. Virtually all internships were for those interested in an academic track. Private practice internships were rare and, for the most part, were a path to higher case volume than general practice. They were for those who really wanted to ramp their skills up more quickly but were more interested in general practice than specialty and wanted to get paid a little more than their academic counterparts. In either case, the word internship signified long hours for half the pay in exchange for experience, support, and some level of oversight or, if you will, “mentorship.”

In the past decade, I have hired two post-internship associates who spent their first solo night in the ER during the first week of their internship! They were given the number of their “on-call” backup, but it was made very clear that they should not ever call them. I, on the other hand, jumped directly into general practice after graduation. I was one of two full-time doctors and worked more than 2 months before I was left in the building completely alone. Granted, my boss’s version of oversight of my first enucleation on my very first day in surgery was to ask me if I knew how to do an enucleation, discuss the procedure, and say, “Sounds good! I will be upstairs if you need me.” My point is it worked for me. I had a mentor in every sense of the word. He may not have stood over me, but I knew he was always there for me.

What my mentor gave me is only half of the equation. My boss/ mentor was leaving for the PVMA’s Committee Day. He would be 2 hours away, which back then meant “unreachable” since no one had phones they carried with them. He did his best to prepare me for various cases and some of the personalities that would come attached to those cases. He probably turned to leave three or four times, each time remembering one more thing to share. The final time, with his hand on the knob of the half-open door, he turned and said, “I have had a lot of vets work here. I have never worked with someone before. It is really nice working with you!” It was that moment, just 2months on the job, that I realized that I had already given him something. Mentorship may take many forms but, in all cases, it is most successful when the gift flows both ways.

The Changing Landscape of Mentorship

I started with the title “Mentors-R-Us” because I’ve had so many mentors during my career. My support system was wide. Classmates, instructors, colleagues . . . the list is long. There was not much talk back then about mentors or mentorship; it was just what we did. It was what we all did, or at least that’s what I thought.

Veterinary medicine for many of us is a vocation, not a job. I would like to think that everyone who shares my vocation also shares my passion and commitment to furthering my profession and supporting all its members. I feel a responsibility to help, an obligation to elevate. I have never been an employer who felt new additions to our profession needed to “pay their dues.” If there was a way to spare them from some of the growing pains I experienced, why wouldn’t I do that?

The fact that “mentorship” has become such a buzz word being sought out by so many new and recent grads combined with the formation of organizations now offering mentorship for a fee has forced me to come to terms with the reality that not everyone views mentorship in the same light as I. That “Mentors-R-Us” may not hold true across our profession. But should it? Does it need to? For this to hold true, I would have to support the idea that a bad mentor is better than no mentor at all. Let’s face it, not everyone is built to be a good mentor. Not everyone wants to be a mentor or a mentee if we are being honest.

How to Be a Mentor, or a Mentee

Do you have what it takes to be an effective mentor or mentee? Can a solo practitioner be a mentor or mentee? Sure! Can someone be a mentor to someone across town or across the country? You bet! All it really takes is a willingness to help, a willingness to listen, and a willingness to learn. In my opinion, the traits are the same for the mentor as they are for the mentee. The relationship can be short term or long term, in person, over the phone, or in writing. The commitment can be a single contact, a defined term, or lifelong. The agreement can be unspoken, poorly defined, or structured and written into a contract. The variations are endless, the benefits immeasurable (to both parties!).

I have mentored students via e-mail, colleagues over the phone, and countless associates in person—from new graduates to those interested in starting their own practice. I have been mentored in veterinary medicine and surgery, practice management, organizational leadership (thank you, PVMA), and more recently veterinary dentistry and practice culture. Anyone who wants to grow can benefit from mentorship. Anyone with skills or knowledge to share and a willingness to listen and learn can be a mentor.

How do you get started? Find someone who knows something you want to know more about and ask them. If you are interviewing for a new position or hiring, talk about it! If you don’t know where to start, reach out to the PVMA or one of the organizations offering mentorship and they will help you find someone who meets your needs. The only thing you do not want to do is assume. I don’t believe internship = mentorship. If you are just starting your career and think that school hasn’t prepared you to go into private practice, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Frankly, none of us were, but we could take a history, perform a physical exam, and dial a phone. Don’t think that you must know it all. After 32 years, I am still learning. Don’t think that pet owners expect you to have all the answers, and most important, don’t be afraid to say to an owner, “I don’t know but this is what we are going to do to get the answers we need.”

What Mentorship Looks Like in Practice

The mentor-mentee relationship can take many forms. What has worked for me? As a mentor in a busy practice, it can be challenging at times. We start our new doctors with extended appointment times (at least double a normal slot). This gives them time to ask questions, do research, and when they finish quickly, shadow me or one of the other doctors to see how we manage our cases.

Initially, they always share a surgery day with me so that they can scrub in with me, I can scrub in with them, or simply so that I am available if they need me. This gives them the opportunity and confidence to push their limits and try new things, knowing they will not be alone. Whether the cases get scheduled with the mentor or the mentee is based on informed consent. If a mentee wants to learn a new procedure they have never done before, look for owners who can’t afford your normal fees and offer them an “educational discount” to have your mentee stand in as primary surgeon then be there to support them.

Schedule an hour every week when you can commit to sit down and go over cases. With dedicated time, your mentee can hold nonurgent questions instead of running to you with everything in the moment. Most important, even when you are crazy busy, remember what it was like when you first started and encourage your mentee to think through the case instead of just blurting out your answer or approach (this is often the hard part for me!).

I do understand that I am writing to an audience overwhelmed by our current caseload. Many practices (including mine) are short one, two, or even three full-time doctors. I am sure some are reading this thinking, “It is way too much time that I don’t have!” “They need to generate revenue!” “I can’t afford all that!” I would say that for the future of your practice and our profession, you can’t afford not to. For those truly overwhelmed or who think they would make a terrible mentor, consider paying someone else to mentor your next associate. It will be well worth the investment!

About the Author: Dr. Tim Ireland is the owner and medical director of Newtown Veterinary Hospital, LLC. After 27 years of marriage and raising three children, he remains a husband and father first. He is proud to be a father of a VMD-to-be, class of 2026. He holds multiple roles in veterinary medicine including a veterinarian of 32 years, practice owner of 29.5 years, mentor, and mentee. A long-standing Member of the PVMA, he served as the 2005 president of the organization. He also coaches high school track.