YP Letters: Experienced vets must support under-pressure newcomers

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with Pauline Wright’s comments (The Yorkshire Post, November 3) about supporting young veterinary surgeons. Unfortunately, there is an emerging tendency for retiring senior partners of practices to cite lack of commitment by young vets as a reason to sell their practice to a multiple for an inflated sum, instead of to an up and coming new partner.

In my experience, having been a veterinary surgeon for 23 years, young vets grasp the challenges presented to them with both hands and are enthusiastic and keen to learn. It is our responsibility, as experienced vets, to support and encourage them, rather than demoralise and criticise them. The pressures on young vets in 2018 far exceed those experienced by those of us who graduated many years ago. Apart from the considerable debt many of them have incurred after years of vet school, the demands of clients are very much greater than they were in the past. While the latter is a good thing, it imposes considerably greater expectations on recent graduates, which means support from their senior colleagues is vital. The profession is in danger of damaging itself irreparably if it does not recognise the value of supporting its younger members.