Intern rage

In the past, I used to be very strict towards the young interns as they would arrive late for work and find excuses to take time off. Recently, one polytechnic lady told me she had been accepted at Glasgow University and wanted to work one week.

Previously she had worked as a kennel maid cleaning up kennels at a bigger practice but had no exposure to veterinary work. In any case, the practice did not want her after one week as the full-timer had "returned". This was a red flag as regards work performance but I had an open mind.

In the first few days, she would turn up late or not at all. I got her to see some cases with Dr Daniel and did not ask her to do kennel work as she was supposed to study to be a vet. "Is $300,000 worth of vet education be justified?" she asked. "The money can be earned back if the vet works very hard," I said. "It may take 5 years to recover the full amount based on average salaried income. You are better off studying banking or accountancy if you want money."

Yesterday, she took a Golden Retriever for a walk to pee. This dog was lethargic but after the IV drip, Vit K1 of 8 ml and antibiotic and anti-spasmogesic, she was full of energy. She had not peed and I asked her to continue patiently. The dog's mouth started to show blood. She called me and literally instructed me to hold the dog's lease. I told her to wait while my assistant Naing would come and Naing did come and said the bleeding was due to tongue biting.

After that, I asked her what was the cause of bleeding?"
She shouted: "How do I know? I am not a vet!"
This outburst seemed to be a pent-up anger. I asked her to my room and spoke to her.
"Many young people have this anger for some reason," I said. "A excited energetic dog with fresh blood in the mouth could be due to injury and many owners can find out the cause. It does not need a vet to do so."
"I asked you earlier to hold the lease but you did not!" she had this outburst.
"I was busy but I had asked Naing who came immediately," I could not understand what was she angry about.
This behaviour is very unpredictable and I had a chat with her. She said she would finish her internship on Sunday. I had to ask her to go immediately as I don't know what will happen if she stayed and in any case, she was not paid unlike Intern Clara.

Intern Clara was the other intern and I have only good comments about her work attitude from the others. Clara is 16 years old and she does not display such anger although she has her video production targets to met, without success!