Message to WVC students: Exceed your boss's expectations

Marsha Heinke, DVM, EA, CPA, CVPM, dvm360 contributor and WVC speaker in Las Vegas, looks to the Wizard of Oz as a simple guide to personal growth for veterinarians. She told veterinary students on Feb. 19 in a Bayer-sponsored session titled "How to Survive and Prosper in Veterinary Medicine" that once you’ve earned the degree of doctor of veterinary medicine, you know you’ve got the brains. But you also have to have the heart and the courage to continue to learn and be true to yourself.

Veterinarians just entering the workforce should set appropriate expectations for themselves and establish future goals. The first step in a new job? Expect to give more than you get. “Perform beyond what anybody expected of you,” she says.

If you want to be perceived as someone who will go above and beyond in a veterinary practice, here are three things must become habit, Heinke says:

• Ask “What do you need from me?” Asking makes you helpful and a valued contributor.

• Just do it. If you notice something that needs doing, take care of it—before anyone makes the request of you.

• Be on time. Heinke says that means being five minutes early.

In conclusion, Heinke says, students and new graduates who are setting goals for their career to remember a key quote: “Strive not to be a person of success; strive to be a person of value.”