Getting Predictable

I do a lot of mentoring and training as part of a multi-location practice.  Every few months I have a new doctor spend a few days with me, either learning about exotic pet medicine (sort of a crash course) or teaching new graduates the basics of real practice.  My staff has gotten used to vets passing through our clinic and have heard me teach numerous people.

I didn't realize how much my team had heard me lecture until this week.  Once again I had a new doctor with me and was talking to him about spaying.  One of the things I try to teach new graduates is that you should make the incision as long as you need to for proper visualization and externalization of the organs, not worrying about how small it is.  "Remember,"  I say, "Incisions heal from side-to-side, not end-to-end, so a large incision will heal just as quickly as a small one."

Suddenly I heard snickers and laughs from the other end of the treatment table where two of my assistants were doing a dental cleaning.  I looked at them with a puzzled expression and asked them what was so funny.  Apparently one of them had whispered my exact quote to the other one just before I said it.

Earlier in the same day I had joked to the other doctor that my staff had heard my talks so often that they could probably give them instead of me.  It looks like I was being a bit prophetic!  It makes me wonder how predictable I'm getting in other ways.

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