When a new veterinarian hesitates before surgery, it is tempting to call it a confidence problem—or a skills problem. The evidence points to a more complicated explanation: practical exposure, confidence, and expectations of day-one independence do not always line up. That mismatch is a plausible reason for hesitation, not a proven universal cause. The available studies do not establish how common surgical reluctance is among new graduates or why any particular veterinarian declines a procedure.
Why do concerns about surgical readiness coexist with expectations of independence?
Some employers report that graduates lack technical skills, while some educators and practitioners expect graduates to perform routine operations independently. Those views are not necessarily contradictory: a broad expectation about what a new graduate should do does not show that every graduate has had the same opportunities to practise or feels ready to do it alone.
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A 2022 review describes settings in which new graduates are expected to perform several routine procedures with little or no supervision. That is a description of expectations in the literature, not a universal licensing rule. Read the review of veterinary surgical education.
Confidence and competence are related, but they are not the same
In the UK Veterinary Schools Council and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons 2019 employer survey, 27% of employer respondents commented that graduates lacked certain technical skills, especially surgical abilities such as spaying and neutering. The report also describes employers’ concerns about uncertainty with unfamiliar procedures and graduates being self-critical after unexpected outcomes. These are employer perceptions, not a direct measure of every graduate’s ability. See the 2019 survey report.
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- Online Access: Entire Text & Linked PubMed Abstracts via Expert Consult
- Volume One: Surgical Biology to Orthopedics; Volume Two: Soft Tissue Surgery by Body System
- Extensive References on Expert Consult Validate Material
- Clinical & Basic Science Blend for Clear Operative Understanding
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A veterinarian can understand the steps of an operation yet lack enough repeated practice to feel composed doing them. Conversely, feeling confident does not by itself establish that someone can perform safely and consistently. Readiness is better judged through observed performance, feedback, and appropriate supervision than by confidence alone.
How much surgery should a new graduate be able to do?
There is no single agreed answer in the evidence. A 2017 cross-sectional survey of students, recent graduates, faculty, and practitioners at or from veterinary colleges accredited by the AVMA Council on Education in the United States and Caribbean found varied expectations about entry-level proficiency and independence. Most respondents expected independent canine castration; expectations for canine ovariohysterectomy, commonly called a spay, varied more. Read Cary and colleagues’ stakeholder expectations study.
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Participation was limited: response rates were 9% for practitioners, 12% for faculty, 14% for recent graduates, and 15% for students. The findings therefore describe the respondents, not a representative consensus across the profession. Different views about what “ready” means can make the transition harder: a graduate may believe a procedure requires supervision while an employer assumes it should be done independently.
Why might a new vet be nervous about a spay?
Concern about a specific operation has been documented among students. In a 2011 UK study, 80.4% of responding final-year veterinary undergraduates named canine ovariohysterectomy as the procedure they were most concerned about performing. That result concerns those students in that study; it is not a current estimate of reluctance among graduates. See Bowlt and colleagues’ study.
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More broadly, surgical readiness involves more than remembering a sequence of steps. Transition-to-practice literature discusses communication, problem-solving, teamwork, decision-making, confidence, and recognizing one’s limits alongside technical ability. These considerations help explain why a new veterinarian might seek supervision, but they do not prove the motive behind any individual decision. Read the review on new-veterinarian transition to practice.
Can repeated practice and mentorship help?
Simulation can provide structured repetitions
A 2023 single-institute study examined repeated practice on low-fidelity models for canine castration, lump removal, and eyelid-laceration repair. Between assessment points, students’ rubric-assessed competence improved, self-assessed confidence increased, and reported stress decreased. The results suggest that repeated, assessed practice can help students prepare for these specified tasks; they do not show that simulation alone makes a graduate ready to operate independently. The study was limited to one cohort at one institute and included self-assessment. Read Thompson and colleagues’ study.
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Supervised clinical experience tests different skills
Models offer a repeatable setting to practise technical steps, while supervised clinical experience adds the realities of patient care and case-specific decisions. They serve different purposes. A model-based score or a student’s confidence should not be treated as a substitute for observed clinical competence or a decision about the level of supervision a particular case requires.
Mentorship can support the transition beyond the operating room
The transition-to-practice review discusses professional development and formal mentorship as possible supports for early-career veterinarians. It does not establish that mentorship specifically prevents surgical hesitation, but accessible guidance and feedback give a new graduate a way to discuss limits, review outcomes, and build responsibility over time.
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What schools and employers can do differently
A practical response is to make the expected level of independence explicit and build a supported path toward it. The following is a reasoned recommendation from the evidence, not a universally tested intervention:
- State which procedures a graduate is expected to perform, under what supervision, and what evidence of competence is required.
- Provide repeated practice with structured feedback before relying on confidence or a single assessment.
- Pair simulation with supervised clinical opportunities, recognizing that each develops and evaluates different aspects of readiness.
- Offer accessible mentorship after graduation so new veterinarians can ask for help and discuss cases without treating appropriate caution as a personal failing.
Hesitation should not automatically be read as unwillingness. It may reflect a mismatch between experience, confidence, and the independence expected of a new graduate. Better-defined standards and supported practice can address that mismatch more constructively than blame.
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