Veterinary Communication for Professional Excellence

During my veterinary life, in the extern year, the veterinarian was required to practice in the animal hospital of the faculty where I had to communicate with pet owners. In that moment, I realized that communication is truly important as it involves both sending and receiving information with each other. Veterinarian communication has significant effects on the pet owner’s emotional responses and trustworthiness (Tuisku et al., 2018). When pets and owners come to the hospital, the major issue is usually animal health, owners will tell the signs and symptoms of their pets that they observe.

Then, I will listen and ask for other important information that is necessary for making a diagnose. To have effective communication, it should start with interpersonal communication skills. Generally, effective communication is a continuous loop that relates a sender, a receiver, the message and feedback (Reece, 2014). According to Reece (2014), interpersonal communication is the exchange of information between two or more people which is a form of two-way communication.

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The effectiveness of interpersonal communication can be determined from some type of feedback or understood the response from the person receiving the data (Reece, 2014) which is necessary. I gained the communication experiences from my professors when I was an apprentice in the animal hospital and took those skills to adapt with my interpersonal communication.

Working in the veterinary field faces a number of communication problems. Historically, veterinarians had played the role of guardian. This means the veterinarian is viewed as an expert who provides recommendations that the client needs to follow (Cornell & Kopcha, 2007).

The communication style model for me is somewhat the high dominance continuum. The dominance of continuum can be defined as the tendency to display a take-change attitude (Reece & Brandt, 2008). This is similar to my experience because, in high dominance continuum, a veterinarian could give advice independently which is based on the scientific and logical information to the pet owners. The initiated requirements and more assertive that can explain the way when I got the final diagnosis and demand for the pet owner to treat their pets. There, the owners have to follow my treatment plan, shows the confidence as well as building trust with pet owners.

However, Reece and Brandt (2008) indicated that people who are high in dominance perhaps control their desire to show strong ideas and initiated demands. The excessively strong-willed and inflexible in some persons will have difficulty building a cooperative relationship with others. Currently, with the development of information and communication technology, the clients have more knowledge over veterinary practitioners, I have found that most of the clients did not follow recommendation anymore and realized that the communication style has to change to collaborator. The collaborators are suggestions for veterinarians (Cornell & Kopcha, 2007). This style provides information and education towards diagnostic and treatment options, create apparent professional opinion so that clients can have decision-making, and then followed by an establishment of partnership of care.