Hi Class of 2012!

Congrats on putting the first few months of clinics behind you! I remember how good it felt my senior year when the holidays rolled around and I knew it was all half over. My name is Deanna Becker and I graduated from VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2005. I was a small animal tracker with an interest in birds. Looking back, senior year was one of the best years of my life. Granted, I walked around half asleep all the time from being overworked, but I got to do things that I\\\'ll never have the opportunity to experience again... like the time about five of us got to chase a bunch of boars around a barn with these big pieces of plywood as protection in order to tranquilize them and detusk them. Who does that? I never thought I would. My best advice is to enjoy it all.

Anyway, I\\\'m writing to share with you a great job opportunity. I interviewed in October during my senior year and signed my contract by the end of the year. I interviewed at 8 places and had 8 offers. A large majority of my classmates had similar experiences. You won\\\'t have any trouble finding a job, but it\\\'s really important that you find the RIGHT job as a brand new DVM. I found an ideal situation when I took a job offer at the Waynesboro Veterinary Clinic. And we are now looking to hire a fourth veterinarian.

A few details about the clinic... We currently have 3 full-time doctors: Dr. Dennis McCullough (UPenn 1977), me (VMRCVM 2005) and Dr. Mikie Dawson (Washington State 2007).  Dennis opened the clinic in 1979.  He is an EXCELLENT mentor~ the best. He loves to learn. For a vet that has been practicing for over 30 years now, he is a rare find, because he comes to work everyday energized and ready to see every case with a fresh point of view. That makes the clinic a fun place to work, especially for a new vet. He also has a great head for business and I\\\'ve learned a lot from him in that realm as I became his partner in 2009.  On top of that, Dennis is an exceptional surgeon. A few of the vets in the area refer their most complicated medical and surgical cases to us because they know that we will do a thorough and meticulous job at a reasonable price.  As a group, we do a wide variety of surgeries including orthopedics.  Dennis has even repaired a few PDAs.  I don’t know of any other vet who has done that surgery in general practice.   I have a special interest in birds and I do quite a few bird surgeries in addition to orthopedics and a wide variety of soft tissue surgery.  Dr. Dawson is both an excellent surgeon and diagnostician.  She frequently finds new medical therapies to offer our patients due to her relentless dedication to medical problem solving.  I am very proud of our medical team.  As a new vet, it will be important that you have a team of colleagues present to give you the support you need to be a confident surgeon and diagnostician. We try really hard to get our patients well and back home to the families that love them.  We all attend CE regularly and we make a point of encouraging the professional interests of each doctor and staff member.  This year alone, we added a GE Logic ultrasound and a Companion therapeutic laser to our hospital.  

This job is like an internship for how to excel in private practice and I can not recommend it enough. As further proof of what a great place it is to work, I\\\'ll tell you that we have three licensed technicians and two other techs that are taking their boards this year.  They are very knowledgeable and responsible. Their technical competency allows us to be efficient in our work because we are confident in their abilities.  We have a receptionist that has been with the clinic for over ten years and a financial assistant that has been here for over twenty years. Turnover is usually very high in vet practices, and we have had employees come and go since I started, but I have never seen a clinic have such a loyal and happy core team of staff members. They are all incredibly supportive of me and they make me look good everyday. They have from day #1. It is quite a unique place to work. Each employee contributes to the success or failure of the clinic and we all know that and work on it as a team.

I have had two pregnancies (three children) since I have been employed at the practice.  Dr. Dawson is currently pregnant.  This is a great place to work if you want to have a family because we’ve all been through it and we understand the need to balance work and home life.  

I think that the salary is excellent. Basically, you make what you earn. I get a base salary every two weeks and then at the end of the month, we calculate a percentage of my production, subtract my salary that has already been paid out, and whatever I\\\'ve produced above my salary I get as a lump sum at the end of the month. I usually get what amounts to an \\\"extra paycheck\\\" at the end of each month. It took me two months when I first started to make more than my base salary. In my first year of practice (June 2005-6) I earned $72K gross. Last year, my veterinary salary was about $100K gross.  And this is a semi-rural area. And no, I don\\\'t work crazy hours... I average 40 hours/week. (I was offered a job in Arlington, VA making $90K in 2005, but think about the cost of living down there!) Waynesboro, PA is on the southern border of Maryland and PA.

I live in Hagerstown, MD and drive 10 minutes through farmland everyday to get to the clinic in Waynesboro, PA. No traffic! We are 35 minutes from Frederick, MD and 1.5 hours from Washington, D.C. The clientele ranges from a community of wealthy D.C. retirees to financially-strapped Mennonite families and everyone in between. We do not take after-hours emergencies or calls. We are supported by an excellent emergency clinic in Hagerstown.  They are open when we are closed.   We refer cases frequently to VRA in Gaithersburg MD, South Paws in No.VA, VMRCVM, and UPenn depending on the specialty needed and the client\\\'s preference of location and cost.

Well, I apologize for being so wordy in this letter, but I just can\\\'t say enough about this place. We moved into a fabulous new building in February 2006.  Please take a look at our website (www.waynesboroveterinaryclinic.com). The new clinic is huge... vaulted ceilings and beautiful tile in the waiting room, gorgeous lighting, mahogany doctors desks, too many conveniences to mention in the back and in the surgical suite.

I hope I at least sparked some interest for a few of you. If you are interested, I encourage you to email either me (DeeMMadden@aol.com) or Dennis and Dianne McCullough (Dendianne@aol.com). You are also welcome to call one of us (Deanna at home 301-733-1011; Dennis or Dianne at work 717-762-0221) or mail a resume to Waynesboro Veterinary Clinic Attention: Dennis McCullough, VMD or Deanna Becker, DVM 11420 Anthony Highway Waynesboro, PA 17268. And, not that it matters, but it is a nice extra... we offer a $1500 signing bonus. I know you\\\'re looking for the draw-back to the place, but I haven\\\'t found it yet.  The clients even mention how well we all get along.  Best of luck to all of you in clinics, on boards, and in your search for the right first job as a vet! You have a lot to look forward to!

Sincerely,

Deanna Becker, DVM