Supervision of veterinary practitioners
The Board has received some complaints about vets whose supervisors appear to have been minimally engaged with the vet’s practice or absent from the premises and uncontactable at the time of the complaint events.
If concerns about the quality of supervision are raised in a complaint about a vet, the Board can conduct an investigation into the professional conduct of the supervising practitioner.
Board-imposed supervision
In most of the cases seen, the Board had imposed conditions on the vets’ registration requiring direct supervision, for example because they were preparing to take the clinical proficiency examination of the Australasian Veterinary Examination or because they were returning to practice after many years out of the veterinary workforce.
Expectations around Board-imposed supervision are set out in the Board's policy on supervision of veterinary practitioners (linked below).
If a vet has a condition on their registration requiring direct supervision, their supervisor must:
- be on the premises when the vet is practising, though they do not have to be in the same room
- ensure the vet is only assigned tasks which they are capable of undertaking
- be approachable, open and available to answer questions and assist the vet.
Many vets with conditions on their registration may not have practised in Australia before or may not have practised in Victoria for a long time. As covered in the article on registration pathways in our October 2024 newsletter (linked below), employers should be prepared to provide additional support at induction to help such vets settle into practice in Victoria. The registered veterinary practitioner appointed as supervisor plays an important part here, but the whole veterinary team can assist.
New graduates
Some complaints to the Board involving recently graduated vets suggest that they may not have been receiving sufficient support from their employer. In these cases, there was no Board-imposed supervision requirement.
While graduate veterinary practitioners are expected to have certain competencies on Day One of their professional careers (a list is linked below), they consolidate and strengthen these skills after they start practising as a vet.
Board Guideline 9.1 states, ‘A veterinary practitioner works within their areas of technical competence or under appropriate supervision in the delivery of the range of veterinary services they offer.’ The Board expects that experienced, competent veterinary practitioners should provide graduates with sufficient support and supervision to enable them to strengthen their competencies in all areas, including clinical reasoning and decision-making, communication and collaboration.
Vets returning to practice
Similarly, vets recommencing professional practice after periods away from delivering veterinary services may require support and supervision from experienced, competent veterinary practitioners as they re-familiarise themselves with current approaches and standards. Sometimes the Board imposes a supervision condition on such vets requiring a report from a supervising veterinary practitioner after several months.
Related guidelines and other information