Episode 1021 - CareVets Gisborne Dr Camille Bonini Transcript

Julie South [00:00:04]: Welcome to Veterinary Voices: Culture storytelling conversations that help veterinary clinics hire great people. I'm Julie South and this is episode 1021.

Veterinary Voices is brought to you by VetClinicJobs, the Culture Storytelling platform for forward-thinking vet clinics.

Julie South [00:00:50]: Today we're continuing our CareVets Gisborne Employer of Choice series. This week we're hearing from someone with an absolutely unbiased perspective. Dr Camille Bonini.

She's an English vet on a working holiday visa who's been locuming around New Zealand for the past year and a half. Dr Camille has worked in four or five clinics across the country, North Island and South Island, so she knows what good looks like and what doesn't. And she's just finished a locuming gig at CareVets Gisborne.

Julie South [00:01:22]: I managed to have a quick catch up with her. Dr Camille's verdict? She's loved it.

From a highly skilled nursing team who are always two steps ahead to smooth surgical schedules that actually finish on time. To Emma, the head nurse who stays calm when things get chaotic.

Dr Camille talks about what it's really like to walk into a clinic as a locum and find everything just works. The equipment's good, the team's friendly and yes, there's even an excellent ice cream shop just across the road.

Julie South [00:02:21]: If you're an experienced vet considering your options, especially if you're from the UK or Ireland and the sound of living by the sea sounds really good and you're thinking about New Zealand, then this is what a well-run clinic actually looks like through fresh eyes. So stay tuned.

CareVets Gisborne is looking for their next permanent small animal vet and Dr Camille's experience there shows exactly why someone would want to stay. Now let's join that chat.

Camille Bonini [00:02:48]: My name's Camille. I am an English vet who's over on a working holiday visa in New Zealand. I've been here for just over a year and a half and I've been locuming.

So I'm about four and a half years qualified and was just in general practise in the UK for three years before coming here. This is the fourth or fifth clinic that I've worked in so far in New Zealand and I've just been here for the week.

Julie South [00:02:58]: Have you worked in other countries?

Camille Bonini [00:02:50]: No, I've just worked in England and New Zealand at this point. I've been to a clinic in Scotland but it's probably pretty similar.

Julie South [00:03:21]: I invited you onto this podcast because you've been with CareVets now in Gisborne as a locum. You have absolutely no vested interest in what you say. Almost.

How have you found the clinic, the team and living in Gisborne?

Camille Bonini [00:04:10]: I've actually loved it. I think it's been super easy to fit in here in many aspects, in every way.

So the nursing team here is really highly skilled, which is awesome. And they really have loads of initiative. Anything that can be done by them, they can and are able to do, which is really awesome to see them being so highly skilled and motivated.

And it also just means that the day here runs super smoothly. Everything throughout has always felt really under control, really organised, which is awesome.

Camille Bonini [00:05:02]: And particularly as a locum, it can be kind of a bit chaotic, you know, in certain situations when you're coming in as a locum. But everything has been really great from that aspect.

I think that, you know, Gisborne itself is relatively kind of a lower socioeconomic area, but they manage to provide a really good standard of care regardless of that. And, you know, they do quite a lot of neuterings and desexings for charity.

It's really great to see those charity cases still getting a really excellent standard of care regardless, which is great.

Camille Bonini [00:05:32]: Yeah, just super on it. They can do all the sedation, take X-rays, really excellent anaesthetic monitoring. So that has been great.

And then, yeah, in terms of living, it's been super hot while I've been here, which has been nice. Been talking to the girls, the team who are super friendly and easy to get on with. So I've enjoyed working with them on a personal aspect as well.

But yeah, it's definitely an outdoorsy lifestyle here, which I like.

Camille Bonini [00:06:25]: So loads of beaches for surfing. Had a few surfs around here, which was awesome.

I've been living in my van while I'm here and there's plenty of places to live in a van, which is cool. I have really enjoyed it.

The little area around the clinic itself is really lovely. There's a couple of super nice places to eat, there's a couple of nice stores to go in and it's got a nice neighbourhood feel around it. Really enjoyed it.

Camille Bonini [00:06:33]: I've got to do pyometra surgery here, which I also personally enjoy. We've had a really full surgery schedule every day, but again, it's all been finished on time.

Done a little bit of consulting as well in the afternoons and yeah, it's just a really well-run ship that needs a permanent vet, basically.

They also have an ultrasound here which I've used once, and that's a pretty good quality ultrasound machine, which is really good. And the X-ray facilities are also good.

Camille Bonini [00:06:38]: So I feel like all of the equipment and tools that, you know, one would need here to use. Yeah, they kind of have everything that you would want probably.

It just needs someone to be using it all basically.

Julie South [00:06:53]: What sort of person, what sort of vet do you think would fit in with that team?

Camille Bonini [00:07:15]: I think someone who, yeah, I mean the girls definitely like to have a chat and have a laugh. So, you know, I think they're all friends.

You know, someone who wants to kind of get involved with the team.

Julie South [00:08:05]: I've got some quick fire questions that I'd like to ask you now. So these are, don't think, don't analyse the answer. Just give me the answer.

In this week, what is one moment that you would identify as this is what this clinic is really like to work in?

Camille Bonini [00:08:20]: I'd say I've been doing a lot of surgery this week but I've had a lot of big fat spays and that's probably how I would sum it up.

Yeah, we get quite a lot of large breed dogs in that have had multiple litters of puppies. And yeah, the girls were saying, you know, they get things like large breed C-sections.

And I've had some repro type stuff of a large breed dog having a phantom pregnancy. That's a big issue.

Camille Bonini [00:08:22]: But that's probably sums it up for me. I just happen to have had loads of those this week, so that seems like my overarching theme.

But again, I don't mind that because I really enjoy that surgery.

Julie South [00:08:37]: So just thinking as you were saying that, off air in an email, you and I talked about the ice cream shop across the road from CareVets Gisborne. So I'm thinking that Camille's memory of Gisborne will be ice cream and C-sections.

Camille Bonini [00:08:46]: Yeah, yeah, basically.

Julie South [00:08:57]: This week, what's one thing that somebody has done inside the clinic that espouses the collegiality or the camaraderie of the clinic?

Camille Bonini [00:09:54]: Actually one of the nurses on Monday went out and got ice cream for everyone after lunch, which I thought was super nice.

Julie South [00:10:04]: Very nice, yeah. When things get busy, how have you seen the team handle that really well?

Camille Bonini [00:10:05]: So the go-to person here is the head nurse, Emma, who is just really, really organised. She doesn't get stressed or stressy. She just knows where to be and when.

And she is always a couple of steps ahead of you. We had a really busy day yesterday. We had a heart failure cat in and it should have been a pretty chaotic day, but actually it felt pretty well controlled all day.

Camille Bonini [00:10:08]: And I think the team doesn't seem to have anyone who kind of, you know, gets overly stressed or grumpy when it's busy. Everyone seems to kind of step up and just, you know, like, sometimes I'll ask if something's been done and it pretty much always has already been done without me having to remind anyone or do it or anything like that, which is really good.

Julie South [00:10:45]: You've been locuming there and I can imagine you have some assignments that you think, I can't wait for this assignment to be over.

Camille Bonini [00:11:35]: Yeah.

Julie South [00:12:23]: What have you really enjoyed about this assignment?

Camille Bonini [00:13:14]: I think I've mainly enjoyed getting to do a lot of surgery and just being able to kind of really quickly get through my surgical cases with no stress.

And then, yeah, I've enjoyed getting to know all the nurses here and just the wider team. Actually everyone I've met is really nice.

I met Lauren briefly one day. She came in and she was really nice even though I just met her for a little bit. I'd say the people and getting to do lots of surgery has been great.

Julie South [00:11:35]: That was Dr Camille Bonini, a locum vet who's just finished a locuming gig at CareVets in Gisborne on New Zealand's North Island.

When someone with no vested interest who's worked in multiple clinics across New Zealand says, "I've actually loved it," and specifically mentions the highly skilled nursing team, the smooth operations and how everything feels under control even on busy days, that tells you something real about a clinic's culture.

Julie South [00:12:23]: So far in this CareVets Gisborne series, you've heard from Dr Lauren, who told us about the nursing team being one step ahead. Dr Ross, who confirmed exactly that and talked about actually getting lunch breaks and rarely being called out overnight.

And now Dr Camille backing up those same themes from a completely fresh perspective. Three different people, three different roles, one consistent story about a well-organised clinic with a skilled team where people genuinely enjoy working.

Julie South [00:13:14]: Notice the pattern? It's not just one person saying the nursing team is excellent. It's multiple voices, from permanent vets to locums, all describing the same experience.

That's what genuine culture looks like. Not marketing speak.

A quick note about what you're actually hearing in this series. This depth of Culture Storytelling—multiple team members, genuine stories, cultural specifics beyond job requirements. This is what makes recruitment actually work.

When clinics struggle to get suitable applicants despite advertising for months, it's because they're posting job adverts without showing who they really are. Veterinary professionals can't choose you if they can't see whether they'd actually fit.

CareVets Gisborne isn't just posting a job ad, hoping the right person sees it. They're showing veterinary professionals what working there genuinely looks like through real veterinary voices sharing real veterinary stories.

That's Culture Storytelling in action. And it's why they attract people who actually want to be there. People who, as you've been hearing, are genuinely impressed by what they find when they arrive.

If you're responsible for recruitment at your clinic and thinking, yes, Julie, we have stories like this, but you don't quite know how to capture or share them, then please email me directly at julie@vetclinicjobs.com. I'd be more than happy to talk about how we can help clinics like yours tell your Culture Story through our REAL+STORY programme.

And if you're an experienced small animal vet considering your next move, especially if you're from the Northern Hemisphere, from the UK or Ireland, then CareVets Gisborne is looking for their next small animal vet. Full position details are at vetclinicjobs.com/carevetsgisborne.

Until next time, this is Julie South signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self. Because when a locum vet who's seen multiple clinics says everything just works, you know you've found a clinic worth considering.

And remember, sometimes the best endorsement comes from someone who has absolutely nothing to gain from giving it.

Referenced URLs:

• https://vetclinicjobs.com/carevetsgisborne
• https://veterinaryvoices.com
• email Lizzie
• email Julie