Episode 1020 - CareVets Gisborne Dr Ross Milner 

Julie South [00:00:04]: Welcome to Veterinary Voices: Employer brand conversations that help veterinary clinics hire great people. I'm Julie South and this is episode 1020.

Julie South [00:00:18]: This is another special REAL+STORY episode from CareVets in Gisborne featuring Dr Ross Milner. He's a veterinary surgeon who graduated in Liverpool in the UK in 1991, has worked all over the world from Antarctica to Fiji, and has now chosen Gisborne as the best place in New Zealand to settle.

CareVets Gisborne is looking for its next small animal vet. You can check them out at VetClinicJobs.com/CareVets-Gisborne. If you're considering a move to New Zealand, especially if you're a British or an Irish vet considering what it's really like, Dr Ross tells it straight.

Before we dive in though, a quick note. We recorded this conversation in the clinic during a normal busy working day.

Julie South [00:01:11]: You'll hear the sounds of a busy vet clinic in the background. It's not studio perfect, but it's real. Which is exactly what culture storytelling is all about.

Last week Dr Lauren told us the nursing team is one step ahead. This week, Dr Ross backs that up and shares what it's like working in a clinic where you can be on call for two nights and not get called out at all. Good news, right? Where clients say we're so pleased you're here, please stay. And where there are always lunch breaks.

Julie South [00:01:49]: If you're considering whether CareVets Gisborne might be your kind of clinic, Dr Ross tells it like it is. Let's join that chat.

Dr Ross Milner [00:02:03]: Hi, I'm Ross Milner. I'm a veterinary surgeon, graduated in Liverpool in 1991 and lived and worked all over the world and decided to settle eventually in Gisborne, which I thought was the best place in New Zealand.

Julie South [00:02:17]: Love to hear that. Now, before we went on air you told me that or I got the impression you're a surfer or a surfy. Tell me about Gisborne surf and living in a surf city.

Dr Ross Milner [00:02:32]: Okay, well, the world champion Kelly Slater and Tom Curran have both surfed within 15 minutes of the practice. There's at least 35 breaks, you know, and it's not just for experts. There's a world class right breaking off an island. If you want to go for that.

But if you're entirely a beginner or like my wife or my friends and family who visit who are beginners, there's very safe bathing beaches where they can learn to surf and everything in between. Shore breaks, beach breaks, point breaks, reef breaks. It's got everything.

The other nice thing is it's never crowded either. We don't get the horrid crowds you get in other places.

Dr Ross Milner [00:03:06]: You know, if this was in Australia, there'd be thousands of people out and I'm usually on my own or maybe half a dozen people. You can always find an empty beach somewhere as well, Ross.

Julie South [00:03:16]: Was the surf a primary attraction for you or was it a bonus?

Dr Ross Milner [00:03:22]: I've always looked and worked in places where I've surfed, some very unusual, like in Antarctica, in the Falkland Islands, west coast of Ireland, Cornwall, Fiji. So that's always been a consideration.

But I also have to consider my wife, who's not a surfer, and she likes more refined things like theatre and the arts, vineyards and nice shops. And also there's some great cafes for coffee and restaurants by the marina. So there's a lot for everyone, not just for surfers.

Julie South [00:03:55]: The refined parts of Gisborne that you just mentioned, do they meet your wife's needs as well?

Dr Ross Milner [00:04:02]: Yeah, she's pretty happy. She's doing an arts course at the college, studying for a degree. She was formerly a lawyer in Fiji and now retired from that and enjoying very much doing something different. She's always had an interest in art and there's some very good art galleries as well that she's surprised to discover in Gisborne.

Julie South [00:04:22]: You said earlier that you've lived and worked all around the world. How does working at CareVets Gisborne compare to other clinics that you've worked at? And the reason I'm asking that question is if there are perhaps Irish vets, British vets listening to this, what kind of adaptations will they need to make, if any?

Dr Ross Milner [00:04:45]: Well, it's quite handy having had British vets work here before, and South Irish, because they're very much on the same wavelength as them and they're pretty much geared up to their ethos and, you know, they're up to date with the latest ideas and the way forward and thinking. And also compatible with our Kiwi vets, who are in the practice as well.

And I get on very well with them and we seem to have, you know, a lot of common ground and don't seem to really disagree on much at all.

Julie South [00:05:12]: How about meds? Are they familiar to you?

Dr Ross Milner [00:05:15]: Yeah, all the meds are pretty similar. There are a couple of unusual ones, like, for example, the ear drops that you get for hyperthyroidism in cats. When I left the UK, it was 10 years ago, we didn't have those.

Here, I think that was actually a New Zealand invention. So that's very useful. There are a few medicines which you can't get here. Usually there's a medical equivalent and there's a very helpful pharmacy over the road that we can give scripts to and they'll find an equivalent solution for us. They're very helpful.

Julie South [00:05:45]: Talk to me please about the types of cases that you see at CareVets Gisborne. Because a referral clinic is a long way away. So I would imagine that you've got quite an interesting caseload.

Dr Ross Milner [00:06:00]: Yes, I mean it's, I suppose the only limitations is what you can do yourself. There are people that can help. But there is orthopaedic equipment here if somebody's interested in that. And we tend to refer those if they're complex, but you know pretty much what you're comfortable doing. And if you're not comfortable, things can always be referred.

The one specialist we do have here is an ultrasonographer who's very handy for something unusual. You know, he's a specialist and we can book him in pretty much at very short notice to come and scan something complex in the abdomen or the heart.

Julie South [00:06:35]: Do you have any special interests yourself professionally? Apart from surfing, I mean?

Dr Ross Milner [00:06:41]: I enjoy working, you know, with the challenges of dealing with animals in remote locations, as I've always done before. And we do have people who come from very remote locations up the east coast. Sometimes it's a three hour drive just to come and see us.

And it's about learning to cope with those complex conditions. When they can't actually get to a vet or what can we do? For example, during the cyclone we had a fitting dog and they were cut off completely. We worked out that there was a nursing station nearby and they did have diazepam. So we were able to fax a script through to the nursing station and they were able to stop the fits by using diazepam until the dog was able to be brought in once the bridges were reopened.

Dr Ross Milner [00:07:20]: It can be challenging. I enjoy a challenge like that. It's quite interesting.

Julie South [00:07:27]: How about the nursing team?

Dr Ross Milner [00:07:30]: The nursing team are absolutely superb. They're always one step ahead of you. They know what to have ready. I know I can leave a procedure with them. I don't have to watch over them or anything. They know what they're doing. They're probably better than I am at knowing what's likely to be needed.

They've had animals ready with blood, ready to be put out. And I just come in and do the dental or whatever procedure and they're there assisting. So they're very good. They don't overstep the mark. They know when they need to get me or when they need to leave something. And they're very empathetic with the animals. They know what needs to be done. They're excellent.

Julie South [00:08:07]: Now you said you worked all over the world. Let's talk about on call. What's on call like at CareVets Gisborne?

Dr Ross Milner [00:08:14]: Well, again, you know, I've worked in some very remote areas. I was in the Falkland Islands. I was the only vet there for a while. So if anybody called, I was there. There was no choice. It was either me or nobody. And then in Fiji, we did a week on and a week off. But I was in Nadi, which is the big, you know, Fiji's big city.

So we were very busy. I got called out three times a night, every night I was on call. So comparatively, I can be on call for two nights in a row and not get a call. And the calls that do come through are pretty trivial. There's not sort of many life or death situations.

Julie South [00:08:46]: What happens when you do get called? How does it work? Are you able to be at home? Do you have to come into the clinic? What's the set up like?

Dr Ross Milner [00:08:53]: You have to come into the clinic. But I mean, I have a very nice clinic to come into and it's very comfortable and everything you need is there. It's well equipped and you don't feel unsafe or anything. It's, you know, it's just it's very convenient. You can park very nearby. You only need to be in the clinic. If it's not serious, you can give advice over the phone as well.

So, but I feel more comfortable. I mean, a lot of these people have driven a long way and I'll come in. And actually, I'm quite happy to come in if they're, you know, because I realise they've driven a very long way and I just feel it's only right that I should do that.

Julie South [00:09:25]: Fair enough. What's the community like, Ross?

Dr Ross Milner [00:09:29]: It's very friendly. It's a big, Gisborne's a small town, but it's a close knit community. People are very appreciative when you do something for them. They'll ring up and say, you know, how's my pet? And they generally want to know how you are. I've had clients, you know, on my day off, I've bumped into them and they want to know how I'm doing. They don't want to talk about their pet. They want to know how I am.

Julie South [00:09:53]: I mean, so do you like living in a close knit town like Gisborne where everyone knows you?

Dr Ross Milner [00:09:58]: I love that because I'm quite an introvert and I never quite, I quite like knowing people. But I, the idea of maybe a vast city where I don't know anyone, I don't think that really appeals to me. I like being friendly and knowing people. And we've actually made some really good friends with some of the clients as well, which is very nice.

Julie South [00:10:20]: Are there any downsides to living in Gisborne that you've found?

Dr Ross Milner [00:10:24]: Well, there's not a Costco. Yeah, it's quite interesting. There's obviously a cost to everything you buy. But equally, there's a cost to living in a big city as well in terms of fuel costs, parking. So I don't think it's any worse off financially.

And shopping is pretty good. I mean, there's a Kmart, there's all the main shops. There's a farmers market. Pak'nSave, New World, countdown. You don't feel you're missing out on anything. And I got quite excited the other day when I saw they built a Burger King, which I hadn't noticed before. So that was exciting.

Julie South [00:10:58]: It's the little things, isn't it?

Dr Ross Milner [00:10:59]: Yeah.

Julie South [00:11:00]: How far is it to the nearest big city from Gisborne?

Dr Ross Milner [00:11:05]: It's a three hour drive to either Napier, which is the nearest city, or Rotorua. And you can get a flight to. If you really wanted to go to Auckland, it's an hour's flight, which is very convenient.

Julie South [00:11:17]: Which airport do you fly out of?

Dr Ross Milner [00:11:19]: Gisborne airport, which is actually has the road goes through the runway, which is a unique curiosity, which is quite peculiar. The barriers come down when a plane takes off, which is quite entertaining to see.

Julie South [00:11:32]: I had no idea. Are there good schools there?

Dr Ross Milner [00:11:35]: Yeah, the schools are very good. Actually, a lot of. There's some very bright children. And I think it. I mean, I don't have any personal experience, but I've been led to believe there's some very good teachers here. And they. You know, they get to university very easily. They tend to do very well.

Julie South [00:11:54]: What about wildlife?

Dr Ross Milner [00:11:56]: Wildlife's quite good. If you go out at night looking at the stars and, you know, for the stars from Gisborne are stunning because there's not much light pollution. So the Milky Way is absolutely incredible. And you can hear kiwi at night if you're out having a star gaze, which is quite special. There's big deer around. You wouldn't think Gisborne would have deer. There's wild pigs and goats.

I saw a seal on the beach the other day. I've been surfing with seals before. And there's also penguins here as well.

Julie South [00:13:07]: Ross, what would you, if I had to ask you for one piece of your favourite piece of equipment or kit as a veterinarian at CareVets Gisborne, what would you choose?

Dr Ross Milner [00:13:20]: Probably the microscope. I do like diagnostic work. You know, doing skin scrapes, ear swabs, maybe something, you know, abdominal or pleural taps. And we also have a new high tech piece of equipment which is AI interpretation of what you're looking at as well.

Julie South [00:13:37]: What would you think or what would you identify as Gisborne's best kept secret?

Dr Ross Milner [00:13:44]: It's hard to say that one because there's so many best kept secrets. There's a very good cinema which is called the Dome Cinema, which I still haven't been to myself, but it looks fabulous on the inside. There's lots of secret beaches if you want to go and have a picnic.

There's lovely vineyards. Many of those are off the radar as well, unless you know about them. And there's some very nice places to have a meal or go wine tasting.

Actually, the arboretum is very good and not many people, I didn't know about that. So my wife went there and I think it's one of the best in the southern hemisphere.

Dr Ross Milner [00:14:16]: There's an amazing collection of trees and beautiful walks. I just never knew about it.

Julie South [00:14:21]: Going to ask you five quick fire questions now. The first one is what's one moment that shows what your clinic is really like to work in?

Dr Ross Milner [00:14:32]: Probably the clients being very, very thankful when their dog goes home well. Sometimes it's not just us. We had a dog which had a spinal injury and that dog was straight on a plane to Auckland to the specialist within the hour of seeing it.

When it came back after surgery, the owners were so thankful that even though we couldn't do the surgery, we were able to refer and get it done. So our referral options, even though we're far away, they are there. It's very rewarding seeing an animal that wouldn't have survived getting better.

Julie South [00:15:04]: What's something a teammate's done recently that really helped or supported you?

Dr Ross Milner [00:15:09]: That's difficult. I'm probably setting up for this interview because the camera wouldn't work and we've got some very tech savvy veterinary professionals. I couldn't get the camera to work and they came in and furiously rummaged around, reset the whole thing and Bob's your uncle, it was working. So anything to do with tech, we're very good at.

Julie South [00:15:27]: When things get busy, how does the team usually or generally handle busy, stressed, fast paced situations?

Dr Ross Milner [00:15:36]: Well, sometimes it gets very busy here, but I mean, I suppose we just, we just got to get on and work with it. I worked in very busy practices. I mean when I was in Fiji years ago, they had a military coup. I was the only vet left in Fiji. We went from 14 vets to one. I was doing consults every five minutes.

So busy here is just not busy at all to me. Usually 20 minutes or 30 minute consults, I can split those down to 15.

Dr Ross Milner [00:16:01]: It's extremely rare to get, you know, get double booked. And even then nurses are very supportive. They could call an animal in if it's urgent and have a look at it. And by the time I finish seeing one consult, the urgent one isn't sitting there waiting in the waiting room.

They've taken it straight through to the back door on oxygen and called me. As soon as it's really urgent they'll call me, interrupt and call me through straight away. But it's been dealt with very effectively and efficiently.

Julie South [00:16:29]: You said that you've worked in lots of clinics. So what's one thing that this clinic does differently from others that you've worked in?

Dr Ross Milner [00:16:38]: Hard to think of it really, probably efficiently arranging, you know, knowing your limits and knowing when to refer things and knowing your abilities. So they're pretty good at doing that, knowing who to contact and working collaboratively with the other two practices in Gisborne who get on very well.

And you know, probably the other vets that I work with, they're very helpful. We all work together and bounce ideas off each other.

Julie South [00:17:04]: One bane of many nurses and veterinary professionals' lives is that not all breaks are scheduled. Sometimes there's not. The ethos, the mentality in a clinic is toughen up. We don't take breaks here, we don't take lunches here. What's that like at CareVets Gisborne?

Dr Ross Milner [00:17:26]: I'll put it this way. I've got a dog that's quite ill and he's at home. He's fortunately recovering, but I always get an hour's lunch break. I can probably count on one hand over the past year, times when I couldn't go home when I wanted to and they just gave me a break later on.

There's always a break and usually a coffee break in the morning, in the afternoon for 15 minutes. If I see it's getting busy and there's a gap, I'll take it early or late, but usually it's pretty much on time and almost always go home for lunch, which is very nice.

Julie South [00:17:56]: One last question. What makes you feel good about coming to work on Monday mornings?

Dr Ross Milner [00:18:01]: It's probably the clients. They're very nice and then we have a friendly staff at the front and, you know, there's a good atmosphere when you arrive and everyone says, good morning, how are you? And did you have a good weekend? And usually have a brief chat and yeah, it's nice welcoming clients into the practice.

And clients are very nice. They're always pleased to see us and always grateful for having vets in Gisborne because Gisborne generally is a bit like the rest of New Zealand, short of veterinary professionals.

So they are most appreciative. When I first came and they said, oh, we're so pleased you're here, I hope you're staying. So I said, yes, I bought a house in the area and they said, oh, good, we're so pleased, please stay.

Dr Ross Milner [00:18:52]: It's a great place to live, no crime, good schools and some of the school students do very well. There's a high standard, there's lots to see and do, no matter your age or abilities. If you're an expert at something, that's always welcome. But if you're just a general run of the mill vet, that's very much welcome as well. There's work for everyone.

Julie South [00:19:04]: That was Dr Ross Milner from CareVets in Gisborne, New Zealand. A quick note about what you've been hearing in this series. This depth of culture storytelling, multiple team members, genuine stories, cultural specifics beyond just job requirements. This is what makes finding your kind of people really 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. Vet professionals can't choose you if they can't see whether they'd actually fit. They won't know that you're their kind of clinic.

Julie South [00:19:48]: If they don't know what you're like outside of the job advert and the four walls of your clinic. CareVets Gisborne isn't just posting a job ad, hoping the right people see it. They're showing vets and nurses what working there genuinely looks like through real veterinary voices sharing real veterinary stories. That's culture storytelling in action.

If you're responsible for recruitment at your clinic and thinking, yes, we have stories like this, but you don't quite know how to capture them, then please email me direct at julie@vetclinicjobs.com.

And if you're an experienced small animal vet considering your next move, especially if you're from the UK or Ireland, CareVets Gisborne is looking for their next small animal vet. You can find the full information about the job at VetClinicJobs.com/CareVets-Gisborne.

Next up, we're going to be listening or catch up with a locum doctor, Camille, who's been working at CareVets Gisborne. So tune in for that.

Julie South [00:21:01]: This is Julie South signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self. Because whether you're from Liverpool or Fiji, when you find your kind of clinic, clients will tell you, please stay. And remember, the real moments captured in a busy clinic are exactly what culture storytelling is all about.

Referenced URLs:

• https://vetclinicjobs.com/CareVets-Gisborne
• https://veterinaryvoices.com
• lizzie@vetclinicjobs.com
• julie@vetclinicjobs.com