Wow, my first day as a resident! I am so grateful to Dr. Goodpaw for giving me this opportunity. I had such a wonderful time meeting my new patients! I learned a lot today though, diary, so I'm going to jot it down here for posterity.

I reviewed all my notes from my final year of vet school in regards to how to monitor my performance. I know that time is important. Animals don't like waiting and their owners start to get worried if their animals are gone too long! I also have to make sure that I can treat as many sick animals as possible. I'll be sure to look at the clock on the wall (#1 in the picture) periodically to see how much time I have left before the clinic closes.


Dr. Goodpaw told me today that the clinic has daily monetary goals we have to meet each day. We have to make sure we have enough money to pay all the bills! I made myself a little heart-shaped goal tracker (#2 in the picture) that I'll have the receptionist automatically update as I treat patients. I need to make enough to fill it to the goal line but ideally I want to fill it all the way to the expert line!

Finally, sometimes I just need to take a break to run to the bathroom or adjust the volume of the music in the clinic. I can do this through the menu (#3 in the picture) or by pressing "esc" on my keyboard. If a message comes up on the screen from one of my friends on Steam, it will automatically bring me to these options too. How handy dandy! Dr. Goodpaw sure does have a state-of-the-art clinic.





From that menu, I can also see my options where I can adjust the clinic's music volume or choose to make my monitor full screen or windowed. Dr. Goodpaw thinks of everything!










Every day before my shift, I will have a message from Dr. Goodpaw on my clipboard. It might tell me about a new disease I might encounter or a new type of patient I'll be assigned. I definitely need to read these because they will help me be prepared for the day. My shift won't start until I'm ready and put away my clipboard.



One of the important things I learned in vet school is that you can maximize your time by grouping together the same tasks and doing them all one after another before moving on to another task. I found out today that this also helps the clinic move smoothly as well!

First I need to move my patients from their chairs to the receptionist desk. Dr. Goodpaw says that our poor receptionist gets overwhelmed easily so I can only take a maximum of two patients at a time up to her desk to get checked-in. Thank goodness today I'm just getting patients one at a time.

Once they've been checked in, I move each patient to their own diagnostic table. Then I need to diagnose the patient. To diagnose the patients, I just go to their table and when I'm done the chart on the table will automagically turn to a red cross symbol. How cool!

Once I've diagnosed my patients, I need to give them their medicine. Dr. Goodpaw is only having me handle cases that can be solved with medicine at the moment. I just go to the medicine cabinet, get the medicine, and then bring it back to the patient.

Once they get their medicine, they are all set and I can move on to the next set of patients.

At the end of the day, I can see how well I did overall. My clipboard is updated with how much money I brought in to the clinic and the day is checked off as completed.


Speaking of the next set of patients, Dr. Goodpaw says I'll see a new type tomorrow. I can't wait to meet them! =)

Today definitely was busy! Thankfully, I remembered a technique from vet school called chaining that Dr. Goodpaw also says helps me work more efficiently as well. I also learned about the happiness meters we give our patients as they enter so we can make sure no patient goes away unhappy.

Since there are two tables, I can check the patients in two at a time until both tables have patients. That way when I do the next step, diagnosing the patients, I can diagnose both one after the other! I remember my professor called this chaining and as I said before, it helps make everything run more efficiently!

After they've both been diagnosed, I can go to the medicine cabinet. Because I have two hands, I can get a vial of medicine for each. I then give each their medicine and I've made yet another chain. I'm getting pretty good at this! =) Hopefully Dr. Goodpaw will be proud of my efficient way of working.


As each patient enters, they are given one of our high-tech happiness meters to wear around their necks. Since animals can't talk, this is super helpful in knowing how our patients are doing. The amount of happiness is represented by the number of hearts on the meter. The more hearts, the happier the patient! Our patients can get unhappy when they have to wait too long or they may start out pretty unhappy if they're really sick. It's important that I try to make our patients as happy as possible. After all, a happy pet makes a happy owner and I definitely want them to come back and see us next time they need world-class care.

I've got some super exciting news today, diary! Dr. Goodpaw is so impressed with how well I've been doing that she's letting me choose the new renovations for the clinic! I picked out the floors today and already the clinic looks bright and fresh. Dr. Goodpaw says I'll get more choices as well so I can feel more at home here. My next task- picking out some new chairs for the waiting room! I have three choices so all I do is just select the one I like the best. My favorite color is purple so those highback chairs sure do look tempting! =)

At the bottom of the selection, either Dr. Goodpaw or myself can also put notes about the general workings of the clinic and if there's something we need to remember. These little tips should help the clinic run more smoothly!

Dr. Goodpaw also went over combos with me today. It's the same thing as chaining, and I already started doing that yesterday! Oh well, extra practice just makes more perfect right?

I knew Dr. Goodpaw was pleased with how well I was doing, but today she surprised me with a whole new exam room! Now I can diagnose and treat four patients at once. Our poor receptionist still gets overwhelmed though so I'll have to check them in two at a time. But I can do the groups of two one after the other and keep up my efficiency combos.


I also noticed that each exam room has its own medicine cabinet. I have to use the medicine cabinet in the exam room that it is in. I made my first mistake today by trying to give medicine to all four patients from the medicine cabinet. Oopsie! I figured it out and no one was hurt. I just need to keep in mind things like that!


Dr. Goodpaw also got us a treat dispenser! It has tasty treats appropriate for all animals (even us human animals!) so I can give any cranky patient a treat to help cheer them. This really helped today because we had some sick little bunnies and they come in less happy than my other patients. Dr. Goodpaw tells me that some of our little patients are less patient than others. Turtles, for example, tend to be more patient while our bunnies and kitties tend to be less patient. I'll definitely need to keep this in mind!

The last two days have been absolutely crazy, diary! I learned some very important lessons though so I'll be sure to archive them here.


Yesterday our big problem was with fleas! An animal with fleas is not only more unhappy but they can give their fleas to other animals near them. It's best to keep the flea-infested animals away from the ones without fleas if at all possible. I didn't do nearly as well yesterday because of it and sadly, you can't turn back time and do a day over again.

Today our big problem was with the very contagious indigo fever! While animals can't give it to other animals by proximity like fleas, I can actually contaminate other animals unless I make sure to wash my hands. I can examine animals if they all have indigo fever but I absolutely must wash my hands before I examine ones without it. Washing your hands is always important, but especially when dealing with contagious diseases! Thankfully we got some new sinks installed in the exam rooms today.

Well diary, I can honestly say my first week has been a crazy one! I have more control over our clinic upgrades now, new equipment, and some special new patients.

Now my clinic upgrade choices are more important than what color I want the chairs to be. Some upgrades can give bonuses such as giving me a speed boost (oh how I love coffee!) or making other areas of the office run more efficiently. I'll have to consider what upgrades will benefit my work style the most!






As we get in more patients, we will get in more specialized types of equipment. This week we got an x-ray machine which helps me treat animals with broken bones. I still use the medicine cabinet to get splints to treat those broken bones, but I have one more step in the exam process. Maybe that coffee machine will be just the upgrade I need with all this extra work!


Some patients need more TLC (tender loving care) than others. Dr. Goodpaw tells me that we will see some special patients from time to time and we need to make sure to treat them with the special care they need to make them feel better. I'll be sure to review my clipboard every day to make sure I am updated on any new surprises.

Thanks for sticking this out with me, diary. I'm sure I'll run into many more fun adventures but this should get me started for now. I'll update you when I can. =) The doctor is OUT!