Not given relevant duties at placement

[Joyn02]

I’m currently doing a placement at vet clinic which started in early Dec and ends early Feb. So far the only tasks I’ve been given are reception and cleaning duties, nothing relevant to the veterinary field - I could be learning the same things from a job in retail. I’m almost halfway through now but there doesn’t seem to be plans for me to do more related stuff.

Before the internship I mentioned that I hope to get some clinical experience and I was just told it /might/ happen, so I guess that was kind of my fault for not getting a clear answer, but now that there’s only a month and a bit left, would it be reasonable for me to (for a lack of better words) demand more relevant duties? I’ve asked a couple of times already and have only gotten really arbitrary answers.

Just for context, I am yet to start university but have a Cert II in animal studies so I am qualified to do stuff like animal handling.

I’ve talked to a lot of people, including professionals and most of them are telling me to use it as an opportunity to train my work ethic and to observe the works of the staff given I’m still working in the environment, but I don’t feel like I’m learning anything new.

[K888]

If it's just something you've organised yourself (and not through an organisation as a formal placement) and you didn't make it clear you were seeking clinical experience/they didn't state it as part of the internship, IMO there's probably not much you can do (obviously if you've made prior agreements for you to receive clinical experience its a different story). I'd say try to sit down and have an open conversation with whoever is managing your internship where you clearly discuss the fact that you'd like to do some clinical duties. That way you know they understand 100% that that's what you're interested in and they're hopefully more likely to get you involved in clinical stuff. Unfortunately they may also just continue on their current course.

Bit of a tough situation but I think given the info you've given us, the best thing to do would be sit down and have a good talk with your manager and see if that helps. All the best