Can you remember the title of any of your high school text books? Dr Peter Prendergast of Collaroy Vet Hospital can. Our featured vet for June claims his year 12 biology textbook ‘The Web of Life’ solidified his lifelong fascination with how living things work, and was one factor in his becoming a vet.
Tell Us About Your Career As A Vet
I was always fascinated by the diversity of life – and amazed that something so complicated doesn’t go wrong more often. So I loved biology and the life sciences. It was a choice between veterinary science and medicine really. One of my older brothers did medicine, so you could say I’m a copycat. Then again, as the youngest of seven kids, I was likely to copy at least one of my siblings fairly closely.
I’m a Sydneysider through and through. I was born in Annandale and I studied at Sydney University. Like so many young Australian vets, I did my time as a locum in English vet practices, but by 1997 I was back here and linked up with two other vets to buy an existing practice on the Northern Beaches. There were lots of semi-rural properties in the area back then, so we looked after a fair number of horses at the start. Over time that’s shifted so that most of our work now is with small animals.
In 2009 the partnership dissolved and I’ve been the sole owner of Collaroy Vet Hospital ever since. It’s the longest I’ve ever held one job. I have a great team of around 15 people including vets, nurses and admin. Not everyone’s full-time, but between us we run the practice 7 days a week.
As a vet I’ve always been passionate about getting the diagnosis right. It’s like working out a puzzle so you can help animals and their owners, so you can be of service. I’m still fascinated by science and spend hours watching science videos on YouTube. I love all the continuing education we do as vets too. Not only do I learn useful stuff to help my patients, those trips to Melbourne or Brisbane are like mini-holidays.
How Long Have You Known The Radincon Team?
The practice had X-ray equipment from Radincon when we took over, so it feels like I known Jon Marriott for ever. I remember right at the start it was all manual processing with chemicals and developer. Then we moved on to an autoprocessor, and then to digital X-ray. Radincon have always been there for us – not just Jon, but Alex and the rest of the team too. We’ve never even thought of going anywhere else. And of course they’re close by so it’s easy to pop in and pick something up if we need to.
What Do You Do When You’re Not At Work?
Like so many vets, I spend a lot of time at work – in fact my kids complain about it. They’ll say, ‘Mum says you care more about guinea pigs than you do about us!’
When I do have time off, I love to be active – cycling, kayaking and so on. I used to do amateur drama and I’d love to get back into that soon.
Finally, What Advice Do You Have For Vets Who Are Starting Out Now?
I’d say there’s two main things to remember.
First, try and make a diagnosis yourself. Don’t assume that because you don’t have the experience, you can’t do it. There’s an old saying: You miss more by not looking than you do by not knowing. So take a look and make a diagnosis instead of always going to a specialist.
Second, don’t rush your appointments. Take the time you need – and that means time for the client in the room as well as the patient. That’s how you build relationships and grow your practice. A physical examination doesn’t take long, but if you talk to the client, you’ll learn that the dog always panics at the vet’s, so you don’t have to worry about the salivating or the panting. Don’t just talk about the pet, either. Asking about other things – family, holidays and so on – helps you build relationships and build trust, so you’ll have fewer issues later on.