Job Description
Under policy direction of the Medical Director with support of the Regional Medical Director, the Staff Veterinarian provides professional medical, nutritional, dental, and surgical diagnostics and treatment of companion animals.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Professional mannerism and appearance.
- Good interpersonal skills.
- Positive and friendly attitude.
- Ability to communicate directions and instructions clearly and effectively.
- Ability to earn respect from coworkers.
- Ability to make decisions.
- Respect for clients and their pets.
- Willingness to work with clients and their pets.
- Willingness to learn and use a computer.
- Ability to work under stress.
- Practices the highest standard of medicine.
- Uphold the veterinary code of ethics.
Education and Experience:
- A Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree, or equivalent, from an accredited university.
- A license to practice in the state in which he/she is employed.
Authority:
- Directs and guides Veterinary Technicians, Veterinary Assistants, and any other employee interacting with pet care.
Physical Requirements:
- Dependable attendance is required.
- Any allergies to animals must be controllable through medication.
- Must be able to lift 40 pounds.
- Must be willing to work long or irregular hours under pressure conditions.
- This position requires the ability to walk, bend, stand, and reach constantly during a minimum 8-hour day.
Staff Veterinarian Job Description
- Visual acuity sufficient to maintain accurate records, recognize people, and understand written directions.
- Ability to speak and hear sufficiently to understand, give information in person and over the telephone.
- Fine motor skills adequate for utilizing hospital equipment such as electric clippers, scalpels, syringes, radiology equipment, laboratory equipment, computers, etc.
Duties:
The following is a partial list of essential job responsibilities. This list may be revised at any time and additional duties not listed here may be assigned as needed.
- Patient Management
- Client Management
- Administrative Management
- Staff Management
- Professional Responsibilities
Patient Management:
- Cares - remembering that the patient’s well-being is the first priority.
- Continually improve the quality of patient care through studying veterinary journals and texts and by attending seminars. VCA has established a minimum 30-hour per year requirement for continuing education for each veterinarian.
- Perform examinations, diagnostic, medical, surgical, and dental procedures in a way that will deliver the highest quality care while minimizing patient stress and discomfort.
- Recommend referral to one of the other VCA doctors or a specialist when this is likely to significantly improve the prognosis.
Client Management:
- Will promote and participate in the principles of the VCA Mission Statement, Three Steps of Service, and VCA Standards of Client Service and that the above is known and practiced by all employees.
- Develop rapport with clients.
- Determine client’s needs and wishes.
- Question the client to ascertain the patient’s past medical and surgical history as well as a description of the current presenting signs.
- Explain physical examination findings.
- Recommend the appropriate preventive health care, including vaccines and appropriate nutritional products and protocols.
- Recommend and explain plans for diagnostic procedures and for medical and surgical therapies; methods for home care procedures and follow-up plans.
- Give the client a prognosis of the pet’s problems.
- Generate fee estimates for recommended procedures and present them to the client.
- Keep clients informed regarding the status of their pet and results of diagnostic tests.
- Provide telephone consultation, including follow-up calls for progress reports, etc.
Administrative Management:
- Maintenance of client/patient medical/surgical records.
Completely “SOAP” the patients’ medical records:
- S = Subjective analysis of the problem (history)
- O = Objective analysis of the problem (symptoms)
- A = Assessment of the problem (diagnosis)
- P = Plan of dealing with the problem (treatment)
Make certain all necessary logs are kept up to date through established protocols and guidelines:
- Surgical logs
- Narcotics logs
- Radiology logs
- Laboratory logs
- Any other logs
Accurately charge clients for all services performed.
- Participate in the planning, execution, and analysis of various methods of improving the delivery of services to clients.
- Support and participate in VCA marketing and promotional events and programs.
- Ready to report to work when the need arises.
- Contribute to the maintenance of a comfortable, clean, and safe environment of which the clients, the staff, and the management can be proud.
Staff Management: Professional Staff:
- Ensure an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect.
- Keep patient records complete and up-to-date to assist colleagues in follow-up and future management of the patient.
- Provide consultation when requested and assisting with diagnostic, treatment, and surgical procedures.
- Ensure that credit is accurately given for procedures performed by each veterinarian.
- Maintain communication with clients when their pet’s primary veterinarian is not available.
Staff Management: Technicians/Assistants:
- Maintain an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect.
- Clearly prescribe detailed directions regarding drug doses, routes, times, and rates for administration, diagnostic medical, surgical, and dental procedures and instructions for patient monitoring.
- Assist technicians where necessary and fostering an educational environment.
- Provide instruction in client education, diagnostic and treatment procedures, and anesthesia, care of instruments, surgical assisting, and dentistry.
Staff Management: Receptionists
- Maintain an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect.
- Expedite the generation of fee estimates for recommended procedures and the invoicing of client charges for outpatients and for patients to be discharged.
- Clearly record information, in a timely manner, regarding medications and supplies being dispensed.
- Assist receptionists in providing answers to client’s questions.
- Provide education regarding basic pet health to assist them in advising clients when scheduling appointments for examinations and various procedures.
Professional Responsibilities:
- Honesty in dealing with clients and colleagues.
- Maintain an attitude and appearance that reflect favorably on the profession.
- Empathy for colleagues when questions of clinical judgment arise.
- Share information and concerns with other members of the profession by attending veterinary meetings regularly.
- Provide advice and encouragement to potential newcomers to the profession.
- Represent the hospital to the professional community and the general public as requested.
- Model an “owner” mentality in the hospital by demonstrating willingness to assist all employees for the success of the hospital.
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