Abbey Veterinary Centre – Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon

Whether you would like to begin your career in a caring and supportive team, or you have recently started in practice and a wish to progress further our independent small animal practice, lying between the coast and the Lincolnshire Wolds, is the very best place for you to develop and practice your skills.
Our Ideal Candidate
– An additional dedicated veterinary surgeon for the team to continue providing the best possible service.
– A new or recent graduate who wants to advance the skills they learned at university in a caring and supportive environment.
– Conscientious and caring attitude towards patients and owners.
– Friendly and approachable to colleagues and nurses.
– Ready to acquire great communication skills. Prepared to take the time to explain so that everyone fully understands the diagnostic and treatment plan.
What we can do for you:
We provide excellent help to enable you to become the vet that you aspire to be:
• Comprehensive clinical support whenever you need it.
Our Veterinary Certificate holders like to teach and discuss cases. Our Vet GDP adviser knows what experience and help you need to complete VetGDP without problems or delays.
• Great stable team. We have not had a single vet leave here for several years) and great facilities (MRI, CT etc) with almost no external referrals.
• Starting salary from £37,000 (Total package more than £45,000) per year.
• Four day working week with 35 days annual holiday which means you can arrange up to ten weeks leave per year.
• Rent-free modern accommodation away from main surgery if required.
• RCVS, VDS and BSAVA membership paid.
• 5 days of fully funded CPD provided in work time including in your first year.

As you become more experienced and feel that studying for a Certificate is the next step:
• Fully funded Certificates. Course attendance in work time, equating to ten days paid CPD leave p.a.
• £10,000 p.a. pay rise once you achieve your new Certificate.
• Work with us for only a single calendar year after receiving your certificate. Obviously, we hope you will love us and stay longer.
• For our career development package see https://www.abbeyvetcentregrimsby.co.uk/careers/
Our Facilities
There is no small animal first opinion practice in the UK which is better equipped to allow you to be the sort of vet you aspire to be. Our team of ten vets and more than 25 nurses (RVNs and students) are here to help you pursue a fulfilling veterinary career.
For Imagers: We have Ultrasound (abdominal, cardiac, ophthalmic, musculoskeletal), DR, in-house MRI and CT and a veterinary team who can produce and read all these modalities. For what we can teach you to do, please see https://www.abbeyvetcentregrimsby.co.uk/diagnostic-imaging-referrals/

For Surgeons: We have Soft tissue and Orthopaedic theatres; Endoscopy including arthroscopy; Dentistry with DR radiography to determine extractions; Experienced colleagues and great nursing support. For what we are capable of teaching you to do please see https://www.abbeyvetcentregrimsby.co.uk/surgical-referrals/. We trained some of our current surgeons from their first day in practice and we can do so for you too.

For potential Cardiologists: Advanced cardiac ultrasound is part of our regular caseload.
Our cardiac ultrasonographers learned their skills in this practice and would happily teach you too. Holter monitors are also part of our diagnostic work up and we are seeking to constantly expand the cardiac treatment regimes we offer.

If Internal Medicine is your thing: We have separate dog, cat and exotic wards with more than forty in-patient hospital kennels and an isolation unit. Medical management of hospital cases from the simple to the complex happen here daily. If you wish to acquire experience of serious case management in a supportive environment, this is a great place to do so.

We have Certificate holders in Diagnostic Imaging and Internal Medicine to give help and guidance where you need it.

We also have a team of Ophthalmologists who are advancing the eye treatment which we offer to our clients and are happy to teach what they know and the skills they have.

Great Clinical Support Whenever You Need It:
• A dedicated and experienced Vet GDP advisor to guide you through the tricky transformation from new grad to practising veterinary surgeon. We have many years of experience in supporting new grads starting out in practice. We can help you progress to complete your portfolio as painlessly as possible.

• A team of experienced veterinary surgeons including many certificate holders who are all very happy to teach techniques and advise as much and as often as we are needed. For a complete list of who we are please see https://www.abbeyvetcentregrimsby.co.uk/our-staff/

• Fully funded CPD tailored to your clinical interests, including in your first year after graduation. This is not ‘one size fits all package’ but is chosen specifically by you in consultation with your vet GDP advisor.

If imaging does it for you, why not start off with abdominal ultrasound and abdominal / thoracic radiography?

If surgical skills are your thing, why not go for emergency surgery and GI surgery to name but two possibilities?

If you really do not know what might suit you best, we have loads of great suggestions and no restrictive budget.

Great CPD in your first year of practice life really does set you up for a happy and fulfilling career.

• Our Lovely Clients, many of whom we have known for great many years, are almost all lovely, understanding people who welcome new members of out team as much as we do. Anyone working here rapidly acquires a dedicated following of ‘fans’ who would never want their pet treated by anyone else. We do not continue to see people who are not nice to our staff so those who we do see are very nice indeed.

• A network of friendly fellow vets and nurses many of whom are recent graduates to be your support network while you find your feet in your first job. The team has a vibrant social existence outside work in which you will be invited to play an active role. It is a tribute to the support that we give that more than half the current team arrived here as new graduates and liked it so much that they are still part of the team.

• Emergency service:
The night-time out of hours rota is a very quality of life friendly one in ten. We do very little out of hours work. Nurses do the overnight patient care, not veterinary surgeons.

• All new grads work only alongside a more experienced veterinary surgeon at nights or at weekends until they feel experienced enough to manage alone. Even then, the support continues. We are available on the phone or physically in the surgery if you are facing a situation which you do not feel able to manage. For how this benefits your veterinary skills please see https://www.abbeyvetcentregrimsby.co.uk/more-information/

Work-Life Balance:

• We work a standard four-day week with one day off per week to allow you to relax or possibly to do all those niggly things which are hard to get done at a weekend.

• When we work a weekend of on call duty, we get the following Wednesday to Monday off in addition to our holiday allowance. Many of us find that time very handy for visiting friends in distant part or a quick break away from it all.

• We have 35 days holiday per year which can convert to up to ten weeks annual leave when combined with the four-day work rota.

Where to Find Us:

The practice is in a lovely Victorian building in the conservation area of our Lincolnshire sea-side town beside the Lincolnshire Wolds with lots of opportunities for sports enthusiasts, sailing buffs, horse riders, mountain bikers and much, much more.
For further details about where we are, please see: https://www.abbeyvetcentregrimsby.co.uk/about-us/
How to find out more
– Email: [email protected]
– Phone: 01472 347054/362821/240422
– Website: https://www.abbeyvetcentregrimsby.co.uk/about-us/
– If you would like a call from one of our vets for a chat about how they find working here, please call 01472 347054 and we will arrange a time to talk, otherwise please send your CV to [email protected]