About the position
The ASPCA's Community Medicine (CM) team is dedicated to providing expert veterinary care to support the welfare of animals and their owners, particularly in underserved communities across New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. Our mission is to help pet owners overcome financial barriers to care by offering quality veterinary services directly in their communities, often subsidizing the costs of basic and preventive care. We treat both pets and their owners with dignity and respect, ensuring that they can make informed decisions about their pets' health and wellbeing, regardless of their financial situation. As a member of the ASPCA, you will join a passionate team of over 1,000 professionals committed to animal welfare, providing care to over 100,000 animals each year. In this role, you will focus on providing compassionate, quality preventive and basic care to patients, overseeing all aspects of veterinary care during clinic days. This includes performing physical examinations, diagnostics, treatment recommendations, and delivering medications. You will also perform high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter surgical procedures, with individualized training provided by the ASPCA. The position offers a supportive work environment with no on-call or overnight shifts, allowing you to focus on your patients while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. The ASPCA is committed to your professional growth, offering mentorship and training opportunities to enhance your surgical skills and overall veterinary practice. The work schedule typically consists of Monday to Friday, with an 8-hour workday, and occasional flexibility to work beyond scheduled hours or on Saturdays approximately once per quarter. You will be part of a structured mentorship program, ensuring that you receive the support needed to excel in your role and grow as a veterinarian.
Responsibilities
- Provide compassionate, quality preventive and basic care to patients, overseeing all aspects of veterinary care during a clinic day including physical examination, diagnostics, treatment recommendations and delivery, prescribing of medications and discharge information.
- Perform pre-surgery physical examinations on all surgical candidates.
- Perform 30-40 high quality, high volume spay/neuter surgical procedures per spay/neuter clinic day (individualized training provided by the ASPCA).
- Diagnose and treat post-surgical medical complications.
- Perform and oversee all aspects of minor outpatient surgical procedures.
- Provide a safe and compassionate environment for animals in our care, our staff, and for our clients by using low-stress handling techniques.
- Triage and refer cases that do not fall within CM's parameters of care as appropriate.
- Perform humane euthanasia in accordance with ASPCA policy and CM protocols.
- Provide support and medical services in special cases as needed, including evaluation and treatment of animals living in hoarding situations.
- Communicate with all clients in a non-judgement, effective and professional manner; discuss physical examination and test results to allow pet owners to make informed decisions about their pet's care.
- Counsel owners about end of life and other sensitive medical concerns.
- Provide discharge instructions for patients and oversee the dispensing of medications.
- Occasionally support the ASPCA's Community Engagement team by providing medical care for pets at a client's residence/in the field when transporting to an ASPCA clinic location is not practical.
- Document exam findings, test results and treatment recommendations according to ASPCA guidelines.
- Collaborate and foster good communication with ASPCA colleagues.
- Participate in veterinary/medical training of CM staff, ASPCA staff and veterinary and technical students by coaching, discussion, and demonstration.
- Assist in determining the needed scope of services provided by Community Medicine based on experience with patients and clients and provide input into medical protocols.
- Support the ASPCA's commitment to research and development to benefit animals across the country by participating in studies designed to improve access to care.
- Participate in CM's monthly virtual medical rounds, attend workshops or staff meetings as requested.
- For those willing/interested in travel, occasional opportunities to deploy with the ASPCA's National Field Response team to assist with large-scale disaster or cruelty cases.
Requirements
- Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (or equivalent).
- Current New York State veterinary license - new graduates welcome!
- Fear Free® Veterinary certification is required within 60 days of hire.
- Experience in high quality, high volume spay/neuter preferred.
- Experience in general small animal practice or shelter medicine preferred.
- Bilingual (Spanish) strongly preferred.
Nice-to-haves
- Experience in high quality, high volume spay/neuter preferred.
- Experience in general small animal practice or shelter medicine preferred.
Benefits
- Continuing education credits
- License reimbursement
- Disability insurance
- Health insurance
- Dental insurance
- 401(k)
- Flexible spending account
- Vision insurance
- Paid sick time
