Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon

About the role

The role will involve time spent at both Meopham Veterinary Hospital and normally one branch surgery – with dedicated days and VetGDP advisors at each site. A modern house is available if required.

We run a dedicated night team of vets and RVNs so that we could provide a better service for both our clinicians and our patients. This means there are no routine nights for our day vets.

New graduate and certificate support

We have 2 Vet GDP advisors at Meopham and one at Tonbridge and Sevenoaks.  We have dedicated time allocated in the diary for mentoring 1:1 sessions. We love teaching and are an approved practice, facilitating IMR training for students on rotation from the University of Surrey at Meopham, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks.

We have a well-structured induction programme for any new members of the team, but for new graduates we also have a phased approach to consultations, initially blocking out every other slot in the diary so you don’t feel rushed. We also have a dedicated surgical day at the hospital once a week with your own mentor, and we make sure you can work your way through your surgical check list, initially developing your confidence in neutering, then moving on to other procedures as your skills develop. You will also have the support of a more experienced vet when needed during any weekend work.

We offer additional CPD days for vets studying towards certificates and they also have their own mentors. Their level of teaching steps up a gear, so for someone who is doing a surgical certificate for example would be scrubbing into things like patella luxation’s, getting involved in basic orthopaedics and learning to use the lap spay equipment.

The Area

Meopham is a great area to live; there is a direct train to London Victoria which takes 35mins, nearby Ebbsfleet International will whisk you to London St Pancras in just 19 minutes, or give you access to straight to Europe. You can drive down to the Kent coast in an hour. There are great connections to the M20, M25 and A2/M2. The surrounding countryside is gorgeous, and there are ample sports clubs nearby including rugby, hockey, cricket and sailing. Gatwick is 45 minutes away.