Managing Veterinarian

Are you ready for a change from the hustle and bustle of private practice? Tired of being short-staffed or frustrated with compromised patient care due to poor client compliance? Join National Mill Dog Rescue and rediscover your passion and purpose in veterinary medicine! We're looking for an empathetic and efficient veterinarian to care for our dogs, many of whom have never received veterinary care until they come to us. Our state-of-the-art clinic is fully equipped, allowing you to practice medicine the way you were trained. We are committed to providing the best care for each dog while balancing the needs of our entire population. While we strive to offer as much in-house care as possible, we will refer dogs to specialists based on your recommendations. Our goal is to have 3-4 support staff each day, including 3 Registered Technicians on staff. Our dogs need you—and you might just find that you need them! 

Purpose:  The Managing Veterinarian is critical to NMDR’s mission and goals by providing high quality veterinary care for our rescued dogs at our on-site veterinary hospital.  Common surgical procedures include but are not limited to: spay/neuter, extensive/complex dentistry, hernia repairs, mammary tumor excisions and eye enucleations.  Medical care includes but is not limited to: diagnosing and treating chronic ear infections, disorders of the eye, skin infections, growth removals, parasite infestation and a variety of genetic defects.  Evaluate and recommend the need for outside specialty care.  

Excellent leadership, communication and interpersonal skills are a must.  Our Veterinary Care Team is made up of highly skilled caregivers who are deeply devoted to the unique population of dogs they serve.

Key Responsibilities and Duties – Other duties may be assigned.

Management/Administration

• Oversight of the medical operations of the Timothy Center (NMDR’s Veterinary Hospital), to include DVMs, Veterinary Technicians and Veterinary Assistants
• Serve as a mentor to the staff and lead the advancement of high-quality patient care
• Evaluate future growth of services to improve standards of care
• Ensure current practices and SOPs are accurate and support NMDR’s standards of care
• Evaluate patient care risks and concerns; follow up on breaches in best practices
• Review medical records and provide management/DVM follow-up as needed
• Cultivate learning and training across all areas of the hospital
• Ensure clinician-driven principles are upheld and hold clinicians accountable to the standards that are created and expected
• Discuss areas of clinical development with clinicians
• Discuss future goals and growth with clinicians
• Assess services and identify solutions for improvement (staffing, equipment, etc.)
• Routinely evaluate clinician productivity and efficiency
• Evaluate facilities and equipment needs along with Senior Leadership
• Respond to inquiries, complaints and general concerns from prospective and previous adopters regarding medical concerns of NMDR dogs
• Schedule staff as needed to provide adequate coverage for NMDR needs
• Assess sustainability of current pilot community spay/neuter program and make recommendations for an ongoing program to support the community’s demand for affordable veterinary care

Veterinary Duties

• Perform cursory exams on newly rescued dogs to identify any issues requiring immediate treatment. Notate any significant findings that require regular monitoring.
• Based on exam findings, communicate with the Operations Director to set surgical schedules, prioritizing dogs who are in greatest need of care or are waiting on procedures in order to go home.
• Perform pre-surgical exams and follow established pre-surgical protocol to determine if dogs are healthy enough to undergo anesthesia.
• Perform 8-10 spays and/or neuters and dental procedures as needed, per day.  Occasionally perform complex spays, sometimes including careful dissection of adhesions to omentum, bladder, bowel and/or abdominal wall - commonly seen in breeding females who have undergone multiple c-sections.  Frequently perform spays on females with pyometra, ovarian cysts and other uncommon intra-abdominal findings.
• Perform routine neuters with an occasional cryptorchid neuter.
• Perform very extensive dental care on a large percentage of dogs.  Common dental care for puppy mill survivors often includes multiple extractions of severely abscessed teeth while working in mouths of dogs with significant demineralization of jaw bones. It is not at all uncommon for dentals on NMDR dogs to last 1-2 hours or longer.
• Perform additional surgeries as needed including but not limited to: growth removals, hernia repairs, mammary tumor excisions and eye enucleations.
• At the end of surgery day, recheck dogs diagnosed with a variety of medical issues - most commonly rechecking ear infections and/or eye issues, suture removal and skin issues.
• Oversee and maintain controlled substance log books.
• Assign duties and responsibilities to veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants to ensure all protocols and procedures are strictly adhered to, providing optimum care for all patients.
• Provide all medical and surgical care according to established standards of care as outlined in NMDR’s Veterinary Policy and Procedure Manual.
• Promote ongoing development of all scopes of veterinary practice through continuing education.
• Work within the medical care budgets as directed by the Director of Operations.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Director of Operations.
• Represent National Mill Dog Rescue as an ambassador and advocate of our mission in the community and within our organization.
• Display excellent customer service in all areas.

Safety

• Ensure a safe work environment by following all safety guidelines and modeling safe work practices. 
• Properly handle all safety concerns and violations immediately.
• Take immediate action to address any safety concerns that could put a staff member, volunteer, customer, animal, or the organization at risk.
• Maintain a clean and organized workspace.

Volunteers

• Work cooperatively with all volunteers and realize the talent and commitment they bring to National Mill Dog Rescue.