We’re looking for a Specialist in Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care to join our passionate, motivated and highly skilled team. If you’re driven by saving lives, love the challenge of critical care and thrive in a dynamic, supportive workplace, we’d love to hear from you.

At VSOS you’ll be joining a team of like-minded professionals who are passionate about learning, inter-specialty collaboration and pushing the boundaries of veterinary care. As a criticalist, aside from typical medical and surgical cases, you would be heavily involved in the peri-procedural management of advanced treatments such as:

• Trans-arterial embolisation/chemoembolization of inoperable neoplasia.
• Vascular stenting.
• Percutaneous Transvenous Coil Embolisation (PTCE) for intrahepatic shunts (IHPSS).
• Cardiopulmonary bypass and open-heart mitral valve repair in dogs.

The Team

While we are still growing, currently our large team is comprised of:

• Internal Medicine: 3 specialists, 2 registrars, 2 residents and an intern
• Surgery: 4 specialists, 1 registrar, 2 residents and 1 intern
• Anaesthesia: 2 specialists, and a team of non-specialist anaesthesia veterinarians and nurses.
• Cardiology: 1 specialist
• Neurology: 1 specialist (joining in March 2025)
• ECC: 1 specialist and large team of non-specialist emergency veterinarian

As well as independent specialist dermatology and ophthalmology services that operate out of VSOS and in collaboration with our other departments.

VSOS also boasts a large, passionate team of nurses, animal attendants and administrative support staff to support you in your role as a clinician.

The Hospital

VSOS is a modern, spacious, purpose-built hospital spread over two levels.

We have four sterile surgical theatres and two sterile theatres for medical and fluoroscopic interventional radiology procedures.

• Equipment:
  o multiple mobile ultrasound machines,
  o bedside mobile radiography (Siemens MOBILETT Elara Max)
  o Siemens 64-slice SOMATOM go.Up® CT
  o Siemens 1.5T MAGNETOM Sempra MRI (managed by human radiographers who are on-call and available after-hours for emergency imaging).
  o Philips Zenition 50 fluoroscopy

   

See our website for more information (https://vsos.com.au/specialist-vet-equipment/).

• Emergency & Critical Care
  • 3 Menios temperature and humidity-controlled oxygen cages,
  • 2 Puritan-Bennet 980 series ventilators,
  • multiple direct oxygen outlets
  • 2 anaesthetic machines
  • mobile ultrasound and x-rays units for bedside diagnostic imaging.
• The Emergency Room is on the lower level and is separate to our upstairs Emergency hospital ward where patients are transferred after initial stabilisation and workup.
• We have a separate and closed ICU for the more complex, critical cases.
• Equipment in the ICU includes:

• The ICU is also always staffed with at least one dedicated nurse depending on case load.

What You’ll Be Doing

Clinical roles:

• Independently manage cases in the ICU.
• Oversee and support emergency veterinarians (particularly the more junior vets) in both the Emergency Room and Hospital Ward.
• Collaborate and support other specialties in pre procedural planning and post-procedural care.
• Coordinate case movement throughout hospital between departments.
• Support the blood bank manager by providing advice, oversight, education, review of protocols and assisting in blood donations and transfusions when required.
• Provide over the phone support to referring veterinarians on emergency and critical care cases.

Non-clinical roles:

• Occasionally provide training such as lectures, wet labs and practical sessions on Emergency and Critical Care topics to Emergency veterinarians, allied specialty interns and residents and nurses.
• Assist the inventory team in S8 drug management within the Cubex system including but not limited to restocking, unstocking, stock transfer and discrepancy resolution.
• Assist the ER manager(s) and hospital directors with the review of cases to:
• help resolve clinical incidents and/or client complaints.
• respond to clinical incident reporting,
• develop training, hospital protocols, policies and procedures.
• Assist in the research of equipment and medications relevant to ECC.
• Lead by example and advocate for best practice in all aspects of emergency and critical care.

What We’re Looking For

The ideal candidate for this position will be able to:

• support, train and mentor emergency veterinarians, blood bank staff and specialty trainees from other departments on topics of ECC.
• provide structured training and didactic learning on Emergency and Critical Care topics.
• collaborate with allied specialties on cases.
• work closely with management in the development of various policies, protocols and management of emergency vet staff.
• support referring veterinarians.
• Make quick, informed decisions under pressure, always keeping the patient’s best interest at heart.
• maintain a calm and positive attitude when working on the floor during stressful situations.
• Exhibit a positive, can-do attitude setting a good example for positive communication amongst other staff.
• work as part of a team but also the ability to take charge when needed.

Why You'll Love Working Here

• Supportive Culture: We work hard and work together to build a workplace that values both dedication and teamwork
• AVA Benefits: 24/7 access to confidential counselling services for yourself and your family, including support for mental health and wellness
• Pawsitively Good Perks: Veterinary service discounts for your fur-baby(ies)
• Making a Difference: Every day you’ll have the opportunity to make a positive impact, save lives and make the world a better place—for pets and people

Here at VSOS, we pride ourselves on being committed to offering equal opportunities to all potential employees and have zero tolerance for discrimination. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants irrespective of age, sex, race, ethnicity, disability and other factors that have no bearing on an individual’s ability to perform their job.

Sound like a good fit?

Our team is focused on making a difference, staying ahead of the curve, and continuously learning. At VSOS, we provide top-tier emergency services and are dedicated to improving animal health and well-being every day. If you're ready to apply your expertise in a place that values both creativity and skill, this could be the next big step in your career, please send your resume to careers@vsos.com.au.