Veterinary Assistant

Upper Arlington Hospital is a full service veterinary care facility located in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Our hospital provides superior service and education to families and their pets by offering high-quality patient care with compassion, experience, and comprehensive medical and surgical care. We offer a wide variety of veterinary services including internal medicine, dentistry, general and orthopedic surgeries, spays/neuters and more. We are AAHA accredited and won the AAHA 2023 Practice of the Year. If you're dedicated to veterinary excellence, we invite you to join our family.

We are seeking a Veterinary Assistant to join our growing hospital to provide exceptional care to our patients! You will work alongside other skilled Vet Assistants, support our Credentialed Veterinary Technicians and DVMs in the daily flow of the hospital. When you join our organization as a Veterinary Assistant, you gain access to a peer network of over 5000 individuals, 100% tuition reimbursement for accredited Vet Tech programs, and Learning & Development programs to help you meet your career goals.

Personal Requirements:

• Genuinely enjoys working with people and can stay calm when clients are stressed or upset.
• Genuinely enjoys working with animals and can safely handle them even when they are stressed, ill, or injured.
• Can stay calm and efficient in the event of a medical crisis.
• Is well spoken and approaches his/her job duties maturely and professionally.
• Is experienced in a team-centric approach and works well with all members and levels of the hospital team.
• Has excellent client communication skills.
• Can maintain positive cooperative relationships with coworkers.

Computer Skills: Perform basic computer skills. Excellent spelling and grammar are required.

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required, and are considered essential duties/functions of this position.

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently exposed to work near moving mechanical parts. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. May be exposed to unpleasant odors, noises, and animal feces. May be exposed to bites, scratches, and contagious diseases.

Equipment:

• Gas Anesthesia Machine
• Electrocardiogram
• Doppler
• Capnograph
• Pulse Oximeter
• Dental Ultrasonic Scaler/Polisher
• Centrifuge
• Autoclave
• Gas Autoclave
• Digital Radiography Machine
• Intraoral Radiography Unit
• Ultrasound Machine
• Microscope
• Idexx Lab Equipment
• Therapy Laser
• Endoscopy
• Laparoscopy

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 40 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, use hands, and reach with hands and arms. The employee is frequently required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.

Medical Responsibilities :

• Provides compassionate care to clients and patients.
• Assists the veterinarians and technicians with all aspects of patient care as required by the veterinarian in all areas of the hospital, treatment, exam rooms, and the operating room.
• Assists veterinarians and technicians with in-patient care and daily treatments.
• Can assist the veterinarians and technicians with medical and surgical procedures. Prepares patients for surgery using aseptic techniques.
• Can give SQ injections.
• Will review medical records for past medical/vaccine history.
• Gathers patient history from clients. Records history in the medical record and reports history and communicates any critical changes to a veterinarian or technician.
• Understands all common vaccinations and vaccination protocols and can explain them to clients.
• Can keep accurate medical records.
• Can effectively restrain pets, even when large or difficult.

Pharmacy

Job Skills Required

• Impeccable attention to detail and good critical thinking skills.
• Working knowledge and familiarity with drugs commonly prescribed in veterinary practice.
• Knowledgeable in handling and administration of the medications commonly prescribed in practice, and able to resource information for others
• Confidence under pressure
• Ability to problem solve using common sense and the ability to follow orders from RVTs and DVMs.
• Able and willing to ask questions when orders require clarification
• Knowledge of basic computer functions
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, stressful work environment. Must be able to always maintain professionalism and composure
• Ability to speak, read, and write the English language

Diagnostic and Laboratory:

• Can effectively position for and obtain diagnostic-quality radiographs.
• Can prepare patients and set up the machine for ultrasound procedures.
• Can send ultrasound images, digital radiographs, and ECGs to a specialist for consultation as requested by a veterinarian.
• Can collect samples for and perform clinical laboratory procedures such as fecal cytology’s, SNAP tests, urinalysis, skin scrapings, ear cytology, preparation of bacterial and fungal cultures.
• Can operate and clean laboratory equipment: serum chemistry analyzer, hematology analyzer, sedivue, microscope, Idexx Snap Pro.
• Can operate Companion therapy laser.
• Can prepare samples for pick up or shipment to reference laboratories in a timely manner.

Housekeeping:

• Can properly care for all surgical materials, keep the operating room stocked and prepared for surgery.
• Can prepare surgical packs; understands how to wrap and autoclave surgical packs.
• Prepares, stocks, and maintains asepsis in the exam rooms, treatment area, operating room, and pharmacy.
• Understands the importance of a clean and orderly facility, does not hesitate to clean and organize as part of normal job duties.

Clerical/Customer Care

• Can prepare client invoices for services performed.
• Can accurately handle payment transactions.
• Can build treatment plans upon the request of a veterinarian.
• Can accurately and empathetically communicate estimates/treatment plans to clients.
• Can prepare prescription and non-prescription medications to be dispensed to include counting tablets, entering prescription information into computer, generating prescription labels, and notifying clients by telephone when prescriptions are ready for pickup.

Position Requirements:

• High School diploma or GED certificate
• Flexible schedule including some weekend and holiday shifts
• Knowledge of medical procedures and animal handling
• Must possess strong communication skills, good judgment and be able to manage stressful situations, and work with others on a team respectfully
• Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds

• Pay range of $12.35-$20.90/hour based on experience
• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Short Term Disability
• Paid Time Off (Vacation & Public Holidays)
• SVP offers educational assistance for qualified teammates to enroll in AVMA-CVTEA accredited veterinary technician programs
• Teladoc- FREE doctor access 24/7
• Discounted Veterinary Care
• EAP (Employee Assistance Program)
• A large network of over 5,000 veterinary professionals who all share common interest in promoting a collaborative working environment and individual career growth
• Opportunity to make an impact in your community while tackling a challenging, variety of tasks and the ability to help animals among a great team of people!

Our team’s continuous dedication has rewarded us with remarkable growth, and Southern Veterinary Partners now employs more than 8,000 employees nationwide. The organization’s success has not gone unnoticed, landing us recognition as #19 on Newsweek’s “Most Loved Workplaces” list in 2022. Additionally, we have ranked among Inc. 5000’s List of "Fastest Growing Companies in America" (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022) and the Birmingham Business Journal's "FastTrack 30" of the Fastest Growing Companies in Birmingham (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021).