Mixed Practice Veterinary Surgeon

If you are a mixed vet looking to settle in the stunning Scottish Highlands, then look no further than Conanvet as the practice for you. We are a well-established (90 years!) independent, 17 vet multi-centre practice.  Come and join us and experience the relaxed pace of life in this stunning bit of the UK. With mountains and sea on the doorstep, this is the best part of the British Isles for an outdoor enthusiast – be it paddle boarding, sea kayaking, gravel/mountain/road biking, munro-bagging or bothy-ing.

Heather who has been with us since graduating 3 years ago says “This is a fantastic practice with an amazing hardworking team of people. Everyone is incredibly supportive and there are plenty of opportunities to develop daily. Thoroughly enjoyable location with visits taking you to some beautiful locations across the highlands. Excellent mix of varied cases covering companion, farm and equine patients”

This role would suit a mixed practice vet, with some experience, as the role has a large animal bias. You would be working within a team of 17 vets, including an equine practitioner certificate holder and one other vet studying towards a certificate in small animal medicine. All new starters are well supported whatever their experience, our new graduate employees from the last three years are still in position so we must be doing something right! Rest assured that you won’t be left alone and not a single vet in the practice does any sole charge, no matter what level we are at.  There is also fantastic support from our nursing team. Our caseload is roughly 60% small animal with the remainder being large animal and equine. The large animal work is pedigree and commercial beef cattle alongside pedigree and commercial sheep plus a few small holdings. No two days here will be the same with our varied workload, be it small animal consultations, operating, branch surgery cover or equine and large animal visits all over this area of Scotland, variety is the spice of life! As Lucy one of our vets says, “this is a true mixed practice”.

We have one main surgery in Conon Bridge, and three smaller branches in Gairloch, Ullapool and Fortrose and the recently purchased practice in Dingwall.Two of the branches are on the stunning west coast and our vets love to consult here so they can grab a bite to eat at the renowned Seafood Shack in Ullapool. Despite the incredible rural scenery, we are really well located for travel links with Inverness 20 minutes’ drive away and the airport just 15 minutes further. Douglas one the partners has also been known to finish consults in Ullapool and be on the ferry to Stornoway that afternoon!

We have some great kit to make life easier; we use DR x-ray for horses (sometimes cows and sheep too) and CR x-ray for small animals, we have video endo- and gastro- scopes, 2 different ultrasound units and a dental suite with a top of the range IM3 digital x-ray. Meanwhile, our large animal side has a dedicated operating room for those springtime ovine caesars and occasional hernia op, two Easiscan rectal scanners, bull and tup semen testing kit and a state-of-the-art hydraulic tipper crush to simplify foot care which is able to cope with the largest bulls. We have two brilliant SQP’s organising our rounds and providing excellent backup and communication with our diverse large animal clients.

We try to get the balance of a rewarding job but time to enjoy the amazing area we live in. Our routine finish time every weekday is 5pm and we make sure we get a proper lunch break. There is a 1 in 4 rota on a 1st and 2nd call system with 2 days off for every weekend worked, all work is equally shared. Two vets are on call at all times encouraging support, co-operation and teamwork.

We are a really close team and have a low staff turnover. Our vets genuinely enjoy working here and try to get together as much as we can outside of work (we don’t need much of an excuse for a get together!) On top of the informal socials, we also have a great Christmas party and a summer BBQ to look forward to!

We are offering up to £50,000 for an experienced surgeon. We have a flexible CPD budget, “if you think it's useful, we’ll pay for it”. Certificates are actively encouraged and funded. All the usual professional memberships are covered, and we are also able to offer relocation packages and accommodation if needed.

If you fancy Highland life and we sound like the perfect move for you, please get in touch for an informal chat, or apply now.