Optivet Referrals is currently looking for an anaesthesia resident or alternatively, an intern with interest in pursuing a residency after the internship. The ideal candidate is a veterinary surgeon with a strong interest in anaesthesia and analgesia, with previous experience in general practice (general internship or similar) and ideally also with anaesthesia experience or with an internship in anaesthesia already completed (if applying for a residency). This residency will be following the alternative track, with externships at other institutions to gain experience in other animal species as well as in specialties not covered at Optivet (neurology, cardiology, intensive care). The program will be discussed with the successful candidate in detail.

About us

Optivet Referrals is one of the leading Veterinary Ophthalmology hospitals in the UK, with state-of-the-art facilities, that is rapidly expanding and accepts referral surgical and medical cases apart from ophthalmology referrals. The Anaesthesia and Analgesia team consists of a senior anaesthetist (Diplomate ACVAA and ECVAA) and another anaesthetist with the ECVAA residency completed. The rest of the team includes an ECVS diplomate Surgeon, 2 Surgeon certificate holders, an RCVS Internal Medicine specialist, 4 Ophthalmology specialists, 4 Ophthalmology certificate holders, 1 Ophthalmology resident and 6 ophthalmology interns. The caseload includes a wide variety of ophthalmology surgeries (cataracts, retinal reattachment, glaucoma surgery, corneal grafts, entropion, face lifts, enucleations, etc..), orthopaedic and soft tissue surgeries, medicine procedures (E.g. endoscopies, bronchoscopies, biopsies) and computed tomography cases (both inpatients and outpatients). The majority of the patients are dogs and cats (95%), and the remainder are exotics. The anaesthesia equipment incorporates advanced ventilatory and haemodynamic monitoring, including non-invasive cardiac output, mechanical ventilators, peripheral nerve stimulators (for neuromuscular function monitoring and nerve blocks) and a dedicated ultrasound machine for ultrasound-guided peripheral loco-regional blocks.

About the role

The anaesthesia resident/intern will be directly involved in the pre- intra- and post-operative assessment and care of patients needing anaesthesia and will also have their own cases under direct supervision by the Diplomate anaesthetist. The Anaesthesia team holds weekly Journal club meetings and the whole Optivet team holds weekly in-house CPD presentations, where the residents/interns are expected to present at least once during the internship.

The residency will have a duration of 3 years whereas the internship will have a duration of 12 months. A competitive and attractive benefit package is offered. The resident/intern will be expected to work 40 hours per week and will be expected to do some out of hours (on call). Holidays are 25 working days plus statutory bank holidays, and CPD allowance is 5 days. A further 5 days may be taken as unpaid leave should the intern wish to pursue other training opportunities or attend other conferences. There will be a 3-month probationary period, during which the contract may be terminated by either party with a one-week notice period.

Optivet Referrals is located in Havant, Hampshire, in the South of England, near Portsmouth, Chichester, Winchester and Southampton, with easy train access to London city centre and 1 hour 20 min by car to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The South of England enjoys more days of sun than the rest of the country, has beautiful beaches and is very close to nature reserves like the South Downs and the New Forest.

Application

Interested candidates please contact Eva Rioja Garcia (eva@optivet.com), our Head of Anaesthesia and Clinical Lead, or Emma Phillips (emma.phillips@optivet.com), our People Lead. Candidates must have MRCVS membership already and be able to obtain a work visa in the UK. If you want to apply, please send us your CV, letter of intent and the contact of 2 references. There is no application deadline, we will consider all candidates until the position is filled.