VA

Veterinary Assistant

The Veterinary Assistant supports the veterinarians and veterinary technicians in ensuring quality veterinary care for all pets, advocates for pets, educates clients on all aspects of pet health, and ensures a safe and effective hospital environment.

Essential Responsibilities and Tasks:

• Live and exemplify the Five Principles of Mars, Inc. within self and team.
• Act as the extra eyes, ears, and hands for the veterinarian and veterinary technician to ensure the best quality pet care and to maximize the veterinarian's and veterinary technician's productivity.
• Communicate with veterinarian, veterinary technicians, and all other associates to maintain the flow of patients.
• Provide professional, efficient, and exceptional service at all times.
• This includes performing or preparing procedures that do not require veterinarian or veterinary technician assistance, completing preparatory work for other procedures, ensuring that clients and pets are comfortable in the hospital, and monitoring hospitalized or surgical pets as allowed in the state practice acts.
• Educate clients about Optimum Wellness Plans, preventive care, pet health needs, hospital services, and other issues.
• Obtain relevant information and history from clients and maintain proper and complete medical charts.
• Ensure the safety of pets, clients, and associates by utilizing safe restraining techniques, following standard protocols, and maintaining clean, sterile, and organized treatment areas, exam rooms, and labs.
• Assist with surgery as applicable.
• Utilize technical skills to the fullest, within state practice acts and as outlined in the NAVTA guidelines for veterinary assistant skills and duties.
• Mentor other paraprofessionals in the hospital.
• Other job duties as assigned.

The Five Principles:

• Quality - The consumer is our boss, quality is our work, and value for money is our goal.
• Responsibility - As individuals, we demand total responsibility from ourselves; as associates, we support the responsibility of others.
• Mutuality - A mutual benefit is a shared benefit; a shared benefit will endure.
• Efficiency - We use resources to the full, waste nothing, and do only what we can do best.
• Freedom - We need freedom to shape our future; we need profit to remain free.

Hiring Qualifications Competencies:

• Leadership
• Action Oriented
• Customer Focus
• Listening
• Peer Relationships
• Personal Learning
• Functional Skills
• Priority Setting

Capabilities and Experience:

• Ability to multi-task
• Communication skills
• Organizational ability
• Problem solving skills
• Client service skills
• Intellectual ability
• Mathematical ability
• Computer skills

Attitudes:

• Initiative
• Integrity
• Cooperativeness
• Flexibility
• Independence
• Tolerance for Stress / Resiliency

Special Working Conditions:

• Ability to work at a computer for long periods of time.
• Ability to be confident around pets (i.e., dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc.)
• Client needs and work volume may often require more than 40 hours per week to complete essential duties of this job.
• This position requires special hours including working weekends and evenings.
• Must have mental processes for reasoning, remembering, mathematics, and language ability (reading, writing, and speaking the English language) to perform the duties proficiently.
• The noise level in the work environment is moderately high.
• Requires sufficient ambulatory skills in order to perform duties while at hospital.
• Ability to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and climb as well as manipulate (lift, carry, move) up to 50 pounds.
• Requires good hand-eye coordination, arm-hand-finger dexterity with the ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard and operate equipment.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
• Associate is routinely exposed to a variety of pets that may bite or scratch, and on occasion, exposed to anesthesia, radiation, biological hazards, and medication/controlled substances.

Experience, Education and/or Training:

• Certificate of completion from a NAVTA approved Veterinary Assistant program, or the equivalent combination of education, training, and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• High School Diploma or equivalent preferred.
• Must be able to perform all required skills of NAVTA approved veterinary assistant programs at a level in which to aid in the efficiency of the practice.
• Must be at least 18 years old to perform duties involving radiography (x-ray) and exposure to radioactive substances.
• One year related experience required with customer service preferred.

Pay Range:

$17.60 - $22.49 Hourly

The pay range listed reflects a general hiring range for the area, with the specific rate determined based on the candidate's experience, skill level, and education, and may vary depending on location or applicable minimum wage laws.

Total Rewards Package:

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Generous Retirement Plans (401(k) and Roth)
• Student Debt Relief Program (for Full-Time DVMs)
• Paid Time Off and Holidays
• Top-Tier Mental Health and Wellbeing Resources
• Associate Life Insurance (company-paid) & Supplemental Life Insurance
• Company-Paid Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Paid Parental Leave
• Continuing Education Allowance (for Eligible Positions)
• Back-Up Child and Elder Care & Family Support Resources
• Fertility and Family Building Support
• Digital Exercise Therapy
• Voluntary Protection Benefits
• Legal Plan
• Identity Protection
• Commuter Benefits
• Three Free Optimum Wellness Plans for Pets
• Exclusive Discounts

Benefits eligibility is based on employment status. Full-time (FT) Associates are eligible for all benefit programs (Student Debt Program available for FT DVMs only); Part-time Associates are eligible for those benefits with an asterisk (*).