CAREERS
There are extensive career opportunities at Donnington Grove within all areas of the practice. Our approach is collaborative and team driven, creating exciting and limitless professional and personal growth for all.
The equine division comprises multiple teams: Ambulatory, Stud, and Hospital. Within the Hospital there are specialist veterinary surgeons supported by an intern team. Teams are made up of Vets, Nurses, Equine Care Assistants, Equine Yard, Administrative and Laboratory technicians. Each of the Practice’s 130 staff members play an intrinsic role in our continued success which we value and appreciate.
All enquiries about career opportunities should be directed to our Human Resources Manager Lynda Lewendon by email. Please check below or on our Facebook page for active vacancies.
VACANCIES
Working in a veterinary practice is rewarding, fulfilling and challenging. It takes a special kind of person with a lot of dedication - that could be you! Donnington Grove is a great place to work - the opportunities are varied and in all areas of the practice. We post all openings on Facebook and our Human Resources Manager can be contacted by email.
We'd love to meet you and are thrilled that you are interested in working at Donnington Grove.
INTERNSHIPS
Donnington Grove offers an 18 month hospital based internship programme. Interns (house vets) are generally recruited from our externship program (see below). Internship is suitable for both new and recent graduates with some experience in practice. There is a huge opportunity to gain a wide range of practical skills.
Interns are trained and involved in all aspects of the hospital, including imaging (acquiring radiographs, MRI and scintigraphy images), general anaesthesia and assisting in surgery, as well as the care and work up of internal medicine and lameness cases. While ambulatory work is not a significant part of the internship it most commonly includes assisting our specialists with visits on the road or to other clinics.
Interns from Donnington Grove have progressed on to a multitude of career paths in the veterinary profession, including many successful ambulatory vets. A number of our interns have gone on to residency training across Europe and the United States in a wide range of specialities, including surgery, internal medicine, ophthalmology and sports horse medicine.
NURSING AND TRAINING
Donnington Grove Equine has 16-18 nurses on staff at any one time, including pre-trainees, nurses undergoing training and qualified nurses. They are all an integral part of our team. Our nurses have a variety of responsibilities, which include care of in-patients, administering medications and performing clinical checks, assisting in theatre and with work-up of cases. Nurses also assist with imaging, on the road as well as in the hospital.
We are a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) approved training centre and have been successfully training equine veterinary nurses for many years. Some nurses enter our training programme via our yard or care assistant teams, although plenty go straight into nurse training. Equine nurse training is a combination of working in the hospital, under supervision of a qualified veterinary nurse, with time away to study and attend lectures at an approved vet nurse teaching college. It takes 2-3 years to study to become a RCVS registered equine veterinary nurse, with written and practical examinations at the end.
EXTERNSHIPS
Donnington Grove offers an externship programme for veterinary students as part of their university training program, which is booked in 4 weeks blocks.
The externship is suitable for 4th or 5th year veterinary students or for qualified vets wanting to gain additional hospital experience and is the main gateway to the equine internship training programme at Donnington Grove.
This placement is only suitable for candidates that have a reasonable level of experience handling horses.
Externs are based in the hospital where accommodation is provided, and they are involved with all cases.
We recommend that all placements are booked well in advance to avoid disappointment!
Please read the Externship Info Sheet available below, before proceeding with your Externship Application.
