Veterinary Assistant - Surgery and Dentistry

Vicar Operating, Inc. dba VCA; United States; On-site; USD 25,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Paid vacation/sick days

401(k)

Employee pet discounts

Job summary

VCA Veterinary Care Animal Hospital & Referral Center in Albuquerque, NM, is hiring a Veterinary Assistant for Surgery and Dentistry. The role offers hands-on experience across primary and specialty services, with a supportive team and opportunities to learn from many knowledgeable colleagues.

We welcome credentialed technicians or on-the-job trained staff and emphasize growth, teamwork, and patient care. Training is available for those early in their careers, with a strong culture of support.

Qualifications

• Willingness to train when needed.
• Ability to work well in a team and support colleagues.
• Interest in surgery and dentistry within veterinary care.

Responsibilities

• Assist with surgical and dental procedures.
• Monitor anesthetic procedures.
• Clean instruments and pack prep, and maintain equipment.
• Provide general veterinary support: patient restraint, IV catheter placement, phlebotomy, and post-operative care.

Skills

Team player

Willing to learn

Flexible scheduling

Adaptable

Good humor

Tools

Anesthetic monitoring equipment

Job description

We are VCA Veterinary Care Animal Hospital & Referral Center, or just VCA Vet Care to our friends. We’re located 5,312 feet above sea level* in beautiful, fun, and (if you ask us) highly underrated Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our hospital is growing, so we would like to add a Veterinary Assistant to our team for Surgery and Dentistry.

Location: 8850 Holly Ave NE, Unit K, Albuquerque, NM 87122

Salary: $18 - 26 per hour

Schedule: 4 days, 10-hour shifts

Our hospital has both primary care (a.k.a. GP) and specialty/ER services, including oncology, surgery, ophthalmology, cardiology, and internal medicine. It’s an amazing place to grow your career in veterinary patient care, since you’ll get hands‑on experience with a huge variety of cases and have the opportunity to learn from many, many helpful and knowledgeable people. We have a supportive, highly involved tech manager team and an experienced group of techs in every department that you’ll be able to lean on from day one. We will hire both credentialed technicians and on‑the‑job‑trained veterinary assistant staff with appropriate levels of skill and knowledge. Eager to learn but short on experience? That’s cool too! We are 100% willing to train when we find folks who are a great fit with our culture.

Team member traits we are looking for

• Ready and willing to function as part of a team
• Committed to self‑improvement, personally and professionally
• Flexible, in terms of scheduling availability and in terms of taking what the day gives you
• Receptive to new responsibilities and different approaches
• Kind, respectful, food‑motivated, and possessing an excellent sense of humor

You would be assisting with those procedures, monitoring any anesthetic procedures, helping with instrument cleaning and pack prep, maintaining cardiac equipment, plus all the normal veterinary medical support staff stuff- patient restraint, IVC placement, phlebotomy, post‑surgical patient recovery, etc.

Benefits: We offer competitive compensation along with a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and paid vacation/sick days, 401(k), generous employee pet discounts, and more!

Benefits: We offer competitive compensation along with a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision and paid vacation/sick days, 401(k), generous employee pet discounts and more!

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer - Veterans / Disabled. For a complete EEO statement please see our career page at vcacareers.com.

A leader in veterinary care, VCA Animal Hospitals is committed to taking care of the future of veterinary medicine. We are a family of hometown animal hospitals determined to positively impact pets, people and our communities. From primary care to emergency, urgent and specialty care, VCA delivers world‑class medicine and hometown care to more than four million pets each year. We invest in cutting‑edge tools, training and technology that enable Associates across our national network of hospitals to lead the industry today and into tomorrow. Among our talented 35,000 Associates are nearly 7,000 veterinarians – including 500 who are board‑certified specialists – nearly 4,000 credentialed technicians and over 10,000 veterinary assistants – all dedicated to giving pets the very best in medical care. The future of veterinary medicine is in our hands. Join us.