What are the duties of a Veterinary Officer and what type of practice do they experience?

Hello,

I've had a chat with one of my veterinary colleagues to get an answer for you, hopefully the below is helpful.

At the start of your career you will work with military working dogs (predominantly general practice with young to middle aged working breeds). Later on in your career there may be the opportunity to work with military working horses if you are interested, however this is not guaranteed as the jobs can be competitive.

Your duties will vary, but as well as looking after the military working dogs you will spend time working as a troop commander, this involves helping soldiers with their careers and planning training.

You will do some out of hours work, usually you do a week at a time, this can vary from 1 in 2, to 1 in 7, depending on how many vets you are working with at the time. How busy these weeks are will depend on the location, but they tend not to be as onerous as they would be in a civilian practice. If you are working in a non-clinical role you will still do the clinical out of hours duties.

I hope that information answers your question, best of luck with your career.