What's daily life like as a practicing veterinarian in the army?

Hello,

I have forwarded your question to one of our vets, hopefully we will have an answer for you next week!

In the mean time our website has some detail on joining as a vet https://apply.army.mod.uk/roles/army-medical-service/veterinary-officer

Hi Rory, I have an answer for you! This is from Capt Gale.

Hi, I’m one of the Veterinary Officers (VO) at 1st Military Working Dog Regiment and I’ve been working here for the past 2 years. I’m currently in a more clinically facing role, but I also started out in Troop Command, so hopefully I have a good perspective of both sides!
There really isn’t a “typical” day in this job, every day is very variable and no two weeks are the same, however I will try to give you an overview of what a week is like.
We usually start between 0730-0800 and finish from 1700 onwards. I do organised PT 3 x per week with my Squadron, this is usually one cardio session, one strength and one combat PT.
I typically have 3-4 standing meetings/appointments per week, there are clinical meetings, squadron and vet clinic planning meetings and a weekly officers get together where we can all catch up on any issues that are easier sorted face to face. There is also Junior Officer development every other week, where we develop more of the key skills needed to carry out our daily duties, this is non-clinical.

Currently the clinical duties are rotated between 3 x VO’s, this means I am the main point of contact for appointments, surgeries and emergencies on average every 1 in 3 weeks. The OOO duties are split between all VO’s on site, so are more like 1 in 6. During a typical clinical week, I would see sick parade first thing, then routine appointments until lunch on 3 days, with surgery/ procedures days on the other 2 days per week. We typically see a lot of lameness, diarrhoea and wounds, and occasionally some stranger presentations!

The rest of my time is spent catching up on my office work. This can range from writing vet plans, sorting export paperwork, planning exercises or other tasks I’ve been given. I am responsible for the 3 Veterinary Technicians under my command and I am also responsible for providing Pre-Veterinary Emergency Care training to the MWD Handlers.

As a Troop Commander, you are less clinical facing and therefore spend more time focusing on soldier management. This consists of Annual Report writing, exercise planning, dealing with discipline and welfare and overseeing their day to day care.

There are lots of other things involved in a typical week, but often it is so variable I cannot list them all here. One thing I can never say, is that I am bored. This certainly isn’t your typical Veterinary Job, and it’s not all Adventurous Training and Sport (although there is some!) but it certainly offers variety and an alternative to the traditional veterinary pathway.