Description

Independently owned since 1976, North King Animal Clinic is the unlikely love child of our straight-laced and fearless leader, Dr. Nancy Lewis Owen, and the very talented, kinda weird team she somehow finds herself surrounded by. Over the years, we've built something rare: a practice where the vibes are immaculate, the standards are sky-high, and the staff are an eclectic blend of beautiful personalities and talents that we couldn't be more proud of. We think you’ll love working here, whether you join our pack of oddballs or stand with Dr. Owen as an ally in normalcy.

We've never believed in production-based pay. You're here to practice medicine, not chase numbers. Our only metric? A happy team, well-cared-for patients, and clients who feel loved and supported. That's why our slogan is "the little red clinic with a big heart."

Above all, we try to do right by our clients, our patients, and our staff. No yelling. Ever. No egos. We think that if you treat your staff well and train them and trust them, then they will want to do good work and show up for you. (But seriously, if you’re sick, please don’t show up.) 

Why we’re hiring:
Our current associate, Dr. Calvin Carrington, is leaving for personal reasons (we’re heartbroken), but not before leaving us a love letter that made us all tear up. Here's a little of what he wrote:

"North King Animal Clinic is a wonderful privately owned practice, with modern equipment, a skilled team and great atmosphere to allow for the highest quality medicine of your choice. Dr. Nancy Lewis Owen is a wonderful, kind mentor who is easy to approach to discuss cases without feeling judgment. The medical support staff are highly skilled veterinary technicians... They allow the doctor to focus on doctor things. Positive attitudes, and a team-work approach makes them a highly efficient, and fun team to work with. It has been a wonderful clinic to advance my skillset and practice high quality medicine my own way, with solid support and love." Read the full letter here.

What your day-to-day would look like:
We’re open Tuesday through Saturday (but only ‘til noon), so that's basically two and a half days off for us full-timers. We like to protect our sanity, so we block off a slot or two every day for last-minute appointments.

We are blessed to have several wonderful emergency and referral hospitals in the region to take on the truly urgent and complex cases. But hey, if you’re a go-getter (or masochist) and want to do that torn nail repair at 5pm on a Friday, let us know if that's your jam!

You'll be doing mostly general practice, wellness, sick visits, dentals, routine surgery like: spays/neuters, mass removals, enucleations, minor amputations. You'll have support from our incredible team of two techs, an assistant, a practice manager, and two CSRs, plus Dr. Owen! Appointments range from 20 to 30 minutes. If you have interest in growing your surgical skills or diving deeper into certain cases, we love curiosity and will be happy to support you.

You're a great fit if:

• You love general practice and actually enjoy getting to know your clients (ours our pretty amazing—mostly )
• You appreciate skilled techs who will set you up for success (and occasionally sing for you)
• You want mentorship (or just a judgment-free sounding board)
• You're super smart, kind, curious, and easy-going
• You're maybe a little weird, or maybe totally normal. Either way, you just want to do good work with good people
• You value low-stress handling and fear-free techniques. We're not certified (the cost feels prohibitive), but we've integrated a lot of the principles because they work: gentle care, pheromones, treats, and patience. 

Though our building itself isn’t a flashy, brand-new million dollar facility (a girl can dream), it’s got good (albeit achey) bones and great, modern equipment. We’re fully kitted out with in-house IDEXX equipment, including a Catalyst One, ProCyte Dx, SediVue Dx and an InVue Dx Cellular Analyzer, as well as a Class IV therapeutic laser. Last year, we added a butterfly hand-held ultrasound and upgraded to direct digital radiography plus a shiny new Midmark multi-parameter anesthetic monitor. We use Cornerstone for our EMR, and are paperless bordering on paper-lite (who doesn’t like to scrawl things with a pen on paper first? We support that inclination). We use Talkatoo voice-to-text and AI SOAP notes to ease the dreaded medical record process. We strive to stay fluid and adaptable, always looking for the best, most efficient way to do things.

The Goodies:

• Base Salary of $110,000 to $135,000
• CE and licensing allowance
• Paid time off and closed all major holidays (and some minor ones too)
• Generous employee pet discounts
• IRA
• Medical and dental insurance
• Aflac supplemental insurance (dental, vision, accidents, cancer and more)
• We have a serious love affair with a good snow day
• Cute, super comfy clinic scrubs (and a white coat if you want to rock one!)
• Dedicated mentorship from Dr. Owen (50+ years of experience, zero judgment)
• Need help relocating to join us? Let’s talk!

Let’s talk schedule: 
This position is ideally part-time to start (2-3 days/week), with the goal of growing into full-time as we build. But if full-time from day one is what you need, let's talk! We're flexible for the right person.

Living in Northampton, the “Paradise City” 
If you’re from the region, you probably know how wonderful Northampton is, but if you’re looking at this from further out, let us tell you about living here.

Nestled in the Pioneer Valley, Northampton is the kind of place where you can hike or bike the rail trails in the morning, grab a bite at one of the many incredible restaurants downtown, catch live music or an art opening at night, and feel like you belong everywhere in between. Add in the energy of the Five College consortium (Smith, Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, and Umass) bringing world-class learning, art and culture, and you've got a community that's beautiful, vibrant, deeply progressive (rainbow crosswalks and all), and just the right amount of quirky. Kind of like us.

Ready to meet your new favorite team?
Reach out through the AVMA platform and tell us something about yourself! We genuinely want to know who you are. And we want you to feel like you know us, too. The right fit goes both ways.

One more thing...
Dr. Owen has been at this for nearly 50 years. Someday (not tomorrow, not next year) she'll be ready to retire. When that day comes, she would love to keep this practice privately owned and independent. If owning your own practice has ever crossed your mind... well. Something to think about!

Requirements

Needs:

• DVM or VMD degree from an accredited institution
• Current Massachusetts veterinary license (or eligibility to obtain)

 Wants:

• Value low-stress handling techniques
• Proficiency with a hand-held ultrasound unit for FAST abnormal scans, cystos, etc.
• Familiarity with taking and reviewing dental radiographs
• A bright, shiny personality!