• A choice among medical plans, dental plans and vision plans
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and both healthcare and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
• Company-paid life insurance and the option to purchase supplemental life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability plans
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Voluntary plans including supplemental medical plans, identity protection, prepaid legal service and more
• VCA supported employee assistance program
• Ability to transfer within VCA hospitals across North America
• An impressive pet care discount for employee pets

Professional development for veterinarians includes online medical content, attendance at national conferences, as well as leadership development. For technicians, VCA offers various forms of continuing education support, including many online options, and scholarships to attend Penn Foster’s Veterinary Technician/Assistant programs.

VCA veterinarians practice medicine their way, with no corporate restrictions, quotas, or flowcharts. We provide excellent equipment and support, and let you take it from there. VCA offers flexible compensation options including production plans without negative accrual.  We want your paycheck to be a reward for a job well done, not a cause for stress.

Extending care into our local communities is the ethos of what we do, and what we stand for, and it goes far beyond our hospital doors. We believe the power of healing comes from more than medicine. That’s why the welfare of pets in need (and the people who love them) is important to us. Read more about VCA's Social Responsibility.

VCA Pet CancerCare Alliance
• A nationally collected organization of colleagues that is improving communication and collaboration throughout the group. You will not be alone but will have access to dozens of colleagues to help guide your decision making. 
• Industry partners in the veterinary oncology space are now recognizing the power of VCA's oncology network in both the quality and quantity of case accruals. More and more clinical trials are available for those who are interested. 
• A network this large allows for some career flexibility if life finds you in need of relocating.
Learn more about VCA's PetCancerCare Alliance

VCA Partnership with Varian in the Fight against Pet Cancer
The VCA Animal Hospitals partnership with Varian provides advanced pet cancer radiotherapy treatment at select specialty hospitals.
Many VCA Pet CancerCare™ Centers will install a fully integrated suite of Varian products, including its ARIA® and Eclipse™ software platforms and TrueBeam® or Halcyon™ radiotherapy systems. VCA board-certified oncology teams will develop individualized treatment plans for pets using advanced software (Varian Eclipse), proprietary machine learning, artificial intelligence, and patient-specific computed tomography scans.
Learn more about this partnership: https://vcahospitals.com/press-center/2019-09-30

We understand how important health and well-being are to every associate. We also know that well-being is comprised of many different elements: physical, mental, financial, community, and career satisfaction. At VCA, we ensure that associates have tools and resources for use in personal situations and by hospital groups. We are committed to making a positive difference in the lives of associates, our hospital communities, and the profession as a whole.

Many students use their externships as an extended interview, and we strongly encourage this! Please let your VCA recruiter know of your interest, and they can help set up externships with practices that might be a good fit after graduation. If you have not met a VCA recruiter, please email us at [email protected].

At this time, we are unable to provide housing for veterinary student externs, but our network of up to 1,000 hospitals means you can most likely find an externship opportunity in an affordable city or one in which you have a friend or relative!

At this time, we are unable to provide stipends for student externs. 

VCA Aurora Animal hospital is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and provides a wide range of specialty, critical care, and emergency services as well as primary care. Our veterinary services and medical equipment mirror what you would find at a human medical center.

We offer a team approach to veterinary medicine, where emergency veterinarians and board-certified specialists work together to provide the most advanced care possible for every patient utilizing the newest diagnostic equipment and therapeutic techniques.

Our objective is to educate students while maintaining exceptional patient care, communication to our clients, and a support system for referring primary care veterinarians.

VCA Aurora Animal Hospital will work closely with the student's school to ensure that all credit requirements are being met.

During the externship, experienced VTS's, CVT's, boarded specialists, skilled emergency and primary care veterinarians are all involved in educating students. A mentor will be assigned during the student's externship to allow for clear communication, honesty, and one on one training. The externship will include one 15-minute oral presentation of an observed in-hospital case at the conclusion of the externship. This presentation will be given to current employees of VCA Aurora.

Students can expect to gain knowledge of anesthesia, intensive care medicine, triage, and technical skills (blood draws, radiology positioning, IV catheters, epidurals, calculations). Students will spend time in varying services throughout the hospital to obtain a well-rounded experience and to practice as many skills as possible.

VCA Aurora's externship program is for you, if:

• You are currently enrolled in an AVMA Accredited Veterinary Technician program
• You are looking for experience in a specialty, emergency, or primary care canine/feline practice.
• You are hard-working, motivated, responsible, friendly, and enjoy working with others.

Additional Information for Potential Externs
To apply for an externship at VCA Aurora, email our educational program coordinator, [email protected].

Please feel free to email, [email protected] if you have any questions. Our educational program coordinator will reply to emails within 1 week.

All VCA internship programs go through the VIRMP match, so your application should start at https://www.virmp.org/. 

Our dedicated internship director is available to help you navigate all phases of your internship, from initial placement to your post-internship options. As a VCA intern, you will receive a competitive salary and unparalleled support from your VCA team.

We definitely want to meet you as we move through the match process. If you are able to visit the hospital, we would really enjoy spending time with you. If meeting in person is not possible, video interviews and tours can be arranged. If you have externship blocks you can spend with us, that’s even better! Your VCA recruiter can help coordinate a visit, so if you have not met your VCA recruiter, please email us at [email protected].