Medical Director

Overview

The Medical Director (MD) is responsible for providing strong leadership for the hospital, managing and mentoring associate veterinarians, and assuring regulatory compliance relating to the practice of veterinary medicine. The MD is also responsible for maintaining an environment of teamwork in which the highest quality veterinary medicine is delivered. In partnership with the hospital leadership team, the MD holds shared responsibility for the financial health of the hospital, directing staff and the overall management of practice operations. The MD also serves as a staff veterinarian in addition to the administrative and leadership duties of the MD role. Effective MDs demonstrate strong work and professional ethics, a positive attitude, and uphold a high standard of patient care. They are part of the foundation upon which successful veterinary practices are built and directly impact and influence hospital culture and morale.

Essential Functions:

Maintaining a high quality of progressive veterinary care:

• Oversees and gives directives regarding medical standards and quality of care.
• Sets policies as they pertain to the practice of medicine.
• Works toward making various service work as one team.
• In conjunction with appropriate leadership team members, recommends additions to the hospital inventory.
• Budget for new equipment; is able to provide a reasonable cost estimate and how there will be a return on investment.
• Sees patients and handles the clinical practice.
• Oversees and gives directives regarding medical standards and quality of care.
• Sets policies as they pertain to the practice of medicine, both specialty and ER.
• Works toward making various service work as one team.
• Works with ER departments to develop and maintain systems for communication and handling of patients between departments, including transfers, after-hour exams, and transport among hospitals.
• Ensures positive communication with clients and between doctors. This includes the proper transfer of patient care responsibilities between doctors.
• Reviews patient records for completeness and accuracy and uses them as a tool to promote medical excellence.
• Appropriately manages controlled drugs.
• Reviews and approves requests for alternatives to additional drugs and medical supplies.
• Assists the medical supplies ordering personnel in maintaining a hospital pharmacy, evaluating reasonable reorder points, generic alternatives, and eliminating underused and redundant drugs.
• Conducts regular doctor meetings.
• Performs other duties as assigned by Manager.

Administration duties:

• Handles patient care problems, client complaints, and referral partner problems resolution.
• Manages vet, client, and board complaints; recommends resolutions.
• Coordinates doctor coverage with Hospital Manager to ensure the hospital has coverage at all times.
• Develops medical policies.
• Assists in ensuring the practice complies with the State Veterinary Medical Practice Act, OSHA, and AAHA standards.

Leading by example:

• Holds licensure in good standing to practice and maintains all required licenses with timely renewals.
• Monitors DVM performance and production, provides coaching when appropriate.
• Serves as a mentor and role model for all staff veterinarians.

Development of the practices:

• Leads interviews of potential DVMs.
• Facilitates referrals and grows the referral base.
• Identifies new service opportunities that do not currently exist in the hospital.
• Holds ownership for the revenue and success of the practice through monitoring key performance indicators (productivity, costs, expenses associated with operations) and works with the Hospital Manager to make adjustments to achieve positive results.
• Helps identify and plan for upcoming challenges in maintaining hospital operations (upcoming maternity leaves, loss of a specialist). Helps identify possible temporary solutions (locum).

Competencies:

• Conflict resolution.
• Leadership.
• Communication.
• Customer Service.
• Ethics.
• Positivity.

Qualifications:

Education/Experience:

• Doctor in Veterinary Medicine Degree.
• 1-year rotational internship in small animal medicine, surgery, ER (university or large referral practice) recommended, but not required.
• 3-5 years of clinical experience, preferred.

Skills:

• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Excellent time-management and delegation abilities.
• Exercises sound judgment and demonstrates exemplary decision-making skills.
• Professionalism & courtesy in all interactions with others.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills.

The list of essential functions, as outlined in this job description, is intended to be representative of the tasks performed within this classification. The omission of any job function does not preclude management from assigning duties not listed herein if such functions are a logical assignment to the position.