Veterinary Surgeon CV Examples & Writing Guide

This example is for a small animal vet six years after graduating, working in first-opinion practice with a growing surgical caseload. The name, practices and university are made up. Swap in your own species mix, caseload, procedures and software.

Vet recruitment has been a candidate's market for several years, so a CV does not need to be flashy. It needs to answer four questions before the phone call.

• Are you registered, and since when? MRCVS, year of registration, and for new graduates whether you have started VetGDP. Put these in the contact line. A graduate who has not yet registered writes "RCVS registration expected [month and year]".
• What work do you do? Species mix, consults per day, consult length, and whether you do out-of-hours. "Small animal first opinion, 22 consults a day, OOH rota" is a different hire from "exotics, 10 consults a day".
• What can you do in theatre without help? Name procedures and weekly volume. "Confident with soft tissue surgery" does not say whether that means castrations or splenectomies.
• Will clients and staff like working with you? Treatment-plan acceptance, review scores, mentoring and record-completion habits all speak to this. Turnover is expensive; owners read for signs you stay.

“Every vet CV says "compassionate" and "team player." Show me appointments per day, what you cut on a surgery day, and whether your records get done. Then I know what my schedule looks like with you in it.”

In the UK every vet sends a CV, but there are two quite different kinds. Many vets need both over a career.

In the US the short practice document is called a resume and the usual title is veterinarian (DVM), licensed state by state after the NAVLE exam. If you trained abroad and want to work in the UK, check with the RCVS whether your degree lets you register directly or whether you need to pass the RCVS Statutory Membership Examination first.

Three or four lines under your name: type of work and years, caseload, two or three procedures, and one number a practice owner cares about. New graduates use the same shape with rotations and EMS in place of years.

Most vet CVs list duties every vet has: "examined and treated patients, performed surgeries". Rewrite them with volume, procedure names and outcomes. Six common examples:

Numbers need to be honest, not big. "12 consults a day in 30-minute slots" describes a practice style some owners are looking for. Complication figures are optional; if you include one, keep it factual.

Keep the list to 10 to 14 items and put the advert's words first. Mix the three groups below, and name procedures rather than writing "surgery".

Clinical and surgical skills:

• Species and areas: small animal, feline, exotics, equine, farm animal, shelter and charity medicine, emergency and out-of-hours
• Soft tissue surgery by procedure: spay, castration, mass removal, cystotomy, gastrotomy, splenectomy, enucleation, amputation
• Orthopaedic procedures if you do them: fracture repair, patellar luxation, cruciate techniques (name the technique)
• Dentistry: dental radiography, periodontal treatment, surgical extractions
• Anaesthesia and analgesia protocols, CPR (RECOVER)
• Emergency stabilisation, blood transfusion, fluid therapy

Diagnostics, software and compliance:

• Ultrasound (abdominal, AFAST/TFAST), digital and dental radiography, endoscopy
• In-house labs: IDEXX Catalyst and ProCyte, SNAP tests; external laboratories
• Practice management software: RoboVet, RxWorks, ezyVet, Merlin, Teleos
• Controlled drugs register and audits, Veterinary Medicines Regulations (POM-V prescribing, the cascade), radiation safety (IRR17, local rules)
• Official Veterinarian work: export health certificates, animal health certificates for pet travel, TB testing

Client and team skills (prove them with a number in a bullet):

• Treatment-plan communication and estimates (acceptance rate)
• End-of-life conversations and euthanasia with grieving clients
• Mentoring nurses and new graduates (how many, what outcome)
• Record completion and case follow-up habits (same-day percentage)

Credentials are checked against the public RCVS register, so list them exactly. Required items first.

• Veterinary degree: BVSc, BVetMed, BVM&S, BVMS, VetMB or your school's equivalent, with university and year. Add an intercalated degree if you have one. Graduates from outside the UK should say how they registered (recognised degree or the RCVS Statutory Membership Examination).
• RCVS registration: write "MRCVS" after your name and the year you registered. There are no regional licences; one registration covers the whole UK. A new graduate writes "RCVS registration expected July 2027" until it is done. The RCVS also expects at least 35 hours of CPD a year; one line saying it is up to date, with your focus areas, is enough.
• VetGDP: new graduates work through the RCVS Veterinary Graduate Development Programme with an adviser in an Approved Graduate Development Practice. List it as "VetGDP in progress" or "completed [year]". Vets who registered before VetGDP was introduced completed the older Professional Development Phase (PDP).
• Controlled drugs and medicines: there is no separate personal registration for controlled drugs as in the US, but you work under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations and the Veterinary Medicines Regulations. If you have been the practice's controlled drugs lead or run audits, say so.
• Official Veterinarian (OV): authorised through APHA for export health certificates, pet travel and statutory work such as TB testing. List the OV areas you hold.
• Fear Free certification and RECOVER CPR (BLS/ALS): real, recognised, worth a line each.
• Advanced qualifications only if you hold them: RCVS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice (CertAVP), RCVS Advanced Practitioner status, a European Diploma (for example DipECVS, DipECVIM-CA) or RCVS Specialist status. Residency finished but Diploma exam still to come? Write "Diploma examination pending".
• Memberships and indemnity: BVA, BSAVA, BEVA, BCVA or SPVS in one line at the bottom. Professional indemnity is usually covered by the practice (often through the VDS); locums should say they hold their own.

A new graduate has no turnover figures, and practice owners know that. They want to see that you are registered or about to be, that you have hands-on numbers from rotations and EMS placements, and that you know what kind of practice you want. Vet students applying for EMS placements or internships follow the same pattern with more academic detail.

1. 1Contact line: "BVSc 2026, MRCVS" or, before graduation, "graduating July 2027, RCVS registration expected July 2027".
2. 2Personal statement with facts: rotations finished, one EMS placement with a number, the type of practice you want, and that you are looking for a VetGDP practice.
3. 3Clinical experience section: list final-year rotations and clinical EMS placements like jobs, 2 to 3 bullets each with counts ("primary surgeon on 35 spays and castrations", "6 ICU patients a shift under supervision").
4. 4Earlier work counts: animal husbandry EMS (lambing, dairy, equine yards), veterinary care assistant or kennel jobs, rescue centre work and research labs, with volumes and years.
5. 5Skills: procedures done as primary surgeon, diagnostics you can run, practice software used on placements.
6. 6Prizes, intercalated degree, research and presentations: one line each; expand this for an internship or residency CV.
7. 7One page for first-opinion practice, two if you have research and publications.

• One to two pages for practice jobs: one for new graduates and vets under 5 years, two once you have several practices, locum work or leadership. An academic CV has no limit.
• Order: header with your degree and "MRCVS" after your name; personal statement; registration; experience with caseload numbers; skills; education; memberships.
• Reverse chronological. Owners care how long you stayed at each practice. Explain short stints (locum work, relocation, a practice sale) at interview, not on the CV.
• No photo, no date of birth, no marital status. Town and county are enough; add "willing to relocate" when true.
• PDF. Corporate groups often use an online form where you paste text; keep the same numbers ready.

The cvplex veterinarian template used above is a clean two-column layout with credentials near the top and no graphics, which reads well for a practice owner and for the applicant tracking systems corporate groups use.

Independent practices read every CV by hand. Corporate groups and universities use applicant tracking systems that match words from the advert. Copy the advert's exact terms into your skills and bullets, then check with a free ATS checker.

• Titles: veterinary surgeon, vet, small animal vet, first opinion vet, OOH vet, locum vet, clinical director, MRCVS
• Credential words: MRCVS, RCVS registered, VetGDP, Official Veterinarian, CertAVP, Practice Standards Scheme, Fear Free, RECOVER
• Practice words: small animal, companion animal, mixed practice, farm animal, equine, first opinion, referral, out-of-hours, preventive care, health plans
• Procedure words: soft tissue surgery, dentistry, dental radiography, ultrasound, digital radiography, anaesthesia
• Software: RoboVet, RxWorks, ezyVet, Merlin, Teleos, IDEXX
• Business words in corporate adverts: turnover, average transaction value, client compliance, health plan uptake, mentoring