International Relief Vet Work

Relief Around The World

Relief veterinary work comes with many advantages- more freedom, better remuneration, and a chance to work in new places are just a few. 

But some vets take it even further. Have you ever considered using your skills to work internationally? By working as a vet overseas, not only can you earn money while travelling, you’ll also be fully immersed into a new culture, meet new people, and learn new ways of practising that you would never come across at home.

As a vet who enjoys travel, I’ve been lucky enough to practice in some really unique places around the world.

Here’s some things that surprised me working as a relief vet in the Scottish Highlands, the Swedish Countryside and Outback Australia.

Scotland is beautiful, but the winters are very cold, which means that mixed practice is quite a bit different to what I was used to. For a start, cattle are housed indoors in the winter, and outside in the summer, meaning they are prone to a whole different set of illnesses than fully intensive or fully extensively raised cows. Farms are generally small, and farmers often know their cows individually, calling you out for individual animal problems rather than herd based issues.

Culturally, the Scots have a wicked, but quite dry sense of humour. If they like you, they’re likely to make fun of you or offer you a ‘brew’ (cup of tea). And speaking of tea- the scots love a tea break. Most country practices pause everything for a practice-wide tea break at least twice every day.

Many Scottish folk also love the outdoors, and working on the edge of the highlands I saw many unusual outdoor injuries. Like the spaniel that had worn holes through all 4 of its footpads after mountain climbing all weekend with its owner. Or the terrier who had tumbled down a cliff into the sea from a scenic coastal walk, and lived to tell the tale.

Scotland also has many small islands- and on those islands are sheep! Its not uncommon when working as a relief vet in a coastal or island practice to take a ferry to your next job- or occasionally, even a light aircraft!

I’ve never felt as well looked after as when I worked as a relief vet in Sweden.

Sweden has strict rules to protect their worker’s mental and physical health- which meant that my veterinary practice closed its doors at 4:30pm on the dot each day, did no on-call, and did not open at all on weekends. During summer, the entire practice would close for two weeks each year so every member of staff could have a holiday. 

In addition, all staff members wore the same uniform- from the janitors, to vet techs, to head vets- as a sign of equality. And all were treated with equal respect, socialising together at lunchtime, and sharing tasks fairly.

Almost every animal was insured (even the cats at the local rescue), and the insurance companies would pay the bill on the spot before the animal left the building so the practice was never out of pocket. 

Spaying and neutering was not routine. Pet owners felt strongly that their animals should not have this surgery unnecessarily, so pyometra and mammary cancers were fairly common. During hunting season, we also treated many nasty wounds on dogs inflicted by wild boar. The dogs would be sent to flush out the boar wearing fitted kevlar vests- I would hate to see how much worse the injuries would have been before dog armour was commonplace.

Working in Outback Australia was the closest I’ve ever come to feeling like I was a genuine cowboy. Big boots, big hats and a can-do attitude are compulsory in the outback as much as in Texas, where people are tough, the animals can be wild, and resources were often limited. 

Despite our practice being in the desert, there was plenty of wildlife around- we ended up taking in a lost dingo puppy, a joey kangaroo, as well as a number of birds and frogs for rehabilitation. There were also plenty of snakes, evidenced by the number of pets we saw with snakebites- which we did our best to treat, not always successfully.

Routine preventative care was much less accessible to pets in the outback, meaning we treated many things that are just not a problem in most modern clinics. Huge outbreaks of parvovirus were not uncommon, where we would have up to a dozen puppies all hooked up to drips filling every kennel in the practice. Tick disease was rife- we saw babesiosis, tick paralysis, and also adult dogs that had collapsed from hypovolaemia due to the sheer number of ticks that were attached. 

We also worked in indigenous communities, offering free neutering, vaccinations and preventative healthcare to those who could not access it. We saw some amazing parts of the country that I never would have experienced without being a relief vet. 

How can you work as an international relief vet?

How simple it is to work as a relief vet overseas will depend on a number of factors:

• Where you want to go
• Your own qualifications
• Which passports or visas you hold
• What type of veterinary work you want to do

For starters, you’ll need to research the requirements for veterinary registration in your destination of choice. For some countries your degree might be immediately recognised, for others it may require submitting paperwork or sitting an examination. For many areas, registration is easier if your course is AVMA-accredited or if you’ve passed the NAVLE.

If you don’t hold a passport for the destination country, you will also need to arrange a visa to be able to work. For some countries, applying for a working visa may be straightforward, for others it may take some time or involve sponsorship by an employer. Australia and the UK offer working holiday visas to North Americans of certain ages, which may be a simplified option for relief vets (or ‘locum vets’ as they are more commonly known in those countries).

For any international working advice, its best to look at the relevant immigration website and the veterinary regulatory body to find more information on your specific situation. Or you can read more about countries where I have travelled and worked as a vet on my website, The Runaway Vet. 

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