Job DescriptionVeterinary Criticalist - Build the Service, Backed by a Network Clarksville Veterinary Emergency & Specialty (CVES) • Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville Veterinary Emergency & Specialty (CVES) is recruiting a board-certified or residency-trained criticalist to establish and lead critical care at our 24-hour hospital. This is a founding role, and we mean that as the draw, not the fine print: you would be the critical care authority in a growing hospital, leading the development of the service, shaping the technician team, and defining what ECC medicine looks like here - with the case flow of a busy regional emergency hospital and the backing of Nashville Veterinary Specialists (NVS), our sister hospital 45 minutes away, behind you.
The Honest Pitch
Plenty of postings promise you a seat on an established critical care team. This one offers something rare: the chance to build one. CVES is a well-established 24-hour emergency hospital - roughly seven years serving northern Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky, including the large military community at Fort Campbell - with an on-site internist, a surgery service, and an emergency caseload that has outgrown what emergency clinicians alone should be asked to carry. The sickest patients in this region currently transfer 45 minutes or more for criticalist-level care. Your arrival changes that on day one.
As our criticalist, you will play a key role in shaping and advancing critical care at CVES while practicing within a highly collaborative specialty network. You'll have the opportunity to lead complex cases and help develop critical care services, backed by ready access to the boarded specialists at NVS-including critical care, surgery, internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, oncology, and anesthesiology-for real-time consultation, shared decision-making, and seamless patient transfers when advanced specialty care is needed. Ophthalmology is also available on-site through our partnership with The Eye Vets.
What You'll Walk Into
- A founding criticalist role - collaborate on shaping our protocols, our standards, and set your service identity from the ground up
- A busy 24-hour emergency caseload in one of the fastest-growing regions in Tennessee - the referral and ER volume to sustain the service is already here
- An on-site experienced internist to collaborate with, and a surgery service for your surgical candidates
- The full NVS specialist bench 45 minutes away for consults, complex workups, and transfers - you are the authority here, never isolated
- A leadership team that treats doctor recruitment, retention, and sustainable schedules as its first priority - ask us about this directly; we will show you the plan
- CT, ultrasound, endoscopy, blood products, in-house lab (including cytology scanner for same day pathology reports).
- A designated ICU staffed by a highly skilled and experienced team of veterinary professionals
The Offer
- Competitive base salary plus production
- Sign-on bonus and relocation assistance
- Health, vision, and dental coverage; 401(k) and long-term benefits
- Generous CE allowance with dedicated CE time; license and dues reimbursement
- Why Clarksville
- Clarksville is one of the fastest-growing cities in Tennessee, and it does not feel like a suburb of anywhere - it is its own place. The Riverwalk runs along the Cumberland downtown, Dunbar Cave State Park has trails and an actual cave five minutes from the hospital, and the historic downtown around Franklin Street has the coffee shops, restaurants, and local venues of a genuine small city. Austin Peay State University keeps the town young, and Fort Campbell - home of the 101st Airborne - anchors a community of military families who are among the most loyal, grateful pet owners you will ever serve.
Nashville is 45 minutes down I-24 when you want it: the airport with direct flights to most of the country, the Predators, the Titans, Nashville SC at Geodis Park, and the best live music scene in America. Then you come home to a housing market where a veterinarian's salary buys land, space, and a short commute. No state income tax. If you want your career to fund a life instead of a mortgage, this is the math that makes it work.
Qualifications
Board certification or residency training in emergency and critical care (ACVECC). Residents finishing in 2027 and 2028 are welcome to start the conversation now - a founding role is worth planning ahead for.
How to Apply
