Our standards
Improving how we work is ongoing, and it runs the whole way through — how the team is trained and supported, how the practice is run, how patients are handled, and what clients experience. Two outside programs put part of that under independent review: AAHA accreditation, which both clinics hold, and Fear Free certification, which both are working toward.
AAHA accreditation
Accreditation by the American Animal Hospital Association is voluntary. An outside evaluator visits the practice and assesses it against a published set of standards, then returns periodically to re-evaluate. Both of our clinics are accredited.
What gets inspected
- Anesthesia
- Surgery
- Dentistry
- Pain management
- Radiography
- Infection control
- Medical records
- Emergency care
What it means in practice
Anesthetic monitoring, pain management and surgical procedure are documented as written protocols, and staff are trained against them. Equipment covered by the standards — dental radiography, in-house laboratory, digital imaging — is maintained on a schedule.
Medical records are kept to a defined standard and are reviewed. If you are early in your career, this is the part that shapes how you work: the procedures are written down, so training follows a protocol rather than local habit.
What AAHA accreditation means → · aaha.org
Accredited: Martha Lake Vet Clinic · Cedar Plaza Vet Clinic
Fear Free
Both clinics are enrolled in Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification and are working through the standards and staff training. Neither clinic is certified yet.
What Fear Free is
An approach to handling built around reducing fear, anxiety and stress during a visit — considerate approach, touch gradient, species-appropriate restraint, and using pre-visit medication when that's the kinder option.
Why it matters to the job
A frightened animal is harder to examine and harder to treat, and carries a higher risk of injury to itself and to the people handling it. Low-stress handling is a clinical technique and a workplace-safety measure, and it is taught rather than assumed.
Enrolled: Martha Lake Vet Clinic · Cedar Plaza Vet Clinic
Open roles
Current vacancies at both clinics, each with its pay range and schedule.
See open roles