12/09/2026
Optivet Referrals Equine / Equivision is currently looking for an Equine Veterinary Surgeon / Ophthalmology Specialist to join its dedicated Equine Ophthalmology team.The ideal candidate is a veterinary surgeon with a strong interest in ophthalmology, or ophthalmology qualification ideally with some previous equine ambulatory or hospital experience. This position is an excellent opportunity for career development and you would gain the experience working under the supervision of ECVO and RCVS Specialists and other senior equine ophthalmology clinicians.
About us
The Equine Ophthalmology department is a branch of Optivet Referrals, which is the largest independent Veterinary Ophthalmology referral service in the UK based at a number of sites across the South of England. We are a small, friendly and welcoming team who strive to provide an excellent service and make a difference to many equine cases with this new and evolving speciality. The equine department is an ambulatory based practice covering work across most of the south of England. Offering yard and hospital based equine case referrals both for medical management and surgical intervention. We offer a high level of expertise and newly evolving techniques in this subject and pride ourselves on our relationships with both clients and vets, always wanting to improve the service wherever possible. This training position plans to be well supervised and structured to provide the start of comprehensive training in medical and surgical equine ophthalmology.
About the role
The responsibilities of this role will be to support the equine ophthalmology team. Day to day your time will be spent conducting clinical duties 'on the road' as part of our Ophthalmology Service, managing hospitalised patients at multiple clinics and participating in occasional out-of-hours on-call rota for ophthalmic emergencies under the supervision of our equine ophthalmology specialist team. You will be expected to increase your primary case responsibility for a varied caseload and to gradually increase your surgical proficiency while being fully supported with this.
There will be some opportunity to gain some experience in the small animal referral centre if desired, where you can experience the expertise of multiple Ophthalmology specialists as well as small animal medicine and surgery specialists. The whole Optivet team holds weekly in-house CPD presentations, where your involvement is encouraged and the Ophthalmology departments run weekly 2 hourly journal and book club and 1 hour equine journal club to maintain our continued learning.
This exciting new role will be a permanent position. This is a full time role to work 40 hours per week. The ideal candidate will be based in the Berkshire/Hampshire area but other areas could be considered. A competitive and attractive benefit package is offered. Holidays are 25 working days plus statutory bank holidays (8 days) CPD allowance is 5 days and a further 5 days may be taken as unpaid leave should you wish to pursue other training opportunities or attend other conferences. We offer private health care, pet insurance contribution and SMART pension scheme. Salary commensurate with experience
Interested candidates please contact Chez de Oliveira at [email protected] or [email protected]. Candidates must be MRCVS eligible with the right to work in the UK, and should include a letter of intent, curriculum vitae and the contact details of two referees.
