Locate the Highlands veterinary opening
LOJIC lists Original Highlands and Highlands Douglass as separate Louisville neighborhoods, and its neighborhood associations layer adds Upper Highlands. Give the hospital’s street address and the neighborhood name it uses, and list any Crescent Hill or Germantown site separately with its own days.
Define case mix and appointment length
A Highlands associate role should state appointment length, daily case volume and the overlap with other doctors. Write down how many appointments a doctor sees in a day, which cases are booked as procedures and how surgery or dentistry days are protected. Say whether the doctor works one site or moves between Highlands and another Louisville location. LOJIC’s Urban Neighborhoods layer lists Original Highlands and Highlands Douglass as separate neighborhoods, and its neighborhood associations layer lists Highlands, Highlands/Douglass and Upper Highlands, so a Highlands brief should use the street address and the name the hospital uses. The City of St. Matthews states that Louisville Metro Animal Services provides animal control across Jefferson County, so a Highlands hospital follows Metro animal ordinances. Kentucky’s continuing education regulation requires 15 of a veterinarian’s 30 biennial hours to be live, which affects how a full Highlands appointment book protects course time.
- State the appointment length and expected daily cases
- Set aside blocks for procedures, callbacks and records
- Say whether the role covers one Louisville site or several
Louisville veterinary hiring context for Highlands employers
The Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners’ regulations require a veterinarian to complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years, with at least 15 hours live, at least two hours on pharmacy, antimicrobials or veterinary law, and no more than ten on practice management. Kentucky requires a passing score on a Board examination on Kentucky veterinary law for new applicants, and its statute requires an endorsement applicant to have practiced in another jurisdiction for at least a year immediately before applying. Kentucky’s facility regulation required existing veterinary facilities to be registered with the Board by June 30, 2025, each registration names a registered responsible party and a veterinarian manager, and a new facility may not begin operating until the Board accepts its application and notifies the applicant in writing. Auburn University states that Kentucky has a contractual agreement under which Auburn reserves 38 seats for Kentucky residents in each class of 130, and the Council on Postsecondary Education approved a Murray State doctoral program in veterinary medicine in January 2026 whose first cohort could be admitted as early as fall 2028 if it is accredited. O*NET OnLine, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, lists higher median annual wages for veterinarians, veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants in the Louisville/Jefferson County area, which includes Indiana counties, than in Kentucky overall, and lower than the United States medians. The same state rules apply to every Highlands employer, so confirm them before the Highlands search starts.
- Continuing education support: state the paid days for the 15 live hours Kentucky requires in each two-year period, and say which course costs the practice pays.
- Kentucky law examination and start date: a new applicant or an endorsement applicant passes the Board’s examination on Kentucky law, so keep the offer date, the application date and the start date separate.
- Facility registration: name the registered responsible party and the veterinarian manager for each hospital, and say who reports a manager change to the Board within ten days.
- Technician and assistant tasks: Kentucky lists emergency tasks a licensed technician may perform under indirect supervision and tasks a veterinary assistant may not be assigned, so list who does what.
- Hospital type: say whether the role sits in general practice, around-the-clock emergency or specialty referral, because Louisville hospitals describe all three models on their own sites.
Confirm clinical credentials and the Highlands hiring decision
Assign responsibility for Kentucky license verification through the Office of Occupations and Professions license lookup, plus any employer-required specialty credentials and references. Record the verification date, the license expiration date and unresolved conditions before confirming a start date. BEGHR sources and screens against your agreed requirements; your practice interviews, selects and directly employs the successful professional. The Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners determines license eligibility.
What veterinarians compare when weighing a Highlands offer
A Highlands veterinary opening competes with other practices across the Louisville area for the same experienced candidates. The employers that move fastest describe the practice honestly: whether it is a companion animal hospital built around wellness care, an emergency or specialty referral center, or a mixed practice, and how the role fits the team that already provides care to clients and their pets. A competitive offer is clear about pay structure and benefits. Explain whether the role is salaried or production-based and how any production percentage is applied, and confirm the benefits that come with it: comprehensive health insurance including dental and vision, paid time off, a CE allowance with protected days, coverage of license and DEA fees, professional liability insurance, a retirement plan, and whether a sign-on or relocation bonus is available.
Team, schedule and growth in a Highlands practice
Support staff shape the working day as much as pay does. Note how many credentialed veterinary technicians and assistants support each doctor, whether there is a dedicated surgery or dental team, and what diagnostic equipment is on site (digital radiography, ultrasound, in-house lab). For newer graduates, describe the mentorship plan; for experienced doctors, describe clinical autonomy and the path to medical director or partnership.
- Full-time or part-time status and the number of scheduled days per week (for example, a four-day week)
- Appointment length, typical daily caseload and the balance of wellness, sick and surgical cases
- Weekend, evening and emergency on-call expectations, and how after-hours care is covered
- The exact Highlands hospital location and any rotation between sites in the Louisville area
- Kentucky licensing status required at start and the support offered for a transfer or new license
- Start date flexibility, relocation support and how quickly the practice can make a decision
Practice types a Highlands search can cover
Veterinary employers in and around Highlands range from single-doctor clinics to large animal hospitals and multi-site groups. The brief changes with the type of practice, so the search starts by naming which of these the opening belongs to.
- General practice and wellness: small animal (companion animal) hospitals focused on preventive care, vaccines, dentistry and routine surgery
- Emergency and urgent care: 24-hour emergency hospitals, overnight ER teams and extended-hours urgent care for pets
- Specialty and referral: surgery, internal medicine, cardiology, oncology, neurology, dermatology, and diagnostic imaging and critical care services
- Mixed and large animal: practices that treat livestock and equine patients alongside small animals, often with ambulatory calls
- Exotics, shelter and community medicine: avian and exotic pet practices, shelter medicine and nonprofit clinics
- Practice leadership: medical director, chief of staff and regional roles in private, partnership and corporate veterinary groups
How a recruiting partner helps a Highlands practice hire
The Louisville veterinary hiring market is competitive, and practices in Highlands often compete with corporate groups, private hospitals and emergency centers for the same doctors. A structured search helps a practice stand out: a clear brief, direct outreach to employed and passive candidates, consistent screening, and fast feedback so strong people do not accept another offer while the hospital is still deciding. Working with BEGHR on a Highlands search means agreeing the role, the work location and the decision process first, then sourcing and screening against that brief. The practice gets access to candidates it would not otherwise reach, a consistent record of why each person was presented, and support through interviews and the offer. The hospital hires the veterinarian directly; this is permanent placement, not staffing or relief coverage.
Review the fee and billable milestones before the Highlands search starts
For a Highlands role, select the role and complete the employer opt-in to receive pricing. BEGHR manages your client account and invoices while the recruiting delivery team handles sourcing, screening and candidate delivery. Your agreement defines billable work, invoice timing and replacement conditions. Completed billable milestones may remain payable without a hire. Recruiting coverage does not represent a local office or an available candidate inventory.
For the wider engagement, review our veterinary recruiting services and the employer search process.