Where your passion fuels your profession.
Holistic/Integrative Associate Veterinarian | Up To $75,000 in Sign-On Bonuses | Northwest Animal Hospital
Overview
As a veterinarian at Heartland Veterinary Partners, you will provide quality care to patients and empathetic service to clients. You will partner with other veterinarians, technicians, and client service representatives to operate as an efficient and productive team.
Success in this role takes a collaborative mindset while operating as an independent branch of Heartland. This is an opportunity to expand your skillset while using your excellent communication and interpersonal skills and passion for patient care to build a productive and rewarding career.
When you join us, you will make a real difference in the lives of our patients and clients. You will also become a valued member of our team and contribute to the success of our practice.
Job Details
Practice:
We are currently undergoing an exciting clinical evolution. With a brand-new DVM team at the helm, we are actively redefining our medical protocols and elevating the standard of care for every patient that walks through our doors. We built a patient-first environment from the ground up. This is a rare chance to join a practice where your input helps shape our new workflows and ultimately provide the best medical care for our patients. We are proud to highlight our intergrative medicine approach offering acupuncture, allergy testing, diet consultations, & supplements.
Position Purpose:
Associate Veterinarian – Holistic & Integrative Medicine
Northwest Animal Hospital | Des Plaines, Illinois
Are you a veterinarian who believes great medicine goes beyond treating symptoms?
At Northwest Animal Hospital, we’re building something special — a veterinary experience that combines excellent traditional medicine with a thoughtful, whole-patient approach to health and wellness. We are excited to welcome a compassionate and motivated Associate Veterinarian who is interested in practicing high-quality medicine while exploring integrative and holistic options that can help pets live healthier, more comfortable lives.
Whether you already have experience in holistic or integrative veterinary medicine or are simply excited to learn more, this is an opportunity to join a supportive team that values curiosity, collaboration, and individualized patient care.
A Different Approach to Veterinary Medicine
Northwest Animal Hospital is a full-service companion animal practice providing preventive care, dentistry, surgery, diagnostics, internal medicine, and more. What makes our hospital especially unique is our growing commitment to integrative veterinary medicine.
We believe traditional and holistic medicine do not have to compete with one another. Instead, we look for opportunities to thoughtfully combine the two, creating personalized treatment plans based on the individual needs of each patient and family.
Our goal is to support the whole patient — from nutrition and lifestyle to disease prevention, pain management, recovery, and long-term wellness.
Grow Your Passion for Integrative Medicine
Our Managing DVM, Dr. Draca, is passionate about expanding the integrative services available to pets throughout the Des Plaines community.
She currently provides nutrition and diet consultations, including guidance surrounding fresh feeding, home-cooked diets, and raw diets when appropriate. This gives clients the opportunity to better understand how nutrition can support their pet’s overall health and complement traditional medical care.
Dr. Draca is also nearing completion of her veterinary acupuncture certification and has already begun incorporating acupuncture into patient treatment plans.
And we’re only getting started.
Our growing integrative medicine program includes or will soon include:
- Veterinary acupuncture
- Individualized nutrition consultations
- Fresh-food and home-cooked diet guidance
- Supplement and nutraceutical recommendations
- Natural wellness and supportive-care options
- Chinese herbal medicine as certification is completed
- Ozone therapy
- Traditional diagnostics, medicine, surgery, and preventive care
For a veterinarian who is already passionate about holistic medicine — or someone who has always wanted the opportunity to learn more — Northwest offers an environment where those interests can be encouraged and developed.
You Don’t Have to Choose Between Great Medicine and Whole-Patient Care
We are looking for a veterinarian who believes in using the right tools for the right patient.
That may mean traditional diagnostics and medication for one case, acupuncture and nutritional support for another, or a thoughtful combination of approaches.
You’ll have the freedom to practice high-quality medicine while working alongside a team that is open-minded, progressive, and interested in continually expanding what we can offer our patients.
A Team That Supports You
Great veterinary medicine starts with a great team.
At Northwest Animal Hospital, you’ll work alongside veterinarians, technicians, and support staff who value communication, collaboration, and creating a positive hospital environment.
We want our doctors to feel comfortable asking questions, discussing cases, sharing ideas, and pursuing the areas of veterinary medicine that excite them most.
Experienced veterinarians are welcome, and newer graduates who are looking for strong mentorship and an opportunity to develop their own style of medicine are encouraged to apply.
Who Would Thrive Here?
You may be a great fit if you:
- Believe in compassionate, individualized patient care
- Enjoy building meaningful relationships with clients and their pets
- Value strong traditional veterinary medicine while remaining open to complementary therapies
- Have an interest in nutrition, acupuncture, herbal medicine, supplements, rehabilitation, pain management, or other holistic modalities
- Are curious and excited to continue learning
- Enjoy collaborating with a supportive team
- Want the freedom to develop your own professional interests
- Bring positivity, empathy, and a team-focused mindset to work
Previous holistic or integrative medicine experience is not required. An interest in learning and an open-minded approach to patient care are what matter most.
Life in Des Plaines
Located in Des Plaines, Illinois, Northwest Animal Hospital offers the best of suburban living while keeping Chicago within easy reach.
The area offers beautiful parks and outdoor spaces, great restaurants, established neighborhoods, and convenient access to shopping, entertainment, O’Hare International Airport, and everything the greater Chicago area has to offer.
Whether you enjoy city weekends, quiet neighborhoods, outdoor activities, or a little bit of everything, Des Plaines provides an excellent place to build both a career and a life.
What We Offer
We want our veterinarians to build careers they genuinely enjoy.
Our benefits and opportunities include:
- Competitive compensation
- Sign-on bonus opportunities
- Flexible scheduling
- A strong focus on work-life balance
- Continuing education allowance
- Professional development and mentorship
- Comprehensive benefits
- A collaborative and supportive hospital culture
- Opportunities to pursue special interests
- The ability to grow your knowledge of holistic and integrative veterinary medicine
- Exposure to emerging services including acupuncture, nutrition, herbal medicine, and ozone therapy
Practice Medicine With the Whole Patient in Mind
If you have been looking for a veterinary practice where traditional medicine and holistic care can work together, we would love to meet you.
Come grow with a team that believes veterinary medicine can be progressive, compassionate, collaborative, and individualized — and that there is always more to learn when it comes to helping our patients thrive.
Join Northwest Animal Hospital and help us continue building a more comprehensive approach to veterinary care in Des Plaines.
Essential Responsibilities:
- Examine and treat companion animals to detect and determine the nature of disease or injuries.
- Operate diagnostic equipment and collect diagnostic samples as well as interpret results.
- Advise pet owners on preventative care and treatment options.
- Perform surgery and prescribe medication as needed.
- Provide counsel around pet end of life care.
- Maintain patients’ medical records.
- Ensures compliance with veterinary ethics and relevant statues, policies, and procedures.
Requirements/Qualifications:
- DVM/VMD degree from an accredited AVMA institution.
- Appropriate state licensure.
- Eligibility to obtain DEA/BNDD.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Demonstrates professional and courteous presentation consistently with staff and clients.
- Ability to lift patients and carry equipment up to 25 pounds; ability to lift patients or carry equipment over 25 pounds with assistance.
Benefits Offered:
- Unlimited personal time
- Bonus incentives
- Health insurance; dental insurance; vision insurance
- Retirement benefits (401(k), Roth(k) with match)
- CE and licensure reimbursement
- Flexible work schedules
- Managing career path development
- Employee Assistance Program
- DVM Referral Program
- Mental Health Resources
- Relocation assistance available
Pay Range:
USD $120,000.00 - USD $150,000.00 /Yr.Success Profile
We’re looking for passionate vets with the following traits:
- Adaptable
- Compassionate
- Communicator
- Critical Thinker
- Collaborative
- Empathetic
Culture
At Heartland Veterinary Partners, we believe that prioritizing care for veterinarians enables them to prioritize care for their patients. We offer several benefits and support programs to help veterinarians succeed, including:
Mentorship
We provide access to experienced mentors who can help our partners hone their craft and develop their skills, regardless of where they are in their career journey.
Choose Your Setting
We have practices in many states across the country with diverse settings and focuses, so our veterinarians can choose the environment that is best for them.
Work-Life Balance
We understand that our veterinarians have lives outside of the practice, and we are committed to helping them achieve balance.
Authentic Autonomy
Each practice is led locally, and we empower our teams to make all the clinical and inventory decisions to best meet the needs of the community they serve.
Support When it Matters Most
We support our veterinarians at every stage of their careers, from new graduates to experienced practitioners.
Career Path
New Graduate
This is your first veterinary role after school. You’re getting your feet wet and putting that education to work gaining the experience you need to become the vet you know you can be.
Clinically Confident
You’ve been here a while and have your feet under you. You still have plenty of learning and growing to do, but you’re well on your way.
Learning to Lead
Thanks to your experience and dedication, you’ve earned the trust and respect of your community and established yourself as an example for other vets to follow.
“I love working at a Heartland-owned practice. They let us be ourselves with the support of a corporation. My relationship with our regional director is genuine and supportive. It’s obvious anytime company leadership addresses the practices that they genuinely care about our wellbeing and make decisions with our best interests in mind. We are extremely lucky to work for a company this down to earth.”
- Dr. Alexandra Carter, Managing DVM
Rewards
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Generous Vacation Time
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Comprehensive Health and Wellness Benefits
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Flexible Scheduling
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401(k) and Roth(k) with match
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Continuing Education and Training Opportunities
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Relocation Assistance
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You put patients first. We put you first.
Heartland is built by veterinarians and for veterinarians. Learn all about who we are and how we’re empowering vets to focus on doing the work they love.
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Who are we? We’re a community of passionate animal lovers who are here to improve the lives of veterinarians. Come meet us.
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