Corey Woodcock has practiced veterinary medicine around the United States for almost 15 years. A journeyman at heart, he has found his ideal fit as one of the first veterinarians in VCA’s new Travel Emergency Relief program.

My career has been a little all over the place.
After I graduated from veterinary school at the University of Minnesota, I went to New Hampshire to work in emergency medicine. Then I moved to Delaware with a general practice. It wasn’t for me, so I came back to the emergency side with my first VCA role in Newark.
After a period of time, I wanted to get away and move to a different part of the country. So, I went to Arizona and practiced there, then came back to the Pennsylvania/Delaware region to take over as a medical director for VCA.

But what I truly wanted was an opportunity that would allow me to travel for work.
I saw online that VCA was promoting a new Travel Emergency Relief program. So, I applied, got the job and it has ended up including a lot of the little things I wanted and needed for me.

The role is flexible, as long as you have 12 shifts per 4-week period.
You can do these however you want. It’s not like three days on, four days off. It’s not a set routine. I try to figure out who needs what and what works with my personal life. I live in eastern Pennsylvania, so I will drive 4-5 hours to Pittsburgh and work there for three or four days in a row.
Then I might have 2-3 days off before I take a flight to Miami. I’ll go down there and work five days. I try to make sure I have a day off in between my shifts so I can explore wherever I am.

My work is a blend of emergency and wellness during day shifts, while overnight is strictly emergency.
Because there’s a blend of day and night shifts available, you can select where you want to be and when. I usually work a minimum of three hospitals a month, depending on their needs. And the number of hours I work per shift depends on the hospital. The hospital always gives you the hours before you agree to the shift, but mine range from 10-12 hours.

What’s really great about this role is you get to sell yourself, be social, help these hospital teams who really need the extra hands and build your business relationships.
When you’re doing relief work independently, you have to set up every aspect of your business and schedule. I have to find the hospitals that need relief, talk to them, agree to a pay rate, get them to give me schedules and make sure I’m giving them as much attention as possible so they continue to utilize me.
With relief I have to work out all my own insurances and tax deductions. On top of that, I have to learn different computer systems depending on the hospital. With VCA’s Travel ER program, I don’t worry about pay, benefits, insurances or travel costs, because they take care of all that.
And If I want to work more than the 12 shifts per month, I can move those dates to my next month or take hourly pay. I’ve worked a couple of extra shifts for hourly pay, which is awesome. It’s a lot more flexible.

I get to explore areas of the country that I want to see and get paid really well to do it.
I look at my role as a paid vacation. That’s really what it is. I make new friends, see new cultures and try out medicine in different places I never would have. And I get to use all of the skills I’ve learned, and then some. I’ve been a vet for 14 years now and it’s really easy when you go for so long to lose some of your skills, so the Travel ER program has reinvigorated my practice.

This role is so much fun for me. I love it. I look at it as an opportunity to bring new vibes and energy.
In veterinary medicine it’s easy to get burned out. I’m able to bring perspectives and learnings from other hospitals, cities and states to them and give teams a reflection on how good they have it in some cases. One time, I was working with a very stressed-out group. But, because I was new and was asking all sorts of questions, they started laughing together about stories from the past.
I’m excited because this has given me a whole new ray of light in my career. All I have to worry about is doing a good job, writing notes well, making friends with the staff and falling into any routines they need to follow.

My advice to any veterinarian looking to work in Travel ER would be to come to work willing to do it however the veterinary technicians are most comfortable around you.
If you’ll work at the technicians’ pace, you’ll never go wrong.

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