Living and Working at CareVets Gisborne with Alice Dawson - Regional Manager - ep.1023

CareVets Gisborne | REAL+STORY

When vets and nurses think about changing clinics, they’re not just choosing a role.

They’re choosing the people they’ll work with — and the support around them when things get busy or unpredictable.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South continues the CareVets Gisborne REAL+STORY series with a different perspective — stepping back from day-to-day clinical roles to hear from the Regional Manager who supports the clinic.

Julie is joined by Alice Dawson, Regional Manager at CareVets, who looks after Gisborne alongside Wellington and Napier. Alice has been with CareVets for ten years and worked as a veterinary nurse for seventeen, so what she shares here comes from long-term, lived experience.

They talk about what makes CareVets Gisborne work as a team — the family feel, the support behind the clinic, professional development, equipment, and the kind of vet who tends to fit best.

This isn’t a recruitment pitch.
It’s an honest conversation about what working at CareVets Gisborne is really like — and whether it feels like your kind of clinic, with your kind of people.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction and where this episode fits in the CareVets Gisborne REAL+STORY series
01:04 – Alice’s background: ten years with CareVets and seventeen years as a veterinary nurse
02:17 – The “family feel” and growing people from within
02:59 – Why CareVets isn’t a corporate in the way people assume
03:43 – Staying connected to Gisborne despite its geographic remoteness
04:03 – What stands out about the CareVets Gisborne team
04:40 – The impact of degree-qualified veterinary nurses in the clinic
05:18 – How CPD is used across nursing and veterinary teams
05:49 – The kind of vet who fits best at CareVets Gisborne
06:20 – Investing in equipment and diagnostics to support the team
07:04 – Gisborne as a place to live and work
07:31 – Case variety and why no two days are the same
07:54 – Closing reflections and recruitment invitation

If you’re an experienced small animal veterinarian considering your next move, CareVets Gisborne is currently recruiting.

You can find out more at vetclinicjobs.com/CareVetsGisborne.

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through VetClinicJobs, Julie helps clinics tell their culture stories so vets and nurses can recognise their kind of people and their kind of clinic before a vacancy appears.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs