Locate the Cordova veterinary opening
Cordova is one of the Memphis 3.0 planning districts and a neighborhood on the City of Memphis Parks list. Memphis 3.0 describes the Cordova District as a stable, thriving community with strong commercial corridors. Give the hospital’s street address, because a Cordova label alone does not show whether the address is in Memphis or in a neighboring city.
Define overnight and weekend emergency coverage
State whether the hospital takes emergencies after hours, how many nights and weekends each doctor covers and who is on call. Give the rota, the rule for how overnight work is paid and the hospital that takes the cases when the doctor is off. Say whether technicians are on site overnight, because overnight duty is compared more closely than most other schedule terms. Memphis Veterinary Specialists & Emergency lists 555 Trinity Creek Cove in Cordova on its own site and says it offers emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a week for cats and dogs, with specialty services in extended weekday hours; the Census Bureau geocoder places that address in the City of Memphis, Shelby County. Drennan Animal Hospital’s own site lists 1890 N Germantown Pkwy in Cordova with weekday hours of 7am to 6:30pm and Saturday hours of 7am to 2pm, so a general practice in Cordova and a 24-hour hospital in Cordova describe very different weekly schedules. A Cordova brief should say which of the two models the opening belongs to and who covers the hours the hospital is closed.
- Nights and weekends covered per doctor
- On-call or on-site overnight staffing
- Referral hospital when the doctor is off
Memphis veterinary hiring context for Cordova employers
The Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners' continuing education policy states that each veterinarian must obtain 20 hours of continuing education each calendar year and each veterinary medical technician 12 hours, and that a licensee who falls short must submit a letter and certificates and make up the deficit hours by December 31. For a veterinarian licensed in another state, the Board's application instructions list proof of active practice in three of the previous five years at an average of at least 25 hours a week and 60 hours of continuing education in the previous five years, the Board accepts credential packets from the American Association of Veterinary State Boards VAULT service, and its lapsed license policy states that applicable law prohibits practice without an active license. For technicians, the Board uses the title Licensed Veterinary Medical Technician and recognizes graduates of programs accredited by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association as comparable to American Veterinary Medical Association graduates, and its supervision position statement says supervised persons must be employees of the supervising veterinarian, who does not have to be on the same premises. The Memphis/Shelby County Veterinary Medical Association describes a mission to promote the practice of veterinary medicine in Shelby County and lists continuing education and jobs pages, the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville has a Refer a Patient page for veterinarians, and Lincoln Memorial University's veterinary college in Harrogate hosts a job board for its graduates. O*NET OnLine, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, lists the Memphis, TN-MS-AR median annual wage for veterinarians slightly above the Tennessee median and below the national median, the Memphis median for veterinary technicians below both, and the Memphis median for veterinary assistants slightly above the Tennessee median and below the national median. The same state rules apply to every Cordova employer, so confirm them before the Cordova search starts.
- Continuing education support: state the paid days and course support behind the Board's 20 hours a year for veterinarians and 12 for technicians, and say who tracks the hours before the December 31 deadline.
- License route: ask a candidate licensed elsewhere for the practice history and continuing education the Board's instructions list, and say whether the start date holds if the Board's review takes longer than planned.
- Technician delegation: name the tasks assigned to Licensed Veterinary Medical Technicians and the doctor who supervises them, because the Board's position statement requires supervised persons to be employees of the supervising veterinarian.
- Premises: a hospital opening a new site needs a Tennessee premises permit, and the application form asks for a supervising veterinarian and license number, so state the permit status before promising an opening date.
- County and municipality: name the hospital's county and city, because the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates put the metro's Tennessee counties at 910,226 residents in Shelby County, 62,287 in Tipton County and 45,071 in Fayette County, each with its own county government.
Confirm clinical credentials and the Cordova hiring decision
Assign responsibility for Tennessee license verification through the Department of Health license verification page, 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 Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners determines license eligibility.
What veterinarians compare when weighing a Cordova offer
Candidates reviewing a Cordova position look past the job title. They want to know what kind of veterinary medicine they will practice day to day, which patients and clients they will see, and how the hospital supports them. A clear description of the clinic, the caseload and the team helps the right veterinarians self-select before outreach starts. Describe the full compensation structure, not only base salary: whether pay is salaried, production-based or a guaranteed base with production, and how production is calculated. Then list the benefits candidates compare: health, dental and vision insurance, paid time off, a continuing education allowance and days, state license and DEA registration fees, professional liability coverage, a retirement plan and any employer match, and whether a sign-on bonus or relocation support applies. Exact amounts are confirmed with each candidate; the brief should show which elements exist.
Team, schedule and growth in a Cordova practice
Describe the team the veterinarian will join: the ratio of veterinary technicians and assistants to doctors, the client service staff, and who handles scheduling, callbacks and inventory. Candidates also ask about equipment, case complexity, referral options to emergency and specialty hospitals nearby, mentorship for early-career doctors, and growth opportunities such as leadership roles or ownership.
- 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 Cordova hospital location and any rotation between sites in the Memphis area
- Tennessee 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 Cordova search can cover
Veterinary employers in and around Cordova 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 Cordova practice hire
Posting a Cordova opening on job boards reaches the veterinarians who happen to be searching that week. Most experienced doctors are not. Business Executive Group works as a search partner: it uses the brief to approach employed veterinarians across the Memphis market, explains the role and the practice, and brings forward only the candidates whose experience, skills and expectations match what the hospital needs. A Cordova search with BEGHR follows the same process every time: confirm the brief, approach and screen candidates, present a short list with notes against the agreed criteria, then support interviews, references and the offer. The practice stays in control of who it hires. Fees, invoice timing and replacement conditions are set in the engagement agreement, and estimated pricing appears after the employer opt-in.
Review the fee and billable milestones before the Cordova search starts
For a Cordova 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.