Locate the Oakland veterinary opening
Oakland is an incorporated town in Fayette County in the Census Bureau’s place files, with a 2025 population estimate of 10,835 against 9,071 in 2020. It is a different place from Oakland, California, so state Tennessee, the street and the county in the brief.
Confirm the town and mailing address on every document
Use the same town name on the job brief, the offer letter, the premises documents and the directions you give a candidate. Highway 64 hospitals can appear under an Oakland or a Somerville address, so check which name the hospital uses on its premises permit and its signage. A candidate who finds two town names for one building starts the job with a question the brief could have answered. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s livestock listing shows an entry at 8565 Highway 64 with a Somerville, TN 38068 address, while Animal Care Hospital’s own site lists 8565 US-64 with an Oakland, TN 38060 address, so one street number carries two town names in these two sources. Main Street Animal Clinic’s own site lists 7980 Hwy 64 in Oakland, TN 38060. The Town of Oakland’s site lists Planning, Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning Commission pages, so an Oakland brief should give the street, the town the hospital uses on its permit and the county, and the offer letter and the premises documents should name the same place.
- Town name on the premises permit
- Street address used on the offer letter
- Directions given to candidates
Memphis veterinary hiring context for Oakland 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 Oakland employer, so confirm them before the Oakland 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 Oakland 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 Oakland offer
A Oakland veterinary opening competes with other practices across the Memphis 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. 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 Oakland practice
Hospital culture is a deciding factor for many candidates. Explain how the medical team works together, the technician and assistant support each doctor receives, how cases are discussed, and how the practice handles difficult clients. Include the development path: mentorship and continuing education for newer veterinarians, and leadership, medical director or ownership opportunities for experienced doctors.
- 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 Oakland 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 Oakland search can cover
Veterinary employers in and around Oakland 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 Oakland practice hire
Posting a Oakland 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. For Oakland employers, the search starts with the hiring brief and a review of the location, schedule and compensation structure. BEGHR manages the client relationship and invoicing, while the recruiting delivery team provides sourcing, screening and candidate presentation. The practice keeps every hiring decision, interviews the people it wants, and makes the offer directly. Pricing is shown after the employer opt-in, and the agreement sets out billable milestones and replacement terms.
Review the fee and billable milestones before the Oakland search starts
For a Oakland 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.