Inde Vets logo
Inde Vets
Des Moines, Iowa

Full-Time Associate Veterinarian - Des Moines, IA

VeterinarianFull-Time

Compensation

Pay not listed

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the pay range, the work setting, call expectations and time off.

Posted 42m ago · Verified live

Job Description

Practice great medicine without sacrificing life outside the clinic.

Veterinary medicine shouldn't come at the expense of your wellbeing. At IndeVets, it won't.

We've reimagined what it means to be an associate veterinarian by replacing rigid contracts with sustainable career paths, putting you in control of your schedule and guaranteeing your income, backed by hands-on support and a trusted community.

Whether you want to work one day a week or five, you choose the days that work for you while receiving a biweekly salary, benefits, and dedicated scheduling support — so your career finally works for your life, not the other way around.

How It Works

As a full-time W-2 veterinarian working 4–5 days per week, you’ll build a schedule you control by choosing the days you want to work. Your schedule is built in advance around those preferences by a dedicated scheduling coordinator, giving you the clarity and predictability to plan your life outside the clinic. We handle scheduling, logistics, and coordination, so you can focus on practicing medicine.

You’ll have a guaranteed salary as your foundation, with the option to earn even more by picking up additional shifts when it works for you. Extra shifts can be paid out or converted into additional PTO, giving you flexibility in how you’re rewarded.

You’ll practice across a network of trusted hospital partners, building meaningful relationships with teams while gaining diverse clinical experience. Interested in surgery, dentistry, ER, or urgent care? We’ll work to include those types of shifts in your schedule when possible. At the same time, you’ll have the consistency, benefits, and professional support of a full-time employer.

No chasing shifts. No income uncertainty. No last-minute schedule gaps. Just a structured, sustainable way to practice veterinary medicine full-time, with the support and stability to make it last.

  • Practice Medicine Your Way
  • No production quotas
  • No negative accrual
  • No restrictive non-competes
  • Clinical autonomy with a focus on patient care, not numbers

You practice independently but you're never on your own. You'll have dedicated medical leadership and mentorship behind you every step of the way, plus a collaborative community of fellow veterinarians who genuinely get what you're going through.

And when life gets heavy, you'll have something most employers don't offer: access to a veterinary social worker. Add in ongoing CE and professional development opportunities, and this is the kind of support system that actually helps you grow.

  • A Career That Grows With You
  • Leadership and mentorship opportunities
  • Exposure to diverse clinical settings
  • Flexibility to evolve your schedule over time
  • A model designed to prevent burnout, not cause it
  • Compensation & Benefits (Full-time, 4 or 5 days/week)
  • Guaranteed salary with consistent, predictable pay
  • Multiple medical plan options (including fully paid plans)
  • Dental + vision insurance
  • Generous, guilt-free PTO and paid holidays
  • Paid parental leave
  • CE allowance + dedicated CE PTO
  • 401(k) + Roth 401(k) with 100% match up to 4% (immediate vesting)
  • Company-paid liability + short-term disability insurance
  • Discounts on VIN, VETgirl, Fear Free, VetRec AI scribe, and more

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For:

Requirements

  • DVM or VMD from an AVMA-accredited program (or equivalent)
  • Active license (or ability to obtain)
  • DEA + controlled substance license (as applicable)
  • 1+ year of clinical experience in a small animal setting
  • Confidence practicing independently
  • Strong communication and client relationship skills

Nice-to-Haves

  • GP, ER, or urgent care experience
  • Internship training

About IndeVets

Founded in 2017 and led by veterinarians, IndeVets is a W-2 employment model built to bring greater stability, support, and control to veterinary careers. We combine guaranteed salary, benefits, and dedicated scheduling support with the ability to choose the days you work and build a predictable schedule around your life. Our doctors practice across trusted partner hospitals while staying supported by a centralized team, so they can focus on medicine, not logistics.

  • Officially certified as a Great Place to Work®.
  • For more information, visit indevets.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

IndeVets is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Applicants are considered for positions without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, or any other consideration made unlawful by application federal, state, or local laws.

Key Responsibilities

The associate veterinarian will practice medicine across a network of hospital partners while maintaining control over their own schedule. They are responsible for providing high-quality patient care and building meaningful relationships with clinical teams.

Qualifications

Education
Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)

Certifications

DEA License

Key Skills

Emergency medicineCommunication skillsClient relationship managementIndependent practice

Veterinary Medicine Career Context

The cost-of-living index for Iowa is 87.8 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 59.8% of Iowa clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Of the 50 active Veterinary Medicine listings this role was benchmarked against, 88% have no call, 92% require no weekends.

What does the Veterinary Medicine market look like in Iowa?
MeasureThis jobMarket
Listed paynot listedVeterinary Medicine median $140k (middle half $123k–$160k)444 comparable listings, Nov 2026
Cost of livingIowa index 87.8US average = 100BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Veterinary Medicine listings in Iowa29 active3,101 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Work settingon-sitepeers: 88% no call · 92% no weekends50 benchmarked listings
Sign-on & loan repaymentnot statedUS healthcare professional listings: 49% state a sign-on bonus (median $50k) · 10% offer loan repayment1,000 active listings, Nov 2026
New Veterinary Medicine listings962 in the last 30 days517 the 30 days before (+86%)U.S., first seen on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Veterinary Medicine pay trend+3.7% vs prior quarter—through Oct 2026
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index, BEA Regional Price Parities (2024); as of Nov 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

Top Veterinarian Jobs

24 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution

7 jobs
2
$120k
0
$140k-160k
1
$160k
2
$180k
2
$200k

Annual compensation range

Work-Life Balance Distribution

24 jobs · 7 employers
0
1-2
0
3-4
0
5-6
4
7-8
20
9-10

Higher = better work-life balance

#1

Associate Veterinarian (Part-Time)- Bayside Animal Hospital

Dvm Launch · Granite Bay, California

$140k-$200k
#2

Associate Veterinarian- GP/ Urgent Care- Lombard Veterinary Hospital

Dvm Launch · Lombard, Illinois

$140k-$200k
#3

Veterinarian

$160k-$180k
#4

Veterinarian

$160k-$180k
+ 22 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.1this job 2.8
Better work-life than 20% of Veterinary Medicine listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 3,072 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Inde Vets logo

About Inde Vets

Veterinary Services
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
51-200 employees

Benefits & Perks

Guaranteed salary
Multiple medical plan options (including fully paid)
Dental + vision insurance
Generous PTO and paid holidays
Paid parental leave
CE allowance + dedicated CE PTO
401(k) + Roth 401(k) with 100% match up to 4% (immediate vesting)
Company-paid liability + short-term disability insurance

Living in Des Moines

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$225k
Typical market rent
$1,129/mo
Residents’ average commute
20 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
91.7
State income tax
Up to 6%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Sep 2026), Zillow market rents (Sep 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.