Frequently asked questions

Roo is an easy-to-use veterinary relief services platform offering quick access to a premium talent pool of veterinarians, technicians, and veterinary assistants in your area for all your short and long-term staffing needs. Our goal is to make the process of filling relief shifts as simple and efficient as possible to save you time and take work off your plate.

How you use Roo is up to you, whether you need part-time relief coverage to stay productive or are looking to try out and hire new full-time vets and technicians.

Roo aims to staff dependable, quality, compassionate vets and techs who will provide exceptional service to your clients and contribute to a positive client-hospital bond. We strive to make every shift a success.

Additionally, our Roo University Program gives hospitals unprecedented access to first through fourth year veterinary students and recent graduates for externship placement and staffing.

We created Roo because we saw a dire need for work-life balance in the veterinary healthcare industry. We hope that by forging better connections between animal hospitals and veterinary professionals we can empower both and reduce staff burnout industrywide. Financially, we believe our platform will help generate additional revenue for the hospitals we serve.

On top of providing a simple matching process, we foster a community of quality professionals with clear communication, integrity, and transparency. Through cultivating these relationships, we hope our relief vets and techs will find full-time employment at the hospital that's the perfect fit for for them.

Signing up for Roo is as simple as creating a free profile and telling us a little bit about your hospital. Next, we'll schedule a site walkthrough with a member of our team. Then, you're all set to begin posting shifts.

Using Roo is easy, quick, and convenient. Simply post the shifts you need filled on our platform, and we'll connect you with vets and techs in your area.

We'll ask a few questions about the shift so we can provide full transparency to our relief staff, and you'll have a chance to review the full profiles of any interested veterinarians or technicians to provide this same transparency to you before you commit. Finally, you confirm the shift, and after the shift's completed, you rate your vet/tech's performance to let other hospitals know how it went.

If you wish to save even more time, you can choose our Instant Book feature to bypass the profile review process and automatically book either the first vet/tech who requests the shift or any vet/tech you've worked with before that you've rated 4-stars or higher. We're all about making your life easier.

Yes, you will need a separate account for each hospital location, but accounts are free and there are no monthly fees so it costs nothing to have additional profiles.

If you have many locations, email hello@roo.vet to ask about setting up an Enterprise Account, which provides a number of benefits and can help you manage multiple hospital locations in one convenient place.

Roo's Enterprise program helps large corporate animal hospital groups efficiently manage all their locations at the hospital, regional/area, and national level with ease.

You'll be assigned a designated Roo Account Lead to manage your account and support all your veterinary relief and staffing needs in addition to providing a number of other services. We'll automatically provide billing documentation and analytics across all locations so you can assess individual hospital financials and performance at a glance.

To learn more or join our enterprise program, please email hello@roo.vet.

Roo is completely free to join, and there are no monthly fees. You'll only pay for shifts you confirm. It's free to post as many shifts as you like as often or as little as you like. Whatever works best for your hospital and your needs works great for us!

Roo offers three payment options: credit card (preferred method), bank account/ACH withdrawal, and manual invoicing. You can add your banking information when you create your account. With manual invoicing, we require payment within 30 days of the shift. You can access a .pdf copy of each invoice in your hospital account at any time for accurate bookkeeping. You can also update your payment method at any time, and we're always willing to work with our hospitals to create a method that works for you.

Roo relief shifts are priced using dynamic pricing meaning the price will change based on a number of factors, including the state and metro area in which your animal hospital is located, the type of hospital (emergency, general practice, etc.), the type of veterinary work being performed, and if any special procedures are being requested.

Transparency is important to us, and Roo will always let you know what the shift will cost you before it's posted, and you will see the final price before you confirm any shift.

Roo takes care of all payroll taxes. It's just one of the many ways Roo makes life easier for hospitals and practice managers.

With Roo, posting a shift is fast and easy. Simply log in, and you'll see options to add a new vet or tech shift immediately on your dashboard. Then, answer a few short questions about the shift, click "Save Shift," and you're all set.

The shift will then be posted publicly, visible to vets or techs who will have the option to "Request" you shift. You'll be notified whenever anyone requests one of your posted shifts, giving you the opportunity to review the profile of the requesting vet or tech and decide if you want to work with them. If it feels like a good match for you, it will be your decision to "Confirm" the vet or tech you wish to work your shift to make it official.

That's all there is to it! Once a shift is confirmed, you'll be able to chat with your Roo Vet/Tech within the Roo app to sort out any details ahead of time.

To give you the best chances of your shift being filled, we've found it's best to post a shift 60 to 90 days in advance.

However, this is not a requirement, and shifts can be filled much faster and with much shorter notice if needed. We have a variety of tools available to help you find coverage fast, especially if you're in a pinch. We want to be an amazing partner to you and support your hospital's needs.

If you need to fill a shift with short notice, Roo has a number of tools to help you quickly get the relief support you need.

We can make any shift a Boosted Shift, which provides additional financial incentives to encourage our relief vets and techs to pick up the shift.

Need coverage urgently? The Roo SOS feature allows you to get immediate visibility from our community of vets or techs in your area with financial incentives to ensure the shift gets filled as quickly as possible. If the shift is posted early in the day, you may even be able to get it filled same day!

There is no minimum number of shifts you need to post.

It's free to post as many shifts as you like, and you're free to offer shifts as often or as infrequently as you like. Freedom and flexibility are our core values, and you're always free to use our service however best fits your needs.

With Roo, you choose the veterinarians and technicians you want to work with, and they choose you. Therefore, the best way to ensure your shifts get filled is to receive high ratings from the relief vets and techs working shifts at your hospital, which will come naturally from creating a positive work experience. Our blog post on how to become a 5-star animal hospital is a great starting point for some helpful tips.

You can also use your profile to highlight what makes your hospital unique, enticing vets and techs to pick up shifts as many of our relief professionals are looking for diverse and unique experiences.

The Roo app will also make suggestions to help optimize your shift postings and increase their chances of being filled. Generally, shifts have the best chances of being filled if they're between 6 to 8 hours in length and posted 60 to 90 days ahead of the shift date.

Additionally, Roo's Boosted Shifts feature allows hospitals to create a financial incentive for veterinarians and technicians to pick up your shifts.

If you need additional support, are amazing Account Managers are here to help your hospital meet your needs. Reach out to your local representative to get even more help filling shifts with personalized support.

Roo is devoted to providing veterinary relief staff of the highest quality that you can depend on to provide exceptional care.

First and foremost, all our relief professionals are fully licensed in the state(s) in which they fulfill shifts, and we review their qualifications during our onboarding process, and conduct background checks. The work history and experience of all our professionals will be available for your review in their profiles.

Additionally, if you need veterinarians who are DEA registered, you can make this a requirement when you post a shift so you can be certain you're getting the qualified support you need.

Our aim is to make every shift a success for our hospitals and your clients, and this begins with selecting only the top veterinarians and technicians to represent Roo and your hospital.

Our relief veterinarians and technicians are independent contractors, and therefore, we recommend they carry their own liability and workers comp insurance. This is not the responsibility of the hospital, yet another way Roo makes life easier for you.

YES! This is encouraged. We welcome the opportunity for Roo vets or vet techs to transition to full-time placements at hospitals, especially if you already had great experiences working together.

Roo can be a great way to find vets and techs in your area if you're looking for new hires. Feel free to use Roo as part of your job application process to try out new candidates for a shift or two. We just ask that you please notify Roo and pay a placement fee for this referral service.

Our Roo Uni externships program can also connect your hospital with veterinary students looking for externships and eventual career placement (more info in the Externships tab).

Ultimately, Roo is a veterinary staffing solutions company, and we are happy to help serve your hospital however works best for you.

You are under no obligation to confirm a vet or vet tech who requests a shift at your hospital. If they have never worked with you before, you can view each user’s profile as well as their average ratings from other hospitals before you decide to confirm them.

Additionally, if you have any issues before, during, or after a shift, please bring them to our attention by reaching out to our support team.

To ensure each Roo shift is a success, please try to contact your relief veterinarian or technician at least 24 hours before their shift using the Chat Feature in the Roo app. We recommend you let them know a bit about what to expect during their shift and any other relevant hospital information.

Please have a staff member ready to receive the vet or tech and show them around before the day begins as well as provide support throughout the day.

If you have any issues with any of our relief veterinarians or technicians, please bring them to our attention at your earliest convenience. You can reach out to our support team using this link or call 1-833-Roo-Vets if you need immediate help.

Connect with the next generation of vets through Roo Uni — our externship matching service! Posting an externship works just like posting a Roo relief shift except externship postings don't expire. They'll continue to be available to students until you manually deactivate the post, allowing you to connect with multiple students without duplicating your work.

Like with Roo relief shifts, veterinary students will request your externship, and your hospital will make the final decision to confirm them. We'll notify you when a student is interested and put you in touch with them so you can discuss any details and goals ahead of the externship.

We encourage our hospitals to give their students an active, hands-on learning experience and pair students with doctors who are interested in mentorship.

Like an internship but shorter! Current veterinary students will shadow doctors and help out at your hospitals to get practical experience. The average externship is around 2 - 6 weeks, but you’ll determine the official length, terms, and any pay with your student.

Veterinary students enjoy externships because it allows them to get valuable experience practicing their skills. It's also a great opportunity for them to connect with mentors and begin building their network. If they have a positive experience, they'll share it with their classmates, potentially boosting your recruiting efforts at their entire vet school!

Roo Uni Externships are a free Roo feature for hospitals. What you pay is entirely between you and your student extern, Roo does not take a cut.

Some externships are paid and others are not, depending on your hospital's policies. If you choose to offer paid externships, any costs will be paid directly to your student extern. Additionally, some universities do not allow students to be paid if they are receiving school credit for their externship.

Please check with the student requesting the externship for further information on their school’s policy or reach out to us with any questions at RooUni@roo.vet. We strongly recommend hosting paid externships if you can as they are much more attractive to students.

Everywhere! Since students are not licensed yet, they can come from veterinary colleges anywhere in the United States.

Students are encouraged by universities to try out-of-state externships to expose them to new practices and new places.

Some hospitals offer lodging, a travel stipend, meals, and cover other student expenses. It's up to your hospital to decide what benefits, if any, you wish to offer to your student extern(s). Please keep in mind any benefits you can offer will make your externship more attractive to students.

As with our relief vets and vet techs, Roo provides profiles on each of our students for your hospital to choose from. The final decision on externship placement will always be made by your hospital.

We strongly encourage all hospitals to give students an ACTIVE experience. However, the amount of hands-on training a student receives is up to you.

We strongly recommend discussing training expectations with students ahead of time. For some hospitals, training may include observation, learning to draw blood, and other technical applications. Other hospitals may allow students to be deeply involved in surgical procedures, patient management, and even allow them to perform advanced clinical skills. We encourage you to gauge the experience level and knowledge of each student to help guide their clinical experience.

Most veterinary externships last one to two weeks but can extend to a maximum of six weeks. Hospitals can recommend a specific duration as they see fit, but ultimately, it will need to fit into the student’s schedule.

You'll agree on the official dates and timing of your externship ahead of time with your student. You'll also be able to adjust the timing of the externship as part of the confirmation step in case changes are necessary following any conversations with your student extern.

Externships are offered year-round at many schools, and summer externships are often requested with short notice. A small number of universities begin to schedule externships in October for the following calendar year.

We recommend students carry their own student liability policy but do not require it. Host hospitals assume all liability for students. If hospitals want students to sign a liability waiver, they must provide their own waiver. The AVMA has excellent information on students and liability found here.