A world first nursing residency to offer RVNs specialist training is set to launch at one of the country’s leading veterinary referral centres.
Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service, in the West Midlands, is set to welcome its first intake of veterinary nursing residents to begin the industry-leading programme in September 2020.
Willows, which is part of Linnaeus, will offer positions for experienced veterinary nurses to undertake a three-year residency programme, which will launch with the specialisms of emergency and critical care and internal medicine
This pioneering programme will be run from, and based at, Willows’ state-of-the-art small animal hospital in Solihull, allowing successful candidates an unrivalled opportunity to train alongside world-leading specialists, highly-trained clinicians and experienced specialist RVNs.
Tracey Morley Jewkes, managing director at Willows, said the innovative development programme would lead the way for progression of veterinary nurses within the industry.
She said: “We intend this to be a professionally-rounded training programme which offers opportunities not only to work alongside the world-renowned specialist vets and highly-skilled referral nurses here at Willows but to also cover areas such as public speaking development and article writing.”
Tom Reilly, head of clinical support services at Willows, spearheaded the design of the residency programme and is hoping this will help to provide much-needed pathways of professional progression for RVNs and retention of talent within veterinary nursing.
Tom said: “This residency is a three-year programme which follows a similar pattern to the veterinary surgeons’ specialist residency programme.
“Each resident nurse will have a specialist vet or nurse mentor and will spend the first year working solely in the area of their chosen discipline.
“The second year will see our resident nurses undergo training in the American Veterinary Technician Specialist qualification, benefiting from the volume and complexity of cases within the working environment at Willows.
“In the final year, residents will attend an international conference in the US in their area of specialism where they will also sit their internationally recognised exams to complete their residency.
“The residency will also provide tutoring support for writing veterinary articles for publication, and public speaking skills, with residents encouraged to share their specialist training with their industry peers.”
Willows offers specialist services in anaesthesia and analgesia, cardiology, chronic pain, clinical nutrition, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, emergency and critical care, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, soft tissue surgery and spinal surgery.
To find out more about the unique nursing residency programme at Willows, visit their website or search “Willows Veterinary Centre” on social media.
