Questions, questions…
It seems a long time ago since I spoke to a trainee paraveterinary and wondered whether this might be something for me. I followed it up with an open day at Aeres Training Center where I gleaned some extra information about their paraveterinary training course.
Descriptions online and (biased sales patter?) from an expensive course provider make the life of a paraveterinary sound brilliant – but what’s it really like? I contacted a vet and asked if I could have a chat with one of theirs, or even follow one around and find out what they get up to in real life, and what they really think about it.
I was over the moon when they agreed!
Behind the Scenes
A very warm welcome and then a ‘tour’ around the building. Ironically I felt like a mouse in a maze! I was amazed how huge the place was, with dedicated rooms and equipment for dedicated treatments, procedures and who knows what else. I was reminded of the image of a duck which glides peacefully over the surface of a pond, but no-one sees his legs paddling furiously under the water. It’s the same here; the customer-facing front side is peaceful and calm, but behind the counter there was a flurry of activity!
Meeting the Paraveterinary
I really landed on my feet here because the para was more than happy not only for me to follow them around and see what they do, but to actively show and explain things to me, e.g.:
- Administration (where I saw I’d been allocated 2 hours! – I’d expected 30 mins max!),
- Watching a surgery on an animal,
- Taking an X-ray (complete with protection),
- Administering medication to animals,
- Being present in the consultation room with the vet, the pet owners and the pet.
- Behind the till
The above also showed me the variation in tasks a paraveterinary carries out, and this is really appealing as I love being busy with different things to do (my wife says I’m like a squirrel…!)
There was also time to ask a few personal questions (which they were happy to answer!) regarding how to get started and what they find makes a good or bad day.
Closing Thoughts
This was a really positive experience, and training up and working as a paraveterinary I think is a viable option for me. I’ll certainly need to brush up on my my Dutch, but there are plenty of Dutchies around in the Netherlands so this shouldn’t be a problem! 😉
Huge huge thanks to the para and the rest of the staff for their time and patience with me! (They’d even ensured I came to visit on a busy day when there was a lot to show me!). Awesome people! 🙂
