Aeres Training Centre
An open day at Aeres (animal) Training Centre in Barneveld, the Netherlands. Worth a look at their courses in animal care and veterinary assistance? There’s only one way to find out and it’s only 30 minutes away, so I went!
Goals:
- Look at the training options for animal care.
- Explore the paraveterinery training program.
Take home messages
Animal Care
I was very lucky to get some time with a staff member in the information market. She told me there was no general course on animal care (like there is for under 18’s), but instead a number of short courses in specific disciplines for specific animal species.
Following one of these courses means I’m effectively limiting myself to job opportunities in only these areas. I suppose I could study a few of them back-to-back (or even simultaneously) depending on timetabling because these courses are short. And I could get to paid work quickly. (See my positivity there?!)
Paraveterinery training program
A half hour presentation on the paraveterinery course covered some practical aspects of the course, but sadly, nothing on its content. Most of it is online study at home (access via an online portal), “contact moments” when we can pose questions / difficulties encountered at home with the instructor or other students, and internships.
This is a handy approach for me given potential language difficulties, but if only I knew what I’d be learning about… and it takes 2 years. That’s a long time with no job.
Overall Impressions
- No clear direction to go between animal care or animal health.
- Aeres has animals on site (and they looked in better condition than some I’ve seen in zoos!).
It’s reassuring to see Aeres Training Centre is a place is dedicated to animals, rather than a place that offers animal courses amongst others. A paraveterinery at Avolare told me that Aeres is nationally renowned for its courses. At least from outside, I can understand why.
