So, you’ve decided to take a veterinary certificate – it'll help you carve the career you’ve always dreamed of, increase your earning potential, and see more of the cases you enjoy. But now, you’ve got to choose who to study with! In this article, we’ll give you all the amazing reasons you should let us help you get your veterinary postgraduate qualification.
Veterinary Certificates with Improve Veterinary Education
At Improve Veterinary Education, we live and breathe postgraduate training every day, and have been for 25 years. We provide training for vets and nurses to get the qualifications they need to advance their careers, gain confidence, and support their team. But we’re not the only veterinary certificate training provider out there. So why choose IVE?
9 reasons to choose Improve Veterinary Education for your veterinary certificate training
1. Learning options that suit you
We believe your certificate course should suit your life. While many certificate providers only do residential courses (which are time-consuming to attend), those that do offer online options often require attendance at lots of live-streamed webinars, which may be inconvenient times even though they’re remote. At Improve Veterinary Education, our veterinary postgraduate certificates have a range of learning options to suit everyone. Depending on the course, you can choose between face-to-face and online certificates, with some courses having optional practical attendance days or blended options to help embed your learning.
2. Innovative, dedicated platform
Of course, there are other online veterinary certificate providers, but Improve Veterinary Education has a purpose-built platform, hosting activities designed to increase learning and retention. This isn’t just live-streamed webinars, it’s ground-breaking bite-sized video lessons, interactive quizzes, AI simulators, and an inbuilt forum moderated by specialists. We’re constantly working to improve our platform to make remote learning as convenient and effective as possible.
You can experience a sample lesson to see what we mean, or find out how it feels to study an online certificate programme with Improve Veterinary Education.
We’re constantly innovating to ensure our courses don’t just teach clinical knowledge, they train you to be a better vet or nurse.
3. Purpose-built training centre
Of course, not everything can be learned online. Practical skills need practical teaching, so we’ve built a training centre in Swindon. This state-of-the-art facility is the largest veterinary training facility in Europe. It has two ‘wet lab’ surgical suites that are equipped to referral hospital standards, a dental suite ready for learning comprehensive procedures, and a radiology suite. Whatever your programme, you can be confident the practical skills are taught in world-class facilities that are designed to enhance your learning experience!
4. World-class speakers
When you’re choosing your veterinary certificate training provider, how and where you learn is only half the equation. Who you learn from is also important – you need to trust that you’re being taught up-to-date, evidence-based knowledge and skills by the very best vets in your discipline. Our speakers comprise diplomats, certificate holders, and vets with advanced academic qualifications like PhDs – in other words, the best of the best. And they aren’t just clinically knowledgeable – we hire speakers who are also great educators, and constantly check in to make sure they’re meeting our high expectations.
5. Study flexibly
Because of the way we’ve designed our platform and our lessons, you can study flexibly around your clinical career. We’ve made sure as much of the learning as possible can be done at a time that suits you. Whether you prefer to work in your lunch break each day or set aside a day a month, our courses are there, on demand, when you have time to log in.
6. Independent awarding body
The International School of Veterinary Postgraduate Studies (ISVPS) is our independent awarding body. They accredit all our courses, ensuring that our teaching is in line with the highest standards around the world. They also set the examinations for the General Practitioner Certificate (GPCert), which means that delegates can be sure of a fair and independent assessment process. For those continuing to the Postgraduate Certificate (PgC), these are validated by Harper Adams University (HAU) – another highly regarded institution in the UK and further afield. In other words, whether you’re training for the GPCert or continuing to the PgC, our certificate programmes are designed to meet the highest standards in postgraduate education.
7. Innovative courses and teaching methods
We’re always striving to make sure our programmes and courses fit the needs of modern veterinary professionals. Not only do we regularly review and add new courses, but we also improve our popular programmes using emerging technology and incredible insights from other industries. For example, we’re adding Virtual Reality (VR) technology to help vets learn ultrasound techniques. We’ve also completely revamped our Small Animal Medicine certificate course using teaching from the world’s best (think NASA, air traffic controllers, and New York firefighters!), added AI-driven communication simulators, and included Error Management Training to help vets learn to reflect and respond after mistakes without judgement. In other words, we’re constantly innovating to ensure our courses don’t just teach knowledge, they train you to be a better vet or nurse.
8. Well-respected qualifications
Thanks to the practically useful nature of our qualifications and the robust assessment process set by ISVPS, our veterinary postgraduate certificates are well-respected by colleagues and employers alike. Since ISVPS runs the same assessments in 11 countries, the certificates we offer are accepted internationally as a sign of high-quality learning and advanced skills. And, for those in the UK, the PgC from HAU is recognised by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) for application to Advanced Practitioner Status. Whether you’re advancing your career here in the UK or planning to travel with your new qualification, the learning from your certificate programme will help you excel.
No other certificate provider in the UK has this level of experience running courses for veterinary professionals.
9. 25 years of experience
We have been running veterinary professional development courses for over 25 years, and over 50,000 candidates globally have been awarded with a veterinary certificate through our courses. Our unmatched experience allows us to ensure our students learn as comfortably and effectively as possible. No other certificate provider in the UK has this level of experience running courses for veterinary professionals.
10. Delegates recommend us!
Don’t just take our word for it! Our proven approach and deep care for our students results in high satisfaction scores. We regularly ask if students would recommend our courses, and our Net Promoter Score (NPS) is 60, which is considered excellent. The numbers speak for themselves, but feel free to browse our testimonials from vets and nurses who have taken our courses.
11. Thinking for the future
What do you do after you’ve passed your assessments and achieved your qualifications? For many vets and nurses, one certificate is enough – you have the boost your career needed, and you can now see more of the cases you love. But if you enjoyed your veterinary certificate course that much, we offer options for progression. You can take another one of our world-leading postgraduate programmes (plenty of people have two or more!) – or progress to an Advanced Certificate in the same (or a related) subject.
Conclusion
Choosing a veterinary certificate provider can be tough. We know – we’ve been doing this for 25 years, and we’ve seen it all. You’re weighing up price, commitment, and flexibility, as well as how well-respected the qualification is. Our advice is “don’t settle for second-best!”. If you’re still stuck, a chat with our supportive team could help – our CPD Advisors can help you find the right course to supercharge your career! Just contact us, and we'll do the rest.
If you liked this article, you may also enjoy:
- When Should You Start a Postgraduate Certificate? Signs You’re Ready for Veterinary Postgraduate Training
- How to stay motivated and accountable while taking online vet CPD
- 8 ways to use your postgraduate certificate to change your career
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After graduating from the University of Nottingham in 2016, Jo moved into small animal practice in the midlands, where she grew a passion for client communication and the subjects that most need it - like geriatrics and dermatology. Since 2020 she has worked as a locum vet in the Channel Islands as well as as a content writer in pet health topics.
