Vets around the World – Jan
My name is Jan H. Greaker and I’m a Norwegian veterinarian with 14 years’ experience in small animal medicine. I graduated from Szent Istvan University in Budapest, Hungary, in 2006. Following graduation, I was lucky enough to enroll for a one-year internship at Croft Veterinary Surgeons in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, under the guidance of Malcolm G. Ness, European Specialist and RCVS recognized Specialist in orthopedics and neurosurgery. Following my internship, I continued working in first opinion small animal practice at a hospital in Gosport, Hampshire, gaining three and half years’ experience and CPD hours in small animal surgery, radiology and emergency medicine.
In 2011 I decided to leave the UK for a job in Stavanger, Norway, where I stayed for about 18 months. During this time, I attended a cruciate CPD course run by Improve International in the UK. It was of a high quality in terms of the lecturers, notes and practical sessions in the wet lab.
I have always had the ambition to complete a post graduate certificate in small animal surgery and Improve International was the obvious choice of CPD provider. After a few years of doing locum work, I purchased a small animal business in Skien, Norway, in 2014, and I completed my General Practitioner Certificate in Small Animal Surgery in 2016. In 2017, I received the Post Graduate Certificate (PgC) in Small Animal Surgery from Harper Adams University and, in 2018, I started the first program from Improve International for a General Advanced Certificate in Small Animal Orthopedics. I passed the exam in May 2019.
Today my practice is a referral practice for small animal orthopedic surgery and some soft tissue surgery. I encourage all of my colleagues to enroll for a General Practitioner Certificate from Improve International and my new graduates receive several CPD hours in practical surgery and short courses from Improve International every year.
I think the high quality and qualifications of the lecturers provided by Improve International, combined with the balance of lectures, the practical sessions and the cost, make its Certificate programs a great investment, which is well worth making, whether you’re working in a small practice or hospital.
I recommend Improve International as the number one provider of high-quality continuing education programs to the entire veterinary community in Norway.