To become a veterinarian you need at least VWO, Atheneum or Gymnasium as previous education, with the subjects physics and health in the profile. If you want to become a veterinarian with a HAVO diploma, you will have to continue your education. After HAVO you could go to VWO. Veterinary medicine in the Netherlands can only be studied in Utrecht. If there are many registrations, lots must be drawn to be admitted to the study. In the Netherlands, you can only train as a veterinarian at the University of Utrecht, at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The training lasts 6 years. Some students follow their studies in Belgium or Germany or England. In the first year of your studies in the Netherlands, you must choose whether you want to specialize in farm animals (farm animals), such as cows, sheep, pigs and chickens, or in regular domestic animals (companion animals), such as cats, dogs, guinea pigs and rabbits. (and so on). If you choose farm animals, it is likely that you will look for a job as a livestock veterinarian later, once you have finished your studies. You will hardly find livestock in big cities, so you become a farm animal doctor if you like to work with large animals, like to live in the countryside or if you really want to become a farm animal veterinarian for other reasons.
You choose companion animals if you want to become a veterinarian who will mainly treat common pets, such as cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, turtles, etc. Once you have chosen which direction you want to study, your subjects will be adjusted during your studies. to your choice.
Internships
In the fifth and sixth years of the study, a student follows internships, where you can put into practice everything you have learned so far. During internships, students gain some experience for when they have to work independently later.
Veterinarian for large or small animals?
If you become a farm animal doctor, your days will look very different than if you treat companion animals. In a pet practice, patients will come to the practice more often than if you are a livestock veterinarian. Visits for normal pets are mainly made for emergencies. A veterinarian for farm animals visits sick animals much more often, because you don’t just take a cow or a pig to a practice. These veterinarians also help much more often with the deliveries of cattle and other animals and they will regularly have to perform an (emergency) section (caesarean section) in a stable.
A veterinarian also often works preventively, i.e. to prevent diseases and infections caused by diseases. This includes vaccinations (or sometimes, unfortunately, lethal injections) to prevent outbreaks of disease epidemics.
A veterinarian often has to discover in a short time what is wrong with an animal and whether something serious is going on. Sometimes emergency operations have to be performed.
Further training for graduated veterinarians
A veterinarian who has (long ago) graduated, just like a doctor for humans, is obliged to regularly attend further training to ensure that he/she remains well informed about new medicines or treatments. Further training occurs every year because there are always new developments, but also to ensure that veterinarians stay up to date with their knowledge.
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