veterinary assistant

maesdavid

is there many colleges doing vetinary assistant in ireland ?

is there many job oppertunities for this type of work would love to work with horses

Wisco

'Veterinary assistant' is not really a recognized title in Ireland, although there are a few colleges that offer veterinary nursing (UCD, AIT, DkIT, a few others). I think there are some Fetac courses that are related to equine stuff. None of them would give you a recognized qualification like being a vet nurse is though. Quite a few of the local VECs offer Fetac level 5 Animal Care courses, but in my experience, the level of knowledge gained there is unlikely to be sufficient to work in with an equine only vet, as they tend to want qualified staff (ie, registered vet nurses), at least in my experience.

There is a 2 yr Cert in UL in Equine Sciene :

http://www.ul.ie/courses/DiplomaInEquineScience.shtml

You can also do a degree in it.
Navigate the UL website and you'll get videos and info on it.

As wisco said, Vetinary nursing is offered in Athlone IT, Dundalk IT and UCD to degree level, the points are high for them particularly for UCD. These courses have only been introduced to the CAO in the last 5 years or so, churning out very high level graduates as Vetinary Nurses, so the jobs market for this type of work is extremely competitive.

Wisco

OP, I meant to say that I'm pretty sure there's mature entry to vet nursing, so the CAO points thing might not be an issue for you. I did it when it was a diploma (at UCD) and most of my class was 23+ yrs.

deiselack

I think there's a 2 or 3 year course in Tip for Vet Nursing? Don't quote me on that now. There's a website called http://www.elistaeducation.com/team.htm that do some equine courses too.

Does anyone know if you can volunteer in a vet's part time? Im currently volunteering in a kennel's and would love to work with animals but I can't afford to do vet nursing as it's full time and I work full time. No sign of a part time/evening course. I'm in Waterford so there's nothing here regarding that aspect :0(

Any help would be very very much appreciated

thnx guys

Wisco

No, there's no vet nursing course in Tipperary, although there may be an animal care course (fetac level 5)- sometimes these are called 'vet nursing' but they are NOT accreditied with the vet council and do not allow you to hold the title 'vet nurse'.
I'm not sure about volunteering at a vets (insurance issues, etc), although I would imagine your local pound/SPCA would be glad to have volunteers. Some animal rescue places also look for foster homes for dogs/cats/horses- have you looked into that if you have the time/space?

deiselack

Apologies you are right Wisco Course is run in Athlone, the practical end is in Tipp.

It's http://www.gurteencollege.ie/vet%20nursing.html

There's no where to help volunteer in Waterford as they have no private land available for animals. The land is owned by someone who lets the WSPCA use it from time to time but it's not used consistantly. You can only really volunteer in the charity shop owned by the WSPCA but that's not working with animals I don't think there's anything available in Waterford if you want to work/volunteer with animals.

I live in a small apartment so no chance there I know there is an animal shelter called Paws in Mullinahone Tipp and I've heard of a puppy rescue in Inistioge, so might give them a try.

GinaH

There is Deise Rescue. Find them on facebook