New training centres set to revolutionise veterinary training and development

IVC Evidensia is opening two new Academy Training Centres – located at the Vets Now headquarters in Dunfermline and the Blaise Referral Hospital in Birmingham, to provide "a range of high-quality, hands-on learning opportunities for veterinary professionals".

The centres will feature both wet lab and classroom-style teaching facilities; 20,000 hours of CPD will be delivered for IVC Evidensia colleagues alone this year. While the centres will initially serve IVC Evidensia colleagues, the goal is to make these resources available to the broader veterinary community towards the end of 2025.

“We are delighted to be opening our new training centres,” said Daniella Dos Santos, director of Professional Culture at IVC Evidensia, who has driven forward the concept. “This initiative has been a long-held ambition, and it’s an exciting opportunity to initially transform the training and development experience for our teams, and in time, for the whole profession.

“These centres will allow us to provide tailored training, whether you’re just starting your career or you’re looking to develop new skills and techniques. The training will help us deliver exceptional care for pets and their owners by ensuring our colleagues and eventually the wider profession continue to grow and develop their expertise.”

Each centre has a registered veterinary nurse as a dedicated training co-ordinator. The courses will be taught mainly by clinicians from across the IVC Evidensia network.

The centres "link seamlessly" with IVC Evidensia’s Graduate Academy; all new graduates joining the academy each year will have access to dedicated facilities and learning opportunities from the start of their career and beyond.

They also link with the launch of IVC Evidensia’s new Care Frameworks, a set of tools to support first opinion veterinary teams at point-of-care, blending published evidence with real-world clinical experience to offer high-level guidance for specific clinical conditions.

“The training centres are not just about our own teams – our aim is to help strengthen the profession as a whole. We have such phenomenal people with such incredible expertise within our business,” said Daniella. “By eventually opening these centres to everyone, we can help raise the standard of care across the industry and ensure that every pet, wherever they are, receives the best possible care.”

The training centres will offer a wide range of courses from foundational to advanced, covering a range of key clinical and non-clinical skills. Facilities include high-tech audio-visual equipment with ceiling-mounted cameras to relay demonstrations, phantom models for abdominal ultrasound training and advanced simulators for practicing echocardiography. Future plans include the ability to stream content for hybrid learning, making these opportunities more accessible to an even broader audience.