VFAH
Residency
Programme
About
Valley Farm Animal Hospital offers international and national residencies (human medicine version of a registrar) where qualified veterinarians can enrol in a postgraduate programme to become a specialist veterinarian in their field of interest. We are also registered to train veterinary nurses who can enrol in various programmes at different academies to specialise in a discipline of their choice.
Valley Farm Animal Hospital is the only private referral veterinary facility to be registered as a training facility in South Africa (and Africa) for the European College of Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (ECVAA; Satellite Facility), American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (ACVAA; Primary Facility) and European College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ECVECC; Primary Facility) and various MMedVet programmes offered by the University of Pretoria. For nurses, we are a registered training facility for the Academy of Veterinary Technicians in Anesthesia and Analgesia.
Residency positions for veterinarians and nurses who wish to become specialists are available at the end of the current resident cycles and if you are interested, please contact Julia.
Current Residents
- Dr Magda Jannasch: MMedVet(Anaes), Resident ACVAA
- Dr Anthea Michaletos: MSc, Resident ECVECC
- Dr Marinell Breytenbach: MSc, Resident ECVECC
- Sr Celine Lamprecht: Resident AVTAA
Past Residents (degrees supervised; and where they are working overseas) that are now specialists veterinary anaesthesiologists
- Dr Jacques Ferreria: MMedVet(Anaes), Dipl. ECVAA; working in the UK
- Dr Roxanne Buck: MSc, MMedVet(Anaes), Dipl. ECVAA, PhD(UP); working in Canada
- Dr Abdur Kadwa: MMedVet(Anaes), Dipl. ECVAA
- Dr Kaegan Boustead: MSc, Dipl. ECVAA; working in the UK
- Dr Friederike Pohlin: Candidate ECVAA; working in Austria
- Dr Justin Grace: MMedVet(Anaes) Candidate ECVAA; working in Australia
- Dr Chris Blignaut: MSc, MMedVet(Anaes), Resident ECVAA
- Dr Etienne Basson: MSc, MMedVet(Anaes), Resident ECVAA
Residency Supervisors
Dr Gareth Zeiler
BVSc(Hons), MMedVet(Anaes), PhD(UP), PhD(WITS), Dipl. ECVAA, Dipl. ACVAA, Dipl. ECVECC
Dr Zeiler is a South African registered specialist in veterinary anaesthesia and in veterinary emergency and critical care and board-certified specialist in veterinary anaesthesiology (ECVAA and ACVAA) and in veterinary emergency and critical care (ECVECC). He is the principal supervisor for the programmes related to these fields of medicine for veterinarians and nurses. He is an extraordinary lecturer (academic rank: associate professor) at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria. He is an Associate Editor for the premier journal in veterinary anaesthesia titled: Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (https://www.vaajournal.org).
He has more than a decade of experience in training and teaching residents and has established programmes with an excellent pass rate at the various programmes. He has also trained postgraduate students in research-based degree programmes which include Master and Doctoral level degrees. Almost all of his students graduate with a distinction and a publication. He is always keen to teach and is very supportive towards his students. He actively publishes textbooks and peer reviewed journal articles.
Dr Zeiler's Textbook
To follow Dr Zeiler’s publication and research outputs please visit ORCID and Research Gate
Anaesthesiology
Valley Farm Animal Hospital is a registered facility and offers training of residents in the European College of Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (ECVAA) and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (ACVAA) and the Academy of Veterinary Technicians in Anesthesia and Analgesia (AVTAA). We are also registered to offer local specialist degrees in MMedVet(Anaes) and PGDipl. Offered by the University of Pretoria.
If you are interested in specialising in veterinary anaesthesia, please contact our practice manager, Julia at julia@valleyfarmvet.co.za.
Veterinary nurse programme
for AVTAA
Information from the AVTAA website https://www.avtaa-vts.org
The Academy of Veterinary Technicians in Anesthesia and Analgesia (AVTAA) exists to promote interest in the discipline of veterinary anesthesia. The Academy provides a process by which a veterinary technician may become credentialed as a Veterinary Technician Specialist (Anesthesia & Analgesia). The Academy provides the opportunity for members to enhance their knowledge and skills in the field of veterinary anesthesia.
The Veterinary Technician who becomes credentialed as a VTS (Anesthesia & Analgesia) demonstrates superior knowledge in the care and management of anesthesia cases.
Credentialed as a VTS (Anesthesia & Analgesia) promotes patient safety, consumer protection, professionalism and excellence in anesthesia care. The Veterinary Anesthesia arena is constantly evolving, thus, the attainment of competence is a continual activity.
Emergency and Critical Care
Valley Farm Animal Hospital is a registered facility and offers training of residents in the European College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ECVECC).
If you are interested in specialising in veterinary anaesthesia, please contact our practice manager, Julia at julia@valleyfarmvet.co.za.
Residency in ECVECC
The purpose of the programmes is to train aspiring veterinarians who want to specialist in veterinary emergency and critical care medicine. Residents will learn, over the course of 3 years, and as stated on the ECVECC website: “To advance the knowledge and high standards of practice in veterinary emergency and critical care medicine in Europe and increase the competency of those who practise in this veterinary discipline.”
Our programme has been approved by the ECVECC. This programme is a 3 year full time appointment (paid and unpaid opportunities) where the resident must complete an activity (procedure) log, a research project which must be published in a peer-reviewed journal, participate in various resident rounds, journal club and weekly discussion rounds with supervisors. The resident must develop their competency in surgery, interpreting diagnostic imaging, ultrasound and medical workups. The right resident is a person who is unfazed by working under pressure and a very quick thinker and doer. Ther resident must also have a capacity to absorb an exorbitant amount of knowledge and not be concerned with working after hours and being on call for emergencies. A minimum of 96 weeks under direct supervision is required to meet the credential requirements. This programme requires externships where time is spent under guidance of specialists from allied disciplines (e.g., medicine, cardiology, neurology, surgery, emergency and critical care).
