Hill's Pet Nutrition, a division of Colgate-Palmolive and global leader in science-led pet nutrition, is proud to announce a significant investment of €75,000 to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital for a three-year European Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency.
The Veterinary Teaching Hospital trains specialists in small animal medicine. The number of pets in Finland has grown steadily in recent years, and pets have a clear significance in society. At the same time, small animal medicine has developed rapidly. Today, the field is divided not only into general medicine but also into several narrow specialties capable of offering high-quality research and treatment options.
In Europe, the specialty-specific postgraduate training of veterinarians is administered by the European Board for Veterinary Specialization (EBVS), under which 27 colleges of different specialties graduate (Diplomate). The Veterinary Teaching Hospital is accredited to direct a European specialisation programme in several fields of small animal medicine. The donation by Hill's Pet Nutrition is directed to one veterinarian's specialist training in small animal internal medicine. The residency lasts three years, during which the veterinarian conducts supervised specialisation training abroad in addition to on-the-job training, participates in relevant seminars in the field, and prepares scientific articles.
"At Hill's Pet Nutrition, we strongly support veterinary professionals throughout all stages of their career," says Jessica Mills, Professional Veterinary Affairs Manager for the Nordics at Hill's Pet Nutrition.
"By supporting the increase in specialised expertise in veterinary medicine, we can help veterinarians better address the needs of their clients and their pets."
"We are very grateful for this cooperation on behalf of both the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and the development of Finnish veterinary medicine. The residency will enable us to invest in training a new specialist and to strengthen the utilisation of the know-how of the current Diplomates working for us to develop the field", says Susanna Peiponen, Director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
A specialist veterinarian develops the entire field
European specialist training is still in its early stages in Finland, and there are currently only a dozen small veterinarians in the small animal sector who have successfully passed this training. Consequently, there is a great societal need to promote the specialist training of Finnish veterinarians. In addition to providing Finnish pet owners with high-quality veterinary services, specialist veterinarians contribute to developing their own specialty through further training of additional Finnish veterinarians.
"Cooperation is about our two organisations combining our strengths to help advance student learning and ultimately improve patient care," says Mills. "Through collaboration, we can combine the passion and innovation of Hill's Pet Nutrition with the academic excellence of the university to further the quality of veterinary care by increasing the knowledge of veterinary students on the role that therapeutic nutrition can play in disease management."
"For us as the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, teaching, high-quality care, and research are at the core of our operations. This collaboration with Hill's Pet Nutrition responds to all the elements that are important to us. I am glad that we have jointly found an entity that brings added value to organisations and the industry," Peiponen sums up.
Treatment at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital is based on the latest research. The hospital is a teaching hospital for fifth-year veterinary medicine students, a place for further training for specialising veterinarians, and a traineeship for small animal nurse students.
