Chiara Meulman
"At university, you learn about the special cases, and you study theory. During the graduate programme you deal with more common issues and all thing necessary to be able to work as a vet."
Say hi to Chiara Meulman – one of AniCuras Graduate Programme students. Being impressed by the local vet, she started reading books from the library about the most common dogs and cats when she was 14 years old, and now works as a veterinarian in The Netherlands.
When Chiara Meulman graduated from university in Belgium in July 2019, she started working at a small clinic in Zeeland in the Netherlands. Nowadays, Chiara works mostly with cats and dogs, but it all started with a rabbit.
– I was first inspired to become a veterinarian when I was around ten years old. I had a rabbit called Pluisje (meaning fluffy). When I went to the vet with him, I was so impressed with how they could know what was wrong with my rabbit, even though he couldn't talk. Afterwards, I spent a lot of time at the local vet and bought some books on the subject.
In April 2020 Chiara started working with emergency care at Medisch centrum voor Dieren Amsterdam (MCD) and in October the same year she began combining her time between MCD and the general practise Dier Medisch Centrum Kennemerland (KML).
– My mentor at Medisch Centrum voor Dieren Amsterdam (MCD) told me about the graduate program. Nowadays my mentor is from KML and I only work one day a week at MCD. For me, joining the programme and having a dedicated mentor felt like a great opportunity to grow and develop in my profession. Also, I’ve always enjoyed to study and grow.
As many young vets, the path from studying to working in practise can be challenging.
– The most challenging part of my job is communication with clients and owners. I do pretty well with animals, but their owners might have unrealistic expectations, come in too late or expect miracles. Likewise, money is always an issue since insurance still isn't very common in the Netherlands. To tackle these questions isn't something we learned in school. The graduate programme is practically minded and we spend a lot of time discussing things common in practice. I appreciate that. At university, you learn about the special cases, and you study theory. During the graduate programme you deal with more common issues and all thing necessary to be able to work as a vet.