Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:06.347 --> 00:00:09.609
Happy New Year, happy 2025,.
00:00:09.609 --> 00:00:15.957
Wherever this finds you, I hope that 2025 is your best year ever.
00:00:15.957 --> 00:00:20.242
What does it take to be a veterinarian in New Zealand?
00:00:20.242 --> 00:00:23.986
This is a question I get asked often.
00:00:23.986 --> 00:00:26.469
This is a question I get asked often, sometimes daily.
00:00:26.469 --> 00:00:35.137
A couple of years ago, I had Ian McLaughlin, the Registrar of the Veterinary Council of New Zealand, on this podcast.
00:00:35.137 --> 00:00:43.124
Ian explained then why not all vet degrees are recognized here.
00:00:43.124 --> 00:00:58.424
I'll put links to his episodes, because he was on three times on the show notes of this one for you to listen to if you want to know why not all veterinary degrees are recognized in New Zealand.
00:00:58.424 --> 00:01:10.566
If you are affected by that In New Zealand, affected by that In New Zealand, the term registered veterinarian is actually a legal registered term.
00:01:10.566 --> 00:01:37.182
It means that only in caps, underscored, bolded exclamation marks only registered veterinarians can call themselves veterinarians in New Zealand, and because of that, there are a whole bunch of things that some overseas qualified vets need to do before they can also call themselves registered veterinarians here in New Zealand.
00:01:38.003 --> 00:01:40.004
Welcome to Veterinary Voices.
00:01:40.004 --> 00:01:48.635
This is episode 219, 219, and I'm your show host, julie South.
00:01:48.635 --> 00:01:54.533
Veterinary Voices celebrates all that's great about working in New Zealand's veterinary industry.
00:01:54.533 --> 00:02:04.206
I'd love to hear from which of the 1,400 cities Veterinary Voices is listened to around the world that you're tuning into.
00:02:04.206 --> 00:02:04.528
So please feel free to let me know at.
00:02:04.528 --> 00:02:08.669
Veterinaryvoices is listened to around the world that you're tuning into, so please feel free to let me know at veterinaryvoicesnz.
00:02:08.669 --> 00:02:15.532
And it's also at veterinaryvoicesnz where you can find back copies as well.
00:02:15.532 --> 00:02:24.931
For example, ian McLaughlin's episode episodes plural Veterinary Voices is brought to you by Vet Clinic Jobs.
00:02:24.931 --> 00:02:29.664
Plural Veterinary Voices is brought to you by Vet Clinic Jobs.
00:02:29.664 --> 00:02:32.512
That's the job board that helps vet clinics do more than just post a job vacancy.
00:02:32.512 --> 00:02:50.387
Vet Clinic Jobs is all about helping employers find their dream team members no recruitment agency involved by letting job seekers find out more about a job vacancy than your regular boring old job advert.
00:02:50.387 --> 00:02:55.694
You can check it out at vetclinicjobscom.
00:03:01.103 --> 00:03:16.532
To practice or use the title veterinarian in New Zealand, as I said at the beginning of the show, you must be registered with the Veterinary Council of New Zealand and hold a current APC, an annual practicing certificate.
00:03:16.532 --> 00:03:26.650
The best place to find out about this information is on the Vet Council's website, which is vetcouncilorgnz.
00:03:26.650 --> 00:03:27.831
Start.
00:03:27.831 --> 00:03:30.383
On the support and the registration page.
00:03:30.383 --> 00:03:33.474
There are basically two types of registration.
00:03:33.474 --> 00:03:36.301
These are for general practitioners, not specialists.
00:03:36.301 --> 00:03:41.872
Specialists have a whole different criteria to work with.
00:03:41.872 --> 00:03:47.141
So two types of registration general registration and limited registration.
00:03:47.622 --> 00:03:58.185
Regardless of which registration path you go down, all applicants must meet some strict requirements that are set by the Vet Council of New Zealand.
00:03:58.185 --> 00:04:01.367
One of those is English English proficiency.
00:04:01.367 --> 00:04:13.209
You must be able to communicate in and understand English at a level that's suitable for practicing as a veterinarian in New Zealand.
00:04:13.209 --> 00:04:19.434
So that might mean that your conversational English is okay, but your clinical English isn't.
00:04:19.434 --> 00:04:31.367
So if English isn't your first language, you'll need to provide proof of English competency by passing one of the approved English tests.
00:04:31.367 --> 00:04:40.492
The most preferred for this is IELTS I-E-L-T-S, the International English Language Testing System.
00:04:40.492 --> 00:05:11.105
If English isn't your first language and you're in the early stages of applying for New Zealand registration, I highly recommend that you speak English, conversational English, as often as possible, especially at home, with your family, your flatmates, your housemates, because, as we all know, english isn't the easiest language to learn and a high standard of proficiency is required.
00:05:11.105 --> 00:05:14.310
Yes, I know, it's a pain in the proverbial.
00:05:14.310 --> 00:05:16.875
My husband is an airline pilot.
00:05:16.875 --> 00:05:20.302
He is a born and bred Kiwi.
00:05:20.302 --> 00:05:23.627
He has university entrance level English.
00:05:23.627 --> 00:05:31.495
He had to sit and pass an English language test to have his airline registration as well.
00:05:31.495 --> 00:05:39.913
So it's not just overseas veterinarians, it applies to many types of professions registered here in New Zealand.
00:05:40.781 --> 00:05:51.740
Another thing that you'll have to prove is that you are fit and proper, you are fit to practice and that you're that you have recency of practice.
00:05:51.740 --> 00:06:04.959
So you'll need a letter of good standing from your own country's vet council proving that you are current, that you are recent and you are fit to practice veterinary medicine.
00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:11.625
If you've been out of clinical practice for a couple of years, a few years, then you might need to do a refresher course.
00:06:11.625 --> 00:06:20.605
In New Zealand, the Vet Association, the New Zealand Veterinary Association, has a refresher program that you can enroll in.
00:06:20.605 --> 00:06:37.795
Here in New Zealand, the council accepts veterinary degrees and passes in specific and very specific examinations and assessment programs for registration without having to re-sit again.
00:06:37.795 --> 00:06:51.624
This means that, provided your primary veterinary science degree is listed on the Veterinary Council's list of recognized institutions 2015, and that's the document.
00:06:51.624 --> 00:06:54.567
It's actually a legally gazetted document.
00:06:54.567 --> 00:06:59.540
It's the list of recognized institutions 2015.
00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:06.278
I'll put links to that document in the show notes for you at veterinaryvoicesnz.
00:07:06.737 --> 00:07:33.115
So either your primary veterinary degree is on the list of recognized institutions or you have passed one of the council's accepted exams, which happen to be on page three, you may be eligible for registration here in New Zealand without additional testing, and that's provided that you meet the minimum standards for practice.
00:07:33.115 --> 00:08:09.377
Like you are recent, you've got a letter of good standing and you've apply for supervised registration and that's provided that you've passed for example, here I'm talking about the Australasian Veterinary Board's exam, the AVE provided you've passed the first half of the AVE, which is the multi-choice question.
00:08:09.377 --> 00:08:16.596
When you've passed that, you may be eligible to work here as a super, as a vet under supervision.
00:08:16.596 --> 00:08:30.642
However, you need to know that just because you've passed your mcq, the multi-choice questions, it doesn't mean that you're necessarily going to be able to find a job at a clinic here in new zealand easily either.
00:08:30.642 --> 00:08:37.480
Yes, we have a shortage of veterinarians in New Zealand, around the world in fact, and it's because of the shortage.
00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:48.267
It means that the majority of clinics here in New Zealand don't always have the capacity to have vets working in a supervisory role.
00:08:48.267 --> 00:08:50.457
So just keep that in mind.
00:08:50.457 --> 00:08:57.298
I will put links to the Australasian Veterinary Exam Board website again on the show notes for you.
00:08:57.298 --> 00:09:10.802
So limited registration it's available if you don't qualify for general registration and this type of registration allows you to be registered in a limited scope of practice.
00:09:10.802 --> 00:09:45.168
Currently, the applications are being accepted under these scopes of practice Biosecurity, postgraduate training, academic industry, and that's laboratory and diagnostic, particular skills for a restricted period, a restricted purpose scope and a time-limited scope for New Zealand-based national veterinary examination candidates.
00:09:45.168 --> 00:09:46.958
I'll get to that a bit in a minute.
00:09:46.958 --> 00:09:59.168
If you've got questions about your specific situation, about your overseas qualification, you will need to speak with one of the registrars at the Veterinary Council in New Zealand.
00:09:59.168 --> 00:10:31.783
Even if you have, say, a PhD from one of the recognised universities in this 2015 list, in this 2015 list, but your primary DVM or your Bachelor of Veterinary Science is not from one of those recognized institutions, recognized universities you will have to re-sit somehow, because it doesn't matter about your PhD.
00:10:31.783 --> 00:10:42.221
What the veterinary council in New Zealand and Australia are interested in is where you got your primary veterinary science degree.
00:10:42.929 --> 00:10:45.620
Now, registration by examination.
00:10:45.620 --> 00:10:49.541
That means that you have to sit another exam and pass it.
00:10:49.541 --> 00:11:03.124
As I said just now, if your primary degree isn't on the list of recognised institutions, you will need to sit and pass an exam of some kind to work in New Zealand and or Australia.
00:11:03.124 --> 00:11:12.482
Now think back to how hard your exams were when you first sat your veterinary science bachelor's degree.
00:11:12.482 --> 00:11:24.793
Think back also to how much you studied for that exam, because that is what you'll need to do if you need to sit one of the prescribed exams.
00:11:24.793 --> 00:11:36.815
To be registered here, you'll need to budget a few years and maybe about 20,000 New Zealand dollars or so, and that's as at the beginning of 25, those rates.
00:11:36.815 --> 00:11:42.043
You can't buy an exam in New Zealand or Australia.
00:11:42.043 --> 00:11:44.532
You actually have to sit and pass it.
00:11:44.532 --> 00:11:54.119
Gosh, I reckon I would be that I wouldn't have to work anymore if I were able to print off exam passes.
00:11:54.119 --> 00:11:59.243
With the number of times I've been asked how do you buy an exam pass?
00:11:59.243 --> 00:12:01.004
You can't, I'm sorry.
00:12:01.004 --> 00:12:09.284
You have to sit it and it's hard and it costs dollars and it takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of time.
00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:22.789
Another pathway, less common than sitting the Australasian Veterinary Exam Board or the NAVLE, the North American one is to go the route of Massey University Supervised Year of Clinical Training.
00:12:22.789 --> 00:12:29.104
That's the last year of the Massey Veterinary Science degree here in New Zealand.
00:12:29.104 --> 00:12:44.559
Tauwharaora, the veterinary school at Massey University in Palmerston North here in New Zealand, aims to offer a limited number of places each year for the clinical training component under specific programs.
00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:59.807
The availability of these places depends on the predicted class size and the clinical training year typically starts in late November and you must complete it within 12 months.
00:12:59.807 --> 00:13:12.961
Preference is given to internationally qualified vets with New Zealand residency already or citizenship, although international students may also be considered.
00:13:12.961 --> 00:13:20.091
So even if you're not here right now and you think this is the way you want to go, then inquire, please inquire.
00:13:20.091 --> 00:13:36.355
I will let you know that it's also another expensive pathway, but it's just one year long and, provided you pass, it's probably a faster route than going down the AVE or the NAVLE, the North American Pathway.
00:13:36.355 --> 00:13:46.899
I'll put links to Massey University's website at veterinaryvoicesnz for you if you are thinking that that is the way that you might like to go.
00:13:48.051 --> 00:14:02.573
If this is your pathway, again, there are strict requirements and applicants must meet all of them, including, as I said just before at the beginning, a very high standard of English.
00:14:02.573 --> 00:14:19.759
When places are available, because Massey doesn't guarantee a set number each year, the selection process ensures that applicants possess the necessary communication and problem-solving skills for the veterinary teaching hospital.
00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:23.460
Massey University is a teaching hospital.
00:14:23.460 --> 00:14:38.696
Standards are high and, just so you know, part of the selection process includes participating in a multiple mini interview, sometimes known as the MMI multiple mini interview, and that's done online.
00:14:38.696 --> 00:14:52.023
There's also as at recording this at the beginning of 2025, there's also a non-refundable fee for the selection process, and that's approximately 400 New Zealand dollars.
00:14:52.023 --> 00:14:54.094
It has to be paid in advance.
00:14:54.094 --> 00:15:17.426
If this sounds like your preferred pathway and you'd like to be considered for clinical training in one of the specified programs and you've met all of Massey's requirements, then you'll need to apply before the 1st of July each year to be considered for a start in late November of the same year.
00:15:22.133 --> 00:15:27.759
Thank you for listening and for supporting Veterinary Voices over the last 200 plus episodes.
00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:34.797
This will actually be the last podcast in this format, so what's going to take its place, julie?
00:15:34.797 --> 00:15:36.135
Thank you for asking.
00:15:36.135 --> 00:15:41.918
Veterinary Voices caters to two specific and very distinct audiences.
00:15:41.918 --> 00:15:53.322
I've been asked for just a motivation and mindset podcast and I've been asked for just a recruitment specific podcast as well.
00:15:53.322 --> 00:15:56.616
Now, doing one podcast is hard enough.
00:15:56.616 --> 00:15:59.004
Doing two would just do my head in.
00:15:59.485 --> 00:16:12.971
So here's what is going to happen going forward, because clinics are interested in learning how to grow their brands as great employers, which most job seekers really don't give a proverbial about.
00:16:12.971 --> 00:16:31.282
Sure, job seekers want to know that the clinics they're going to are good places to work when they're looking to make their next move, but they're not interested in knowing about the nuts and the bolts how of what that looks like or how it's done.
00:16:31.282 --> 00:16:41.933
Similarly, or likewise, not all clinic managers or principals or HR managers are interested in knowing how to get their head screwed on straight.
00:16:41.933 --> 00:16:55.421
It's been a really tight line to walk along, a tight path to walk along, and it's because of that that I've decided that this will be the last podcast episode in this format.
00:16:55.421 --> 00:17:02.155
Instead, what we're going to do is move to an educational newsletter that you can sign up for.
00:17:02.456 --> 00:17:05.125
Weekly soundbites, five-minute soundbites.
00:17:05.125 --> 00:17:38.184
So if your role at your clinic is learning how to get the most out of your job advertisements you might be a practice manager, an HR manager or a principal then you can do that via a weekly newsletter that'll take you about five minutes to read and each week you will get something new to think about, to do to action Just something teeny, tiny, insy, winsy, dinky that will make a huge difference to you attracting your dream team to your clinic.
00:17:38.184 --> 00:17:52.844
Likewise, if you want to know how to keep or get your head screwed on straight with coaching, mentoring, mindset type life hacks, then you can get that too, again in a five minute read newsletter.
00:17:52.844 --> 00:17:55.784
All you have to do is register.
00:17:55.784 --> 00:18:02.795
To register is visit veterinaryvoicesnz and fill out the email signup form that's on that website.
00:18:02.795 --> 00:18:14.788
From there, we'll send you an email asking which newsletter you'd like to receive the employer branded focus one or the life hack one and you can opt in to receive both.
00:18:15.234 --> 00:18:30.068
We do have some great interviews scheduled and they will still be available as a podcast format, and I will let you know via these emails so that you can listen or read about them.
00:18:30.068 --> 00:18:38.637
So you can choose to listen to the audio, like you have been, or you can opt for the proceed of the conversation.
00:18:38.637 --> 00:18:42.885
You'll be able to choose your preferred medium audio or text.
00:18:42.885 --> 00:18:45.597
Easy peasy, five minute reads.
00:18:45.597 --> 00:18:48.423
That's all it'll be, wherever you are.
00:18:48.423 --> 00:19:04.875
Oh, by the way, if you have already opted in to receive veterinary voices updates, look out for an email from us and we'll be asking you which one you actually want to, which newsletter you want to start receiving.
00:19:04.875 --> 00:19:08.085
Again, thank you for your ears.
00:19:08.085 --> 00:19:10.060
Wherever you are in the world.
00:19:10.060 --> 00:19:11.259
Happy new year.
00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:15.201
Whatever you're up to, stay safe on the roads, in the skies, on the water.
00:19:15.201 --> 00:19:21.587
And here's to wishing you the absolute bestest 2025.
00:19:21.587 --> 00:19:24.079
Your best year ever.
00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:26.246
Ka kite anō.
00:19:26.246 --> 00:19:28.563
This is Julie South signing off.
