We believe very strongly that supporting the development of our people is crucial to providing the best possible care for your animals and to ensuring everyone in the Aldgate team is happy and fulfilled in their career.
So we were delighted for our vet Rayana, who heads up our rehabilitation team, when she recently completed her Postgraduate Diploma in Veterinary Physiotherapy from the University of Nottingham.
Veterinary physiotherapy plays a vital role in helping animals recover or adapt from injury or surgery, and it has grown in popularity as a way of complementing and building on more traditional surgical and pharmaceutical interventions to ensure the best outcomes for your pet.
We thought now was the perfect time to have an in-depth look into Rayana’s latest qualification, our approach to staff development as a whole and what this means for you and your fur baby.
Rayana’s qualifications
Rayana graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Liverpool in 2009 and she soon looked to build on this with an ESPVS GPCert Companion Animal Behaviour in 2015. As changes in pets’ behaviour can indicate potential medical problems, this qualification gave her the opportunity to diagnose and treat cats and dogs with behavioural concerns.
That was followed by the ECAS Certificate in Western Veterinary Acupuncture and Chronic Pain Management in 2020, which enables Rayana to perform the acupuncture service that many of our patients love and benefit from. Her latest diploma qualification has covered topics like electrotherapies, exercise programming, anatomy and physiology.
Rayana studied towards her postgraduate diploma around her role as a full-time vet at Aldgate over two years so this was a huge commitment to advancing her skills.
She said: “The diploma has been worth all of the hard work it has taken to complete over the past two years. It has given me a more in-depth understanding of rehabilitation therapies and how they can help the animals we treat.
“As vets, we see so often how much love our customers have for their pets and how worried they are when their loved one is suffering. Being able to offer a top quality rehabilitation service as we do at Aldgate means that many more dogs and cats can build up their strength and fitness, and enjoy a better quality of life than they would have otherwise.”
Highly qualified staff
As we said above, the team at Aldgate are fully supportive of staff development and we invest in the skills and qualifications of our people. We have current veterinary care assistants (VCAs) who are studying towards their level two VCA qualifications, and student nurses training to be registered veterinary nurses. The rehab team alone (below) possess a wide range of additional qualifications, on subjects including canine hydrotherapy, animal management and behaviour, and veterinary physiotherapy.
Gill Bailey, one of our vets and directors, said: “It’s absolutely essential that people who look after animals keep up to date with the latest practice and continue to build on their skills and knowledge.
“That’s why we arrange continuing professional development sessions for our teams and encourage our colleagues to pursue new qualifications.
“As well as helping to attract and retain bright and enthusiastic people, a strong culture of staff development also means we can offer the best possible care for our customers and their pets.”
What this means for you and your pet
Having a desire to care for and improve the lives of animals large and small isn’t something that can be learned but it’s something that every single member of our team possesses. With this as an essential starting point, qualifications enable our colleagues to build the skills and knowledge that are crucial to providing the best possible care for your pet.
Rayana said: “The whole culture at Aldgate is hugely encouraging of colleagues developing their skills and knowledge, both in terms of supporting with the costs of the qualifications and being flexible around our studying commitments.
“This results in a team of people who are motivated and enjoy their role because they are always moving forward but also in a workforce that’s highly skilled and knowledgeable, as well as being caring and compassionate.”
You can find out more about our team by visiting the meet the team page.