Three specialists toast exam success at northwest veterinary specialists
13 June 2023 / Update
Northwest Veterinary Specialists is top of the class after three of our clinicians passed exams enabling them to become specialists in their fields.
Francesca Venier and Harry Warwick, are now EBVS European veterinary specialists in internal medicine, while Lavra Zajc has become an EBVS European veterinary specialist in small animal oncology.
Francesca graduated from the University of Padua in Italy in 2010 and has had an interest in internal medicine since she was a student.
After moving to the UK in 2015, Francesca spent a year working in general practice before joining NWVS on a rotating internship, which also involved time at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine.
In 2018, she started her residency in small animal internal medicine at NWVS before becoming a clinician.
Francesca, who is particularly interested in endocrinology and feline medicine, said: “The whole team at NWVS has been incredibly supportive during my preparation for the exam, putting me in the best position to pass it.”
Harry graduated from Edinburgh University in 2015, spent two years in first opinion practice and completed a rotating internship.
He started his residency at NWVS in 2018 and, since October 2021, has been working as part of the internal medicine team.
Harry said: “It’s been almost five years of working and studying, so it’s very satisfying to have passed the exams.
“The three-year-residency is a main criteria to be able to sit the exam, but we’re also required to publish and present original research, pass qualifying examinations and write case reports during our training.”
Lavra graduated from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and moved to England in 2017, where she joined fellow Linnaeus referral centre Southfields Veterinary Specialists in Essex.
She joined NWVS in 2018, when she commenced a small animal oncology internship before progressing to be a resident and then a clinician.
Lavra said: “I am thrilled to have passed my specialist exams and am thankful to all my colleagues at NWVS who have been a great support throughout.”
NWVS is one of the UK’s leading specialist-led animal hospitals. Offering care in anaesthesia and analgesia, diagnostic imaging, internal medicine, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, orthopaedics and soft tissue surgery.
