Principal Vet Cristian Mihaita has dealt with ECC cases since his days at university in Romania, so the world of emergency medicine is familiar territory. However, Cristian says taking part in our AdvantEdge programme has provided a real and welcome boost to his veterinary skills and expertise.
What’s your veterinary background?
I studied at the University of Spiru Haret “Veterinary Medicine’’ in my home country Romania, graduating in 2017. It’s a six-year course and from about my third or fourth year I was introduced to ECC through working nights as an assistant at a small animal primary care 24-hour clinic. The difference in Romania is that there’s no accredited route for the training of vet nurses therefore vet students tend to be used instead. So, while I was supervised, I got to see and do a lot with ECC cases and already had quite a bit of experience by the time I left university.
What sort of cases did you see?
It was quite different in Romania to what you’d typically come across in the UK. So, in the summer we’d tend to see what was called ‘cat falling syndrome’. Bucharest is a city with a lot of high-rise apartment blocks and in the summer months, when people left doors open, cats would often fall from upper storeys. We would also deal with a greater number of infectious disease cases than you would not expect to see in Britain.
Cristian MihaitaI always want to push myself and learn more. Instead of searching for different bits of CPD, I thought it would make more sense to do something where it was all concentrated into one two-week block.
Why did you come to the UK?
It was always my ambition as I wanted to learn more, and the UK is at the very top when it comes to animal welfare. So, I came immediately after I graduated in 2017 without taking up any posts in Romania. I started working at a small animal practice in Chichester, which had an on-call out-of-hours that again gave me a lot of experience. In fact, it was a bit like being thrown in at the deep end as my first surgery in the UK was a pyometra on a Sunday on my own! I left to take up another small animal job for a few months at the end of 2020 before being asked back to that practice as the Clinical Director. I stayed there until starting with Vets Now in January 2023.
Why the move?
I really enjoy ECC and with the practice being part of IVC Evidensia, I was obviously very aware of all that Vets Now could offer, especially with the role of principal vet. I’m still loving it almost two years on, and at the moment I can’t see me ever wanting to move on. You can make a difference when you are working in day practice, but in emergency that difference tends to be bigger.
So, as you were already doing the job in clinic, what was the appeal of doing AdvantEdge?
I always want to push myself and learn more. Instead of searching for different bits of CPD, I thought it would make more sense to do something where it was all concentrated into one two-week block.
What was it like?
Well, first of all we were staying in beautiful lodges at Loch Leven, and I just fell in love with Scotland. I think the weather helped as it was nice and sunny – although we were told it wasn’t always like that! We were quite a strong, experienced group, including roving vets and were sorted out nicely into well-matched teams.
We had sessions which acted as a good reminder, but also others which were more specific to us. For example, when it came to surgery, the surgeon teaching us adapted what they would typically do, and asked what we wanted to know more about and helped give insight to more complex procedures. You can always learn more, like about blood gases for example. And you were always able to ask the tutors questions, so it was nice and interactive.
So, even with all your experience, you still found it worthwhile?
Yes, definitely. You’re always looking for the newest CPD each year and, as I say, the beauty of AdvantEdge is that it incorporates that without having to search for it. I came back to Worthing with additional knowledge, and that can only be good.