A UNIQUE AND EXCLUSIVE SURGICAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR VETERINARIANS

SPAY ACADEMY SPAIN

Develop your confidence with surgical spays at the most supportive training course in Europe.

5 days of 100% practical surgery
Outstanding supporting environment with two dedicated tutors and an RVN
High standard practice with IV access, multimodal pain relief and gas anaesthesia

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BRINGING CONFIDENCE TO ROUTINE SURGERY

Veterinarians often struggle to achieve surgical competence and this undermines their confidence in their skills.

Why We Struggle

Lack of Opportunities

In many countries, due to the structure of clinical practice, you don’t even have the opportunity to practise surgery.
Lack of Support

When you don’t have adequate support, you don’t feel good about practising new surgeries on your patients completely alone.
Not Enough Cases

Even when you do have the ability and knowledge to perform surgery, sometimes cases are not frequent enough for you to feel like you are keeping your skills up to date.

The “No Experience Cycle”

In a busy practice, it is common for surgeries to be completed by the most experienced vets, as this is the most time efficient, with best outcomes. This starts a cycle where inexperienced vets do not have the chance to improve.

THE COURSE EXPERIENCE

Spay Academy Spain is an immersive and intensive experience lasting for 5 days in an incredibly sympathetic environment. You will be supported throughout the course by two highly experienced tutors who will help you develop your skills.

Around You

We provide a supportive and relaxed learning environoment.

With You

You will have two experienced tutors available to guide you.

For You

You are responsible for each procedure from start to finish.

I now not only feel confident with my spays but also efficiently opening up the abdomen and performing proper surveys which will be invaluable for other abdominal surgeries.

~ Simone Cuttler

MORE THAN JUST A TRAINING COURSE

You will be going through a unique experience in Medina del Campo, Spain, helping the international rescue centre Scooby that specialises in rescuing Spanish Greyhounds. You will be able to perform surgery with the standards and conditions you would expect to find in UK private clinical practice.

Support

From a bit of reassurance to gowning up and digging in to help, our tutors are always there for when you need them. They will give you advice or put down a fire!

Experience

You will be the only surgeon doing surgery on your patient. Delegates average 8 surgeries during the course and perform them from start to finish.

Standards

Despite being in a rescue environment, we have a fully operational and equipped theatre room with top conditions, as you find in UK private practice.

Community

Our tutors will be there to give you support during and outside of the course. Enjoy time off with them and your colleagues and experience the Spanish culture.

LIMITED VACANCIES

Next Courses

We accept veterinary graduates as well as final year veterinary students in our courses.

May 2022 - 2nd to 6th (Monday to Friday)

Suggested arrival date on Sunday the 1st, departure on Saturday the 7th. Pre-booking available.
September 2022 - week to be confirmed.

Attemptive date 19-23 September. Pre-booking available.

Bookings and Fees

TRAVEL, STAY AND MEALS

The course takes place in Medina del Campo, about 2 hours Northwest of Madrid. Medina can be reached by train or bus and is a 2-hour drive from Madrid’s airport.

We will offer you accommodation at a local hotel called Hotel Reina Isabel. We will book this on your behalf when you inform us regarding your check-in and check-out dates. This cost is already included in the course fees.

We will offer you breakfast and lunch at the refuge, although you can also have breakfast at the hotel. We usually group for dinner in the town centre after we finish the day at the rescue. These meals are also included in the course fees.

Download the brochure for all the information.

Download Brochure

Join Us

How to Book a Course

Each course has a limit of 8 vacancies and is usually full 2-3 months before the date. We usually only have one or two courses open for registration at one given point.

Choose a preferred date

Have a look at the dates available and suit the one that is better for you to join the course. We usually run 2 to 3 courses per year, but only one or two will be available for registration.
Pre-Book

Once you know what date suits you, send us your intention to book a vacancy by leaving your details in our registration form. You can access this below on the button "REGISTRATION FORM".
Q&A session and vacancy confirmation

Once we receive your booking, we will contact you by email or mobile phone to arrange a free Q&A session at your convenience. We will explain you what to expect and confirm with you whether we have a vacancy available or not (we try to keep this updated on the website and booking form but we often have many bookings).
Deposit and registration

After the Q&A session we hope you have all the information you need to make your decision. If you want to join us and we have a vacancy for you, we will send a deposit request for half of the course fee to secure your place. Once this deposit is received, your vacancy is secure.

REGISTRATION FORM

PREVIOUS COURSES

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JOIN US

Three Good Reasons to Join

Spay Academy Spain offers you a unique and unforgettable experience that you will not be able to repeat anywhere else.

40h of CPD

40 hours of certified CPD with a proficiency diploma at the end.
Support and quality

Expert tutors available for you and high standard working conditions.
Supporting neutering

Contributing to mass neutering for population control and charity support for rehoming.

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Request a Q&A Session

What people say about our course

Thank you so much for the great course and the great time, Luis and Judy are awesome. This was an excellent experience and an outstanding course!! I have learned so much and I found the course one of the best courses I have attended. I feel so much more comfortable with surgery after only a week, definitely an invaluable experience for my future.

Clara Garcia

The course was great, I learnt so much from Luis and Judy-they were excellent teachers. I have gone from worrying about spays to now being comfortable in what I am doing and can’t thank them enough. It was a fun and enjoyable experience and I would recommend it to all.

Mia Kalyvides

This course exceeded any expectation that I had. I imagined that the first two days we would be confined to a chair and a desk as our mentors would theoretically talk about different techniques/anaesthetics procedures used in bitch spay. I couldn’t have been more wrong. We arrived at Scooby on Monday and as soon as the brilliant staff brought the first dogs we were doing bitch spays.

Stefana Trufin

Want to hear more?

Visit our testimonials page to see what the many delegates that have joined the course have to say about it.

MORE TESTIMONIALS

Frequently asked question

Here are a few answers to our most common questions

I'm a veterinary student, can I join?

Yes, this course is for veterinary graduates and final year veterinary students who want to develop their surgical skills and become confident with female neutering. If you are still not in your final year, you will need to wait a bit longer ;)

I have never done a spay, can I join?

Absolutely! It's not unsual for us to have vets that have been working for several years but have never had the opportunity to develop their surgical skills. This course is especially for vets who have limited experience or struggle with their confidence doing spays.

Where does it take place?

The course takes place in the rescue centre Scooby, in Medina del Campo, which is a 2-hour drive from Madrid and can be reached via high speed train that takes 50 minutes from Madrid.

How many surgeries can I do?

We don't want you to focus on the number of surgeries only (and we have methods to help you with this), but we have never had any surgeon perform less than 8 surgeries during the course. The record was 15 surgeries in 5 days!

What sort of help will I have?

There are two experienced tutors available to help you in any way that you need help - from showing you how to do it step-by-step to gowning up and holding things for you.

There is also a registered veterinary nurse to help with the anaesthetics.

What am I expected to do during the course?

During this course, you will be grouped in pairs with another vet of similar experience and you will take turns between being the surgeon and the anaesthetist. That means you will be performing surgery, but you will also be placing IV catheters, inducing anaesthesia, intubating patients, monitoring anaesthesia and more :)

What are the course fees?

The fee for the 5-day course with accommodation and meals included is £2000. This value can be paid in two instalments.

What accommodation is available?

Spay Academy will organise accommodation for you at the Hotel Reina Isabel, in Medina del Campo. The cost of the accommodation is already included in the course fees.

Are meals included?

Yes, we will offer you breakfast, lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday. We will also accommodate your preferences and limitations.

What about travel?

We will help you organise your travel and provide you with information to comply with COVID-19 travel restrictions. However, you will have to make travel arrangements to arrive to Medina del Campo. We will be in charge of transporting you between the hotel and the rescue centre.

What do I need to bring?

We only ask that you bring scrubs to wear during the course and also your own stethoscope if you want. And we advise you bring comfy shoes! ;)

What conditions can I expect at the rescue?

The rescue centre has a hospital room with surgical tables and proper illumination. Instruments are fully sterilised for each procedure and all our patients receive an IV catheter, pre-medication with opioids and NSAIDs, intubation and maintenance with gas anaesthesia. We also place them on IV fluids.

Still have questions?

Book a free Q&A session.

Book Q&A Session

Learn To Spay in Spain

A unique and unforgettable experience to develop your surgical skills and confidence in theatre, focused on a remarkable learning environment.

Download Brochure

Our brochure contains all the information about the course and conditions.

Book a Q&A Session

Book a Q&A session if you have doubts about the course and want to know if it's right for you.

Join a Course

Fill out the booking form so you can join the course of your choosing.

spayacademy@univets.global
+44 07918796877

ABOUT US

Spay Academy Spain was started by Dr. Luis Sainz-Pardo and is currently run by Dr. Andreia Dias. The 5-day experience combines dog neutering under conditions of private practice in a supportive environment with the expert presence of two experienced tutors.

Spay Academy Spain delivers outstanding learning experiences focused on developing self-confidence and competences for the real-life profession.

We believe in complete development of individual veterinarians and "whole-being", rather than "well-being".

ABOUT US CONTACT US PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF USE

Lack of Support

Not Enough Cases