The MJJ foundation provides the Knowledge grant to Aistė Šiaučiūnaitė for a three-year veterinary neurology residency at the University of Zurich. Only a graduate European specialist can become the head of the residency, thus educating new generations of specialists. Once Aistė returns, she will be the first in Lithuania to manage European level residencies of new veterinary specialists at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.
“We are glad that we can contribute to positive changes in Lithuania. Financing Aistė‘s residency also opens pathways for other Lithuanians and young foreign veterinary doctors to receive accessible residential studies of high European quality in our country in the future. This will help grow the level of veterinary medicine in Lithuania,” says Liisa Leitzinger, Member of the MJJ foundation board and the founder of “Geri Namai”.
Aistė is a veterinarian who is currently doing a neurology internship at the Animal Hospital in Bern. She graduated with a master’s degree in veterinary medicine in 2016 at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU), and in the same year enrolled in a two-year veterinary surgical residency program at LSMU in Dr. L. Kriaučeliūnas Small Animal Clinic, Department of Surgery. During the master’s studies and residency, she had the opportunity to go on an internship to veterinary clinics in Finland and Latvia. From 2018, after successfully completing the residency, she continued to work at the same clinic as a surgeon.
“The postgraduate specialization in veterinary medicine in Europe has a clear structure. Veterinary physicians have the opportunity to extend their postgraduate studies at 26 colleges united by the European Board for Veterinary Specialization (EBVS). After studies, young veterinarians are invited to one- or two-year internship programs in clinical practice, and then the next step is the three year duration residency studies. During residency studies, it is required to collect a certain number of patients classified by diseases and write two research papers. Studies are completed by an examination that is the same for all residents working in Europe. After finishing the exam, the European vet. specialist diploma is obtained. Only a graduate European specialist can become the head of the residency and thus educate new generations of specialists,” shares Aistė. “Unfortunately, European residency studies are not possible in Lithuania because there are no European level specialists. These studies are important to me for professional growth and for the opportunity to have European-level veterinary residency studies in Lithuania. Therefore, I am very grateful to the MJJ foundation for this Knowledge grant.”
