New Zealand Certificate in Animal Healthcare Assisting (Level 4) with strand in Rural Animal Healthcare

Are you seeking a career in a veterinary-related field, with rural animals?

This programme will see you learn the skillset to work with agricultural and farm animals under the guidance of our tutors and through 240 hours of work placement in a rural or mixed veterinary clinic. Students will learn everything from tending to sick and injured animals to docking, foot care, pregnancy testing, disease prevention, and how to assist herd owners in achieving breeding and production goals. 

Students will attend lectures two days a week, undertake practicals one day a week, and also have two days a week on work placement. There are blocks of days where there are no lectures so that students can complete work experience in the second semester.

Please note: It is a requirement of this programme that you have a form of transport and/or someone who can transport you around the Waikato/Waipa areas to complete your work placement hours each week. We cannot guarantee you will be able to complete hours within your area of residence.

Based in Hamilton, the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), is one of the country’s largest institutes of technology. We deliver high-quality education across vocational (technical) and professional fields of study to approximately 13,000 students, across over 130 different courses.

At Wintec students are educated in a way that builds their confidence and gets them work-ready. We differ from other types of tertiary providers in the way students get the chance to put their theoretical learning into practice from the very start. You will get to work on real-life projects based on relevant topics and themes as if you were in the workplace. You will also get involved in work placements. This means that by the time you graduate, you will be confident in your skills and knowledge, and know-how to apply your learnings. Our academic staff have years of industry experience between them, which means they can guide you on your journey.

Wintec maintains collaborative relationships with local industry and iwi to identify the needs of the region and community. Fostering strong networks that our students and graduates benefit from is a high priority for us.  Understanding the needs of local industry, what type of graduates they need now, and what they will need in the future is critical to assisting industry and our graduates.