Origins and Aims

The European School for Advanced Veterinary Studies (ESAVS) was founded in 1991 by three veterinarians, one from academia and two from small animal practice.

The basis was the conviction that every veterinarian, regardless of income, country of residence or veterinary school attended, can be supported according to his or her abilities and performance, and achieve first-class professional competence and success, through contemporary continuing education at an international veterinary postgraduate school that enables all to develop professionally at the highest level.

Today's ESAVS proves that this ambitious goal has been achieved to a large extent. ESAVS stands as a broad-based, international non-profit school that is distinctly different from the commercial CE course providers that have emerged in recent years.

ESAVS has succeeded in coupling the desire for self-improvement and the thirst for knowledge of veterinarians in a way that can be compared to the "charm of anticipated success" described by Alexis de Tocqueville (The American Dream), which spurs students on to professional excellence. This philosophy and the outstanding teaching quality of ESAVS have led over twenty thousand veterinarians from all over the world to participate in ESAVS study programs and courses.

ESAVS has an outstanding faculty with over 400 veterinary lecturers from more than 20 countries. All are certified specialists with excellent teaching skills. ESAVS offers continuing education based on face-to-face courses at various locations in Europe and Asia, as well as distance learning.

ESAVS is the leading international postgraduate school in clinical veterinary medicine for companion animals. It can look back on 30 years of experience. More than 900 face-to-face courses in 21 clinical disciplines have been organized for over 16,000 participants from 51 countries.

ESAVS courses and study programs have inspired many to develop professionally, earning degrees as subject specialists at European and American universities and becoming lecturers at universities.

Structure of ESAVS

Today ESAVS study programs and courses are offered by two sister organizations, ESAVS Europe and ESAVS Asia. This is in recognition of the fact that small animal veterinary medicine is developing much faster in Asia compared to the more developed situation in Europe.
ESAVS Europe and ESAVS Asia follow the same principles of excellence and are closely related to each other.

ESAVS training programmes and intensive courses include lectures, discussions, demonstrations, case presentations and laboratory work. In order to permit a high level of training efficiency, the number of participants per course is limited. Daily tuition includes new scientific information and practical exercises in small groups. Each course is supervised by course leaders (tutors) who are experienced experts with a high reputation. The teaching language is English. Courses in China are held with consecutive translation to Chinese.

ESAVS is a non-profit organization registered in Luxembourg(A.S.B.L.), R.C.S. Luxembourg F10892. → ESAVS Europe Board Members

ESAVS Office for Asia is a nonprofit organization under the umbrella of the European Association of Veterinary Specialization (EAVS), registered in Luxemburg (A.S.B.L., reg Nr vol 411 fol case 4), R.C.S. Luxembourg F4152.