Training overview

Why Greyfriars?

Greyfriars is one of the leading veterinary practices in the UK for rehabilitation and hydrotherapy referrals. So our students have unrivalled opportunities to work with our veterinary rehabilitation professionals and to meet our patients and clients. We offer training at Greyfriars Training Centre in the UK and Worldwide with our trusted training partners. Wherever you choose to train you get Greyfriars education, quality, tutor support and most importantly us! We love to travel!

At Greyfriars we have world class training facilities, including a purpose built lecture/seminar room and a cosy log cabin lounge with wood burner so students can relax or warm up between sessions. We have a large 10 metre x 5 metre hydrotherapy pool equipped with swim jets and rehabilitation platforms, a HydroPhysio water treadmill, outdoor exercise and rehabilitation areas, treatment rooms and an inpatient unit. The hydrotherapy centre is large and well lit, so there is plenty of space to work together and learn.

Our lecturers are all experts in their professional fields and together have many years’ experience in veterinary rehabilitation. We all love teaching and getting ‘hands on’. We combine up to date rehabilitation knowledge and best clinical practice together with unrivalled practical experience for students. We understand that people learn in different ways and we endeavour to meet delegates’ individual learning needs. The challenges of 2020 and 2021 have led to us increasing the online element of our courses and providing more remote tutor support. Class sizes have also been reduced so we are able to offer safety for students when they attend practical training at Greyfriars. This allows plenty of opportunity for one to one support, working as teams and for everyone to get involved – both in the classroom and practical sessions.

In 2020 we introduced a new eLEARNING platform called Moodle. Some of you will be familiar with this platform as it is used by many universities and colleges. It allows learners to view interactive education material and webinars, complete revision tests, assessments and to submit assignments online. Plus attend live tutor support lessons. This also means we can be more flexible with our delivery of courses. The eTRACK Level 3 Certificate course, with only six required attendance days, has been very successful over the past year. This format allows us to offer a choice of dates for practical training. We loved the Fast Track format too and we will bring this back when people are able to travel and attend longer courses more easily.

ABOUT OUR QUALIFICATIONS

Together with the awarding organisation, OCN London, we developed a suite of hydrotherapy qualifications, launched in September 2018. The aim of the new qualifications was to raise the standards of training and canine hydrotherapy treatment, both in the UK and overseas. The basis of this project was, and still is, to prioritise animal welfare and safety for patients.

Minimum levels of qualification and experience for lecturers and trainers who deliver these hydrotherapy qualifications and lecturer requirements have been written into the qualification guides and are enforced. We also wished to provide a clear pathway for continuing education and career development for talented and more academically able hydrotherapists, especially those that will be the leaders and trainers in years to come.

Qualifications available are:

OCNLR Level 3 Certificate in Canine Hydrotherapy
OCNLR Level 4 Certificate in Canine Hydrotherapy for Veterinary Physiotherapists
OCNLR Level 4 Award in Canine Hydrotherapy
OCNLR Level 4 Diploma in Canine Hydrotherapy

• Greyfriars are a RACE approved continuing education provider under the AAVSB.
• UK courses are OCN London accredited.
• Certificate and Diploma modules meet the training requirements for registration with NARCH(the National Association of Registered Canine Hydrotherapists) and the CHA (Canine Hydrotherapy Association) but please check when booking a course that the qualification is suitable for your particular circumstances.

OVERSEAS STUDENTS AND COURSES

Students from overseas are very welcome at Greyfriars. We have trained people from Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, UAE and USA. Our quoted course fees include UK VAT at 20%. Course fees may be zero rated for VAT if you are not a UK resident – please enquire.

Overseas courses are designed to meet local needs, laws and regulations. But we also offer the opportunity to upgrade to full UK qualification if students would like this.  Our lecturers include vets specialising in veterinary rehabilitation, veterianary physiotherapists (MSc Vet Physio, ACPAT Cat. A), Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioners and Registered Canine Hydrotherapists. Full details of who will be teaching each module or training course are given in our published programs. We believe that training should only be provided by suitably qualified and experienced lecturers and that students should be able to check that this will be the case. Unfortunately many training providers do not publish who wrote or who is delivering the training material – so it is difficult for prospective students to make a judgement about the quality or standards of the courses being provided and the value that lecturers and trainers can add to their education experience.

TRAVEL

Greyfriars is located 5 miles from the centre of Guildford in Surrey, with excellent access from London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports by train or road. Our centre is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Surrey Hills, surrounded by a vineyard.

We strongly recommend staying nearby when you are attending as our training courses are intensive and you may find tiring mentally and physically, especially if study is new for you. We find that people who travel more than an hour, morning and evening, are too tired to keep up with home study and assignments. Plus traffic can be heavy in our area and travelling any distance may mean delays and missing or arriving late for lectures. Public transport is not possible to Greyfriars – you will need a car or taxi. We often find students choose to share to save costs once they have met with other students.

By train

The nearest railway station is Guildford which is on the mainline between London Waterloo and Portsmouth. Half hourly fast train services run from London Waterloo to Guildford with journey times of 40 minutes. For further information call National Rail Enquiries.
Phone: 03457 48 49 50
From overseas: +44(0)20 7278 5240
Or visit the website: www.nationalrail.co.uk

By air

Via London Heathrow: National Express coaches run from Heathrow airport to Woking station
Frequency: 21 services a day
Journey time: Approximately 40 minutes
Visit the website: www.nationalexpress.com
There are frequent trains to continue from Woking to Guildford.

Via London Gatwick: Gatwick train station is positioned in the South Terminal of the airport and provides direct rail-air link trains to Guildford with First Great Western.
Frequency: Trains run from 04.00 hrs to 11.00 hrs
Journey time: Approximately 40 minutes
Visit the website: www.gwr.com

Taxi pick up from London Heathrow and London Gatwick

Approximate costs to Greyfriars/Guildford:
Heathrow: £60.00
Gatwick: £65.00