Academics at veterinary schools in the EU are improving collaboration in the veterinary community through social media. The Network of Veterinary ICT in Education (NOVICE) is designed to link vets together be they established practice owners or students – to educate and share information on free to use message boards, blogs and wikis.

NOVICE takes advantage of all forms of media currently on the web. Interactive workshops,  forums , free editing wiki pages and a host of other services are available for free on the network. Almost anything can be published in a variety of topics, and the more accessible the medium the better.

Whilst the network contains support for veterinary issues, the network focuses heavily on improving ICT skills within the veterinary community and bringing vets up to date with what they can do on the internet and how it can benefit their careers.

New members have to be authenticated by network admins before they can log in and access content; the site is by vets for vets and as such has very little advertising. This barrier hasn’t led to a secluded community however: in its short time online 1000 members have been approved and the community is bustling.

Aside from education, NOVICE is designed to help vets socialise and also to provide entertainment. There are veterinary based quizzes, challenges, competitions and real life events co-ordinated via the network.

NOVICE is hosting a summer school in Budapest on August 25th which will have a crash course in ICT for vets as well as other activities designed to augment a vet’s skills.

If you’re a vet or vet student of any speciality, NOVICE is certainly worth a look.

You can register for NOVICE by clicking here.

Details on NOVICE’s summer school are provided here.