Testimonials

The natural nutrition course offered by CIVT is wonderful.  I have been practicing for over 40 years, and I sure wish we had a course like this when I started out.  After taking the course I feel much more confident in my recommendations for home made diets and also my evaluations of commercial diets.  There were so many things that I believed about real food diets, but I didn’t have the data to back up those beliefs.  Now I do.
I appreciated that the course represented a wide variety of approaches from many different teachers.  I liked that I could do the course on my own time and at my own pace.  
The diet formulator software is invaluable and I loved learning how to use it.  It was fascinating to see the nutritional values change as I added and removed various ingredients. 
All in all, this course is an excellent resource and I wish they would teach more of this material in veterinary school.

Dr Pamela Bouchard

DVM, CVNN

United States of America

"I have been working as an equine musculoskeletal practitioner offering integrated therapies for some 18 years now. Along the line, I became interested enough in some of the presentations I was observing to start a postgraduate research degree studying the ongoing effects of premature or dysmature birth in horses. There is research into other large animal species, and humans of course, yet our understanding with mature horses is limited. Having identified a range of related effects, I was awarded my PhD in 2019. I was at that time experiencing the benefits of acupuncture in my own animals when treated by a vet. I became interested in learning more about acupuncture to both develop my practice and to potentially address issues relating to equine gestational immaturity. I am so glad that I was able to join the Graduate Diploma in Veterinary Acupuncture! It has already enhanced my practice on so many levels and I’m inspired by being able to support sick horses as well as those presenting the more ‘regular’ musculoskeletal pathologies. I am grateful to CIVT for giving me this wonderful opportunity to learn."

Dr Jane Clothier

PHD, GDVA

Australia

"I’d always enjoyed veterinary medicine but found myself unsettled and, at times, frustrated as I progressed through my early career post qualifying. This was often because I just couldn’t resolve some of my patients’ problems when I felt I should be able to. 

Always looking for better ways to be of help to my patients, I started looking into alternative treatments and began with acupuncture. Seeing the remarkable effects those little needles could have on my patients' well-being made me look more closely at Chinese medicine and from there I was hooked. The natural next step was to study Chinese herbs, and I started with my advanced certificate through CIVT before progressing onto my graduate diploma. What a fantastic course to study and to get deeper into the details of these wonderful herbs and Chinese medicine, as well as discovering more about myself and what I want to be able to accomplish. 

To be able to reach inside my much larger ’toolbox’ for my patients and optimise their outcomes has been such a thrill, and to see the transformation in health for patients by using whole plants, needles and diet, is a revelation. I wouldn’t be without my herbs and needles now, and neither would my patients!"

Dr Amy Watson

MA, VetMB, MRCVS, CVA, GDVCHM, ACVHCM, CCRT

United Kingdom

“Conventional medicine is great and new techniques are impressive in diagnosis and treatment areas. But I always thought that an important part of our capacities as doctors was being lost, that is intuition, feelings, case by case medicine, and how to use our hands. That’s how I got interested in alternative medicine, especially acupuncture. After two years of (hard) training, I can say that I found what I was looking for. I see my patients differently and I see medicine in general differently. I really think that, thanks to acupuncture, I can help my patients more than before. I can also offer new options to desperate owners. I am happy to relieve pain or serious symptoms with as few allopathic treatments as possible. It’s very interesting to see how different medicines can be used together even if it is not always easy to combine everything. I am convinced that all these practices and knowledge can be mixed in a way that we find what is best to help our patients. Thank you for this amazing experience and for all the doors that were opened because of this course!”

Dr Sarah Vandeweeghe

DVM, GDVA

New Caledonia

"I highly recommend the CIVT rehabilitation course. The mix of theory and practical introductions is very well balanced. The course has helped me a lot to establish rehabilitation in my practice and to gain new clients. By encouraging me to work on cases myself, I was able to quickly implement what I learned."

Dr Sonja Schirmer

DVM, EVSO C, IVCA, CVA, CCICR

Germany

“A huge thank you to CIVT for consistently excellent continuing education programs and administrative support. Also, a big thank you to Dr Grantham for her very high-level work on this course, which is thoroughly researched and well presented, with excellent supporting materials, AND highly useful on a practical basis for day-to-day application in any vet practice. Not only that, but Dr Grantham is personally involved with the course and attentive and welcoming to the students.”

Dr Erika Bruner

DVM, CCICR

United States of America

“I soon recognized when I started as a veterinarian in conventional Western practice that there was so much more that can be done to treat animals through holistic modalities. As I learned different modalities including acupuncture, nutrition/food therapy, and canine rehabilitation therapy I saw how well patients responded to these treatments and I was inspired to pursue further training. I have always been drawn to botanical medicine and I am so grateful for CIVT in offering herbal medicine studies with fantastic teachers through an online format. I earned a Graduate Diploma of Veterinary Chinese Herbal Medicine and most recently a second Graduate Diploma of Veterinary Western Herbal Medicine. By training in the Graduate Diploma programs I feel that I can offer a diversity of therapeutic options with herbs to my patients. I am excited by the opportunity to continue learning through CIVT and developing skills in new areas.”

Dr Sally Lane

MS, DVM, CVA, CCRT, GDCVHM, GDVWHM

United States of America

"Working In an integrative Veterinary clinic with a focus on natural nutrition, I found completing the CIVT Natural Nutrition Course to be invaluable. The combination of videos and online content made the course not only achievable but enjoyable whilst working full time. The online support and forums were extremely helpful when needed. I’m excited to be able to provide more information to our clients on nutrition and in particular the ability to read and assess pet food labels."

Natalie Smith

VN cert IV, Dip VN Surgery

Australia

"To be honest, I never thought I would pursue practice in integrative medicine. In vet school, I was skeptical of acupuncture. It wasn’t until I started practicing small animal medicine where my interest was piqued. I have been lucky enough to work beside Dr Jean Pitcairn and saw the benefits of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine first hand. With her support, I sought out an acupuncture certification program and CIVT was a great fit. The graduate diploma course provided me with all of the information I needed to be successful in my practice in a way that was easy to digest. Despite being entirely online, the plethora of videos and live sessions with my tutor made learning the material seamless. Dr Jodi Van Tine was amazing as a tutor and was always available to help, so I never felt lost or confused throughout the course. I am so grateful for CIVT and the now expanded care options I am able to offer my clients and patients. Practicing acupuncture with Western veterinary medicine has opened up a world of possibilities for my patients. Thank you, CIVT!"

Dr Amanda Gonneville

DVM, GDVA

United States of America

"The Medical Cannabis course undertaken by CIVT provided an excellent insight into our management and understanding of the use of Cannabis in veterinary medicine. The module summaries were clear and concise providing the vital information needed to support our journey moving forward in this evolving area of medicine. There was an extensive amount of evidence based research (expanding the brain to new dimensions of learning!) that clarified and explained such an incredible topic.

I would recommend this course to every veterinarian, it is so important that we educate ourselves in this field. Veterinarians need to be involved, we need to be able to understand many facets around the use of medical cannabis in animals such as the benefits, animal welfare issues, legal regulations, quality control and being able to answer/educate our clients. This course provides this information allowing us as veterinarians to be able to support our patients and clients from an informed platform."

Dr Jacqui Snell

BVSc, GDVWHM

New Zealand

"The Medical Cannabis and Veterinary Medicine course through CIVT has been incredibly eye opening and informative! Prior to this course I knew very little about the vast medical uses found within the lesser discussed parts of the cannabis plant such as terpenes and non-psychotropic THC agonists. As research continues to uncover these benefits for our animal patients, I'm optimistic that we will find their use in treatment plans to become much more commonplace. This course was extremely helpful in broadening my understanding of CBD benefits and its place in veterinary medicine as a valid therapeutic agent." 

Stacey Thomas

DVM Candidate 2023

United States of America

“I am a private thoroughbred veterinarian working in Colts Neck, New Jersey and I just completed my Equine Veterinary Acupuncture course through the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies (CIVT).  I’ve been interested in adjunctive therapies for horses since owning and showing horses as a kid.  Horses are athletes and with every athlete, sports-related injuries can occur. Common western medicine approaches solve many of these problems.  To me, acupuncture is a great alternative to these types of recurrent or non-resolving injuries and also has the benefit of being minimally invasive.  CIVT was a great experience for me because I could learn online on my own time when I wasn’t busy working on the horses.”

Dr Brittland Hughes

DVM, CEA

United States of America