Michelle Dissel

My name is Michelle Dissel and I will be joining the team from June 2017. A very good motivation to get my diploma! I am now working on my final year of the MBO level 4+ Veterinary Assistant course, this I am following at the Wellant-college in Houten.

In my second year of study (2016) I did my first internship at Dierenkliniek Leeuwendael, in this period of ten weeks I had a great time and learned a lot. In 2017 I did another internship at the clinic, only this time for five weeks.

A great period to complete my assignments and as preparation for the work I will soon be allowed to do independently. In recent years, I have also done internships at the Regional Animal Shelter 't Julialaantje in Rijswijk, at Charmille sheep farm in France and at the University Clinic for Horses in Utrecht. At the sheep farm, I now help out every year during the lambing period. It is hard work, but I get a lot of satisfaction from it.

Since I was born, we have had pets. I grew up with a very sweet, quiet Bouvier called Lady and a few years after she died, my parents took Janey, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, into their home. Janey had a lot of character, very smart and a real dragon. With her I am pictured below, unfortunately she passed away suddenly August 2016. Without a dog it was very quiet in the house, my wish was always a dog of my own and a Border Collie. A little earlier than planned this is how Willow came to my path. I was allowed to pick her up at the end of August 2017.

I get a lot of pleasure from being busy with dogs, like the walks and the training. Besides dogs, I have had hamsters, fish, parakeets and rats in my house. The profession of veterinary nurse came my way a year before I started my training. Initially, I wanted to work for the police or the Royal Military Police. For this, I obtained my diploma MBO level 4 Social Social Services. The intake procedure for both is very strict and in the end I gave up on that dream.

During my search for a new study/interest, I was often told by friends and family that I work well with animals. This made me look into the profession of a veterinary assistant. And it turns out, this is exactly what I am looking for! And now I am lucky that after my studies I can directly start working at Dierenkliniek Leeuwendael.