Introducing Brooke's new virtual learning platform for vets globally

Open education philosophy is based on the belief that all people should have access to a high-quality education. 

But many years of working with animal owners and healthcare providers has shown me that sadly, this isn’t always possible, especially in resource-poor settings. 

Brooke’s mission is to give working horses, donkeys and mules a life worth living, but this cannot be done without spreading knowledge and skills as widely as possible.  

We are taking the next step in our mission to provide equal access to animal welfare education for vets, by launching a new open access online learning platform - the Academy for Working Equids (AWE). 

Animal health professionals are often the most trusted source of welfare advice to communities globally. Improving access to training will help them offer better advice to owners, who in turn can better support their animals.    

This platform is uniquely aimed at providing training on practical animal welfare and working equid management in low-resource settings, with a focus on making learning manageable for busy vets amongst their routine work.  

A recent study by the United Nations found most veterinary paraprofessionals in low- and middle-income countries can access online learning via smart phones, so all our training has been developed with this in mind.  

The same research indicated that online learning was especially important in helping women to access education, with more female than male paraprofessionals more likely to own a phone. 

These women often have many other roles to play in their household, and attending training can be a huge barrier in terms of cost and time - one we hope the AWE will overcome.

Anyone, anywhere in the world can log on and access vital resources with a few clicks. Courses can be downloaded when internet is available and completed offline to ensure that even where internet or electricity is patchy, no-one is left behind. 

Therre are more than 15 bite sized courses available, with topics ranging from recognising equine emotions, to how to calculate medicine dosages correctly. 

AWE will also contribute to strong animal health systems and promote One Health, by promoting training on medicines, vaccines, disease diagnosis and surveillance.  

AWE is already being used in veterinary training institutions in many of the countries we work in, to enhance the local curriculum and make sure animal welfare and behaviour takes centre stage in veterinary training.

We hope to inspire a new generation of animal welfare advocates who have the confidence to treat working equids and promote their importance.  

By making this learning freely available Brooke will become more visible outside of the areas where we work directly.  

We want to make sure that many more working animals around the world, even where Brooke doesn’t work, have access to compassionate health providers, who can learn to understand these hardworking animals and know how to provide them with the best possible care.