Nicole Van Israël graduated as a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) with distinction from Ghent University in Belgium in 1991. Before specialising, Nicole spend 8 years in general practice in France, England and Switzerland and obtained 3 certificates (Ophthalmology from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse in France (CESOpht), Small Animal Medicine (CertSAM) and Veterinary Cardiology (CertVC) from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons). She became a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1996 (MRCVS) (www.rcvs.org.uk). A 6-months sabattical in different Universities in the United States encouraged her hunger for learning. This hunger was satisfied by a 3-year residency in cardiorespiratory medicine at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland (www.vet.ed.ac.uk). This was awarded, after examination, by the European Diploma in Internal Medicine, subspecialty of Cardiology, by the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (DECVIM-CA Cardiology) . This gave her in 2002 the status of European Specialist™ in Veterinary Cardiology. This has been followed in 2003 by a Master in Science (MSc) by Research in Congenital Cardiology, awarded by the University of Edinburgh(www.vet.ed.ac.uk). She was a lecturer in Internal medicine (cardiology) at the University of Liège in Belgium between 2002 and 2005. In 2004 she founded ACAPULCO, a 100 % referral practice for cardiorespiratory diseases in small animals, from which she is currently still director. See www.acapulco-vet.be for more details.