What's the best way to prepare for a fruitful career? Will your choice of school make a big difference in your outcome as a professional? Vet tech schools are no different from other allied health care institutions providing training to make you a competent graduate ready for the challenges of the job.
And since animal health care needs are growing, more schools are offering a veterinary tech or technology program.
A veterinary technician is to a veterinarian what a nurse is to a physician. By law, vet techs must be certified, licensed or registered, depending on which state they will practice, before they can be allowed to embark on a career.
Working under the supervision of a veterinarian, your certification limits you from performing three functions: make a diagnosis, prescribe medication and perform surgery. Otherwise, you can pretty much do what a vet does for animal patients or wards.
Facilities for hands-on training
Most vet technician programs, that result in an associate degree, are offered at community or technical colleges. The length of the training ranges from 18 to 24 months, after which time you should have become familiar with medical terminology, physiology, veterinary technology, animal behavior and handling, and treatments and procedures.
In choosing vet tech schools, you should consider if their facilities will allow you to have as much hands-on training while earning your degree. It's essential to developing the skills and applying the concepts and theories learned in the classroom. You have a big advantage if within your location you find veterinary technician schools that have extensive facilities.
The Colorado Mountain College is unique in the sense that classes are set on a 220-acre farm location that allows students to actually be up-close and personal with animals -- domesticated, farm, livestock, and even exotics -- to give you a full experience. Aside from outdoor pens, labs and work areas, it has a 2600-square foot hospital designed by veterinarians and technicians to approximate a working veterinary hospital where you can get the best on-the-job training.
Externship, which runs for five weeks at CMC, is an essential part of any vet technician program but you would have already gained valuable experience if your learning environment provided intensive hands-on experience. The value of accreditation
Employers are now very particular about the quality of training prospective workers receive. They want to be sure graduates produced by vet tech schools have met the minimum basic standards in skills needed for the job.
That's why accreditation is important when considering where to enroll. One requirement to qualify for the national certification exam is completing a training program accredited by the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA) Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA).
Take note because many schools already offering the program have yet to be fully accredited by the CVTEA. Some carry provisional accreditation, others probationary accreditation. While it means the schools still need to meet certain requirements but are on their way to compliance, you will be better off with a school that already has full accreditation.
Schools with fully accredited programs
The Vet Tech Institute has several locations, including Chicago, Illinois and Pittsburgh, PA, where it was first established. Its veterinary technician program runs for 18 months, or a total of 4.5 semesters. The last eight weeks are for externship. Its campuses have on-site kennels so students will have easy access to animals in the course of their study.
The advantage in studying in this school is the employment assistance it offers graduates. They not only connect you with possible employers, the school will also help you get started in your careers by assisting in making your resume and preparing you for job interviews.
Pennsylvania is one of the states where majority of vet tech schools already have full accreditation. Florida vet tech schools are also mostly fully accredited.
Many schools in Illinois are still awaiting full accreditation, but one with full accreditation is Joliet Junior College, which only accepts 48 full-time students to its veterinary technician program. Completion of its associate degree program is within five semesters or two years and you have the option of attending day or evening classes. Externship requirement is 100 hours.
In the end, you may have earned a degree from one of the top veterinary schools, gained the necessary experience and are a certified animal lover. If you can translate all these advantages to your workplace, then you can certainly look forward to a fruitful career.
Yes, vet tech schools will play a role in getting you ready for your career, but it is up to you to stand out as a professional if you want to have a good veterinary technician salary.
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