Veterinary Assistant Certificate

220 Hours/Instructor Supported/Textbooks Included

Overview

Veterinary assistant training can help you make a difference in the lives of animals with training. Our veterinary assistant classes can prepare you for a rewarding career working as a veterinary assistant in a veterinary hospital, animal shelter, zoo, university or other environment that requires a background in animal sciences.

Developed by veterinary professionals, our veterinary assistant training will teach you the procedures and skills necessary to bring health and comfort to animals and their owners. You can train at home, in your spare time, without disrupting your current job or family responsibilities. There are no classes to attend – ever! Through our veterinary assistant training program, you’ll learn how to channel your love of animals into a rewarding career supporting the activities of the veterinarians and technicians.

Our veterinary assistant training offers comprehensive career education in many key aspects of animal science, including:

Outline

Veterinary Assistant Module 1
Veterinary Terminology

·         An Introduction to Veterinary Terminology

·         Building Veterinary Vocabulary

·         Prefixes and Suffixes

·         Roots and Combining Forms

·         Additional Roots and Combining Forms

Veterinary Assistant Module 2
Professionalism & the Front Office

·         Employer Expectations

·         Human – Animal Bond

·         Roles and Responsibilities

·         Professional Ethics

·         Occupational Safety and Health

·         Universal Precautions

·         Medical Record Assembly

·         Filing & Appointment Scheduling

·         Intake Procedures

·         Health Certificates

·         Client Communication

·         Patient Discharge

·         Inventory control

Veterinary Assistant Module 3
Animal Restraint & Examinations

·         Psychological Restraint

·         Ropes and Knots

·         Removing Birds from the Cage

·         Lifting Heavy Animals

·         Venipuncture

·         Restraint During Injections

·         Head Restraint

·         Leg Restraint

·         Examination Room Preparation

·         Patient History

·         Vital Signs

·         Mixing Vaccine

·         Filling a Syringe

·         Emergency Support

Veterinary Assistant Module 4
Pharmacy & Laboratory Skills

·         Reading a Prescription

·         Prescription Labeling

·         Filling a Prescription

·         Handling Controlled Substances

·         Administering Medication

·         Drug Storage

·         The Veterinary Laboratory

·         Blood Collection

·         Wright’s Stain

·         Plasma Protein

·         Blood Chemistry

·         Urine Collection

·         Antibiotic Sensitivity Testing

·         Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging

·         Radiation Safety

·         Film Identification

·         Film Filing

·         Darkroom Maintenance

Veterinary Assistant Module 5
Nursing & Surgical Tasks

·         The Treatment Plan

·         Patient Housing

·         Feeding a Hospitalized Patient

·         Socialization and Exercise

·         Preventing Infections

·         Monitoring IV Fluid Administration

·         Surgery Log Book

·         Aseptic Technique

·         Surgical Suite Maintenance

·         Anesthetic Induction

·         Intubation

·         Preparation of Surgical Site

·         Gowning the Surgeon

·         Patient Monitoring

·         Postoperative Patient Care

·         Sterilization Techniques and Equipment

·         Drape and Towel Packs

·         Common Surgical Procedures

Veterinary Assistant Module 6
Animal Grooming & Facility Maintenance

·         Combing and Brushing

·         Ear Cleaning

·         Nail Trimming

·         Bathing and dipping

·         Clipping a Bird’s Flight Feathers

·         Clippers

·         Disinfectants

·         Cage and Kennel Cleaning

·         Cleaning Surfaces

·         Laundry

·         Handling Waste

·         USDA Codes

Average Time of Completion: 4-6 months; Maximum Time to Completion: 1 Year

Instructor: Tricia Seymour, Ph.D.

She is a licensed professional counselor and counseling supervisor living in St. Petersburg, FL. She has received a Master degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology.  She has worked with numerous universities and corporations creating online courses and training. She has created or assisted in creating hundreds of online courses.

Dr. Seymour has been in private practice since 1990 working with individuals, couples, and families. During her early years in private practice she assisted in the creation of an inpatient treatment program for Dissociative Identity Disorder(DID). She specialized in working with clients diagnosed with DID &/or Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD).

She is an adjunct faculty member at Park University teaching online in psychology, sociology and religion. She has been a training consultant to various agencies and organizations globally. She has created and presented corporate training in all 50 U.S. states and numerous foreign countries. She has taught "soft skills" topics such as Dealing with Stress, Interpersonal Skills, Dealing with Difficult People, Business Skills, Organizational Skills, and Other Personal Growth & Psychological Topics.

Instructor: Rusty Barrier Ph.D

Dr. Rusty Barrier holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology, has been in private practice for 20 years, and is the co-author of Awaken to Oneness.

He has worked with thousands of people throughout the world,  in both private and psychiatric settings. His career began at Christi Center for Attitudinal Healing, in Corpus Christi, Texas where he served as the Executive Director. He was instrumental in founding the Corpus Christi Mayor's Commission on AIDS and The Passage AIDS hospice in Corpus Christi. He has presented lectures and workshops around the world on various healing techniques and spirituality. He currently resides in Saint Petersburg, Florida where he has his private practice.

Computer Requirements

Internet Access

·         Broadband or high-speed internet access is strongly recommended. Broadband includes DSL, cable, and wireless connections.

·         Dial-Up internet connections will result in a diminished online experience. Moodle pages may load slowly and viewing large audio and video files may not be possible.

Hardware

·         Virtually all Windows-Mac-Linux hardware configurations and processors are acceptable.

·         1 GB RAM recommended

Software

·         Operating Systems

§  Windows XP or Vista and Mac OS X 10 and higher, most Linux distributions

·         Web Browsers

§  Mozilla Firefox 2 and 3 (previous versions will work also)

§  Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8

§  Safari is not currently recommended as it cannot display certain Moodle editing menus for both students and instructors

Media Plug-ins (These may be required depending on your course media-click on the links below to download the latest versions)

§  Adobe Flash Player

§  Adobe Acrobat Reader

§  Apple Quicktime

§  Windows Media Player

§  Real Player

§  PowerPoint Viewer (use this if you don’t have PowerPoint)