Veterinary Technician
Allied Health & Sciences
Degree awarded: Associate in Applied Science
American Veterinary Medical Association
Program Narrative
If you love animals and want a career that keeps you in constant contact with them, being a Veterinary Technician is an affordable and accessible way to achieve your goal. Veterinary technicians are animal care professionals. Vet techs are knowledgeable in the care and handling of various species, basic principles of normal and abnormal life processes, laboratory and clinical procedures and veterinary medical and surgical nursing.
Certified veterinary technicians find employment in small and large animal veterinary facilities, the pet food industry, specialty practices, diagnostic labs, pharmaceutical research centers, zoo and wildlife organizations, and educational institutions. The job opportunities are numerous and varied. With more Americans than ever sharing their homes with companion animals, the need for formally trained veterinary technicians in veterinarian practices in particular continues to grow.
Working jointly with Lehigh Carbon Community College, Northampton's Veterinary Technician program will provide you with all the necessary coursework, hands-on training, guidance and experience you need to begin an exciting career working with animals.
Graduates of the program are prepared to sit for the veterinary technician national board examination. Students that pass the exam may obtain certification. This program has received full accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Program Features
Northampton's program provides academic and practical experience through a combination of veterinary technology and general education core courses. One-third of veterinary technology courses include laboratory experience including exposure to small, large and exotic animal species.
The culminating experience of the program is a summer externship experience during which students can practice their clinical skills at veterinary hospitals. Instructors in the program are practicing veterinarians and veterinary technicians working in the field.
Classes are held on the NCC and LCCC campuses. There is a clinical science laboratory on the Northampton campus and a Veterinary Training facility adjacent to the LCCC campus provided exclusively for the veterinary technician students. Classes are offered during the day and the program takes 2 full years (fall, spring and summer to complete).
Program Requirements
Minimum requirements for acceptance into the program include:
- High school Biology (with a lab) with a grade of B or better.
- High school Algebra I and II with grades of C or better.
- A minimum GPA of 2.5.
- College courses may also satisfy these requirements.
- An interview, by invitation, will also be required.
Preferred application deadline is Feb. 1 for the Fall semester
Contact the Admissions Office at 610-861-5500 for further information.
Program Outcomes
Graduates of the program will:
- Demonstrate competence in performing and engaging in office and hospital procedures, client relations and communication.
- Demonstrate proficiency working in the pharmacy and understand and utilize pharmacologic concepts.
- Safely and competently engage in medical nursing.
- Safely and competently engage in surgical nursing.
- Safely and competently engage in anesthetic nursing.
- Competently perform laboratory procedures.
- Safely and competently perform diagnostic imaging.
- Competently perform laboratory animal and exotic patient husbandry and nursing.
Associate in Applied Science Degree
| Course Code | Course Title |
Credits
|
| First Semester | ||
| CMTH 102 | Speech Communication |
3
|
| CHEM 135 | Chemistry of Life |
4
|
| ENGL 101C | English I |
3
|
| VETC 101 | Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology |
4
|
| VETC 110 | Introduction to Veterinary Technology |
2
|
|
16
|
||
| Second Semester | ||
| BIOS 202 | Microbiology for Allied Health |
4
|
| ENGL 151C | English II |
3
|
| VETC 115 | Animal Management and Nutrition |
2
|
| VETC 120 | Veterinary Parasitology |
2
|
| VETC 125 | Veterinary Clinical Laboratory Techniques |
4
|
|
15
|
||
| Summer Session | ||
| VETC 210 | Large Animal Clinical Procedures |
3
|
|
3
|
||
| Third Semester | ||
| MATH 120 | Nature of Mathematics |
3
|
| VETC 215G | Animal Disease |
3
|
| VETC 218 | Veterinary Pharmacology and Anesthesia |
3
|
| VETC 220 | Small Animal Clinical Procedures |
3
|
| ------------- | Arts and Humanities Elective (AH) |
3
|
|
15
|
||
| Fourth Semester | ||
| VETC225 | Veterinary Radiology and Surgical Nursing |
4
|
| VETC228 | Lab Animal Science and Exotics |
4
|
| ------------- | Social Science: Societies and Institutions over Time (SIT) + |
3
|
| ------------- | Social Science: Scientific Study of Human Behavior Elective (SSHB)++ |
3
|
|
14
|
||
| Summer Session | ||
| VETC 230 | Veterinary Technician Externship |
6
|
|
6
|
||
| Total Credits |
69
|
+ It is recommended that students take SOCA 102 as the Social Science: Societies and Institutions over Time (SIT) Elective; this also satisfies the Diversity (D) requirement.
++ It is recommended that students take PSYC 103 as the Social Science: Scientific Study of Human Behavior (SSHB) Elective.
- One course should be designated as Diversity (D).
- Completion of VETC 215G satisfies the Writing Intensive (WI) requirement.
Career Potential: Veterinary Technician, Biologic Research Labs, Lab Animal Technician, Small Animal Practice, Large Animal Practice, Exotics and Specialty Practices, Zoos, Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers, Pharmaceutical Companies, Teaching Institutes, Diagnostic Labs, Aquariums, Animal Shelters, Animal Feed Companies
Any questions or concerns? Contact our Program Director Dr. Samantha Friedenberg at: sfriedenberg@northampton.edu