Five months, 500 hours, and more kinds of patient than you would guess
Our vet assisting program takes five months, or 500 hours, and class runs from 8:30 in the morning until 2:30 in the afternoon. It is a compact way into clinical work, and the short day means your late afternoons stay your own.
What fills those hours is the interesting part. You start with the language of a clinic and how an animal's body is put together, and build from there toward the hands-on work:
The words and the body: medical terminology and anatomy, so a patient's chart starts reading like plain English.
The medicines: pharmacology, which is how drugs work in the body and how to handle them safely.
The hands-on skills: basic animal healthcare and clinical skills, including surgical assisting and imaging such as X-rays.
The front desk: office practices, the side of a clinic that keeps the whole day running.
The patients you might not expect: exotic animals and large animals, alongside the dogs and cats.
It is all taught by a Registered Veterinary Technician, and the course also covers animal behavior and our Pet Empowerment methods, so calming a nervous patient is part of what you learn from the start rather than something you pick up later.
Five months is short enough to plan a life around and long enough to walk into a clinic already knowing what the words mean, which is most of what makes any first week feel possible.
This piece is from Pet Career Weekly, a free weekly newsletter for future dog trainers, groomers and veterinary assistants. Read this week's full issue, or subscribe to get the next one, plus advice for your own career path.