Veterinary Technology FAQ

There are two programs, one an A.S. degree and the other a certificate program. The certificate is only appropriate for those with extensive (3 years) qualifying previous experience in the field. For most, the A.S. will be needed in order to sit for the registration exam. Students completing the certificate program may not be eligible to sit for licensing exams outside of California without additional classes.

The actual Veterinary Technology program is a 2-year program. However, considering the length of time that it could take a student to complete the necessary prerequisite classes, it could take up to three years to complete their entire education. Some students have elected to go to school part time, therefore taking considerably longer.

Yes. This program is day time only and on a strict schedule in terms of course offerings. VT courses are offered only once per year during the spring or fall semester. Beginning students who enter the program do so only once per year in the fall.

In order to consider any substitutions, the student should contact the liaison counselor or the Counseling department to discuss the substitution/waiver process.

Yes. The student would need to purchase a set of scrubs. A wristwatch with a second hand and a stethoscope are required. Students will also need to purchase personal protective equipment such as goggles, and disposable  latex or nitrile gloves, microscope slides and cover slips for use during labs.

All classes are now web-enhanced. None are televised and there is a lot of laboratory time.

The classrooms are multimedia capable and the clinical facilities offer cadavers for anatomical dissection, skeletons, and models. We have the ability to do lab screenings, surgeries and radiology. We maintain a colony of dogs and cats which are vaccinated and neutered in our labs. (Surgery is done only by the veterinarian!) At the end of the year the dogs and cats are adopted out to new homes. Having the animals here provides ample opportunity for students to learn the required healthcare procedures. Our students also get experience with dental care, radiology, clinical pathology, exotic and lab animal nursing, and large animal nursing.

These students must be good science students to make it through the prerequisites and the program itself. Basic web skills will be useful also. Students should also be at an intermediate algebra level because of the pharmacology calculations they must do on a daily basis. The prerequisites for entry to the Veterinary Technician program are Biology 400, Biology 440, and Chemistry 305. Students from outside the Los Rios Community College system should check with their counselors to ensure their courses fulfill these requirements.

How many hours and during what part of the day is this?
They earn up to 4 units for the internship and it is a minimum of 300 hours of work experience (most get considerably more hours).

Does the college or program find the site for the student?
Students normally develop their own placements and these are primarily at private vet hospitals. Some have done theirs at UCD. Almost any site is suitable provided that there is a licensed veterinarian on staff.

Is there a cost associated with the field experience?
Only if the student does not have a uniform. They must pay the Work Experience tuition costs and attend the WEXP class.

Mandatory kennel time
Each student must put in  approximately four days per month caring for the animals in the kennels. Students rotate responsibility for caring for the colony animals which include, rabbits, guinea pigs, reptiles, birds, and rodents in addition to the dogs and cats. They may be scheduled as often as twice weekly to three times a month depending on the class size. Each shift is about 2 hours long and can be as early as 6:00 to 8:00 am or 3:00 to 6:00 pm. The animals must be fed twice daily 7 days/week and must be cared for during the semester break. All continuing students are scheduled to work caring for the animals over break. In addition, some of our animals are foster cared for by students over the summer break, returning to us in the fall.

What is the classroom culture like and the interactions between students?
Since the Vet Tech students move through as a cohort, they develop strong camaraderie. They work in groups all the time and learn to get along as a team and multi-task. The clinical classes are very practical and hands-on. Our students get a great deal of practice doing important procedures.

The Veterinary Technician needs to be able to do many types of clinical pathology tests for their Veterinarian or to verify or check outside lab results. It will be done while trying to balance all of the other things that the Tech does in a day so they need to be skilled at it. Veterinarians are surprised to learn the extent of the clinical experience that our students are getting.

Who are our Vet Tech students?
Roughly 50% already have their B.A. or B.S. degrees! Many of them travel from out of the Sacramento area to attend the program. It is a heavily female student body and many are married and balancing work and family responsibilities with the program.

What is the nature of the relationships between between the students and professors?
The learning experience at CRC is considerably more "hands-on" than at many other schools, due to our emphasis on laboratory learning and the presence of our animal colony. Many of our instructors have an extensive veterinary practice background, so they can bring a strong practicality to the labs. Instructors use a lot of demonstrations and provides practical tips. Cheryl Buch, the teaching assistant, and an RVT, has worked in a wide variety of areas in the veterinary community including shelter medicine, research, avian and exotic medicine as well as traditional dog and cat medicine. She has also worked in the ICU at the UC Davis Vet Med Teaching Hospital, so brings a lot of experience to share with the students.

Our highly skilled adjunct faculty come to us with a variety of interests and specialties such as infectious diseases, pathology, large animal medicine, and laboratory animal and caged birds medicine. The program also works with the UCD Veterinary program to provide experience with large animals.

What do students have to say about this program?
Students are amazed at the amount of knowledge they acquire in the program. They are frequently able to compare their training to that of other technicians trained in other programs or to assistants who were trained on the job. The level of knowledge they have far exceeds that of other assistants. Other programs do not offer the degree of hands-on learning that is offered here so our students are better prepared to begin work in the “real world.”

Yes. There are about six to eight per year. Available scholarships can be researched by visiting our scholarship page.