New program for veterinary technicians opening in N.S. as demand for profession grows

To help with the veterinary technician shortage, the Nova Scotia SPCA will launch a new training program.

The Nova Scotia SPCA College of Animal Welfare in Dartmouth is now taking applications for its first veterinary technician class.

The college already currently teaches a veterinary assistant program.

Dr. Mike West, the college’s director of veterinary programs, says the new veterinary technician program is necessary right now in Nova Scotia.

“Like a lot of professions, we are really short of veterinary technicians. We actually have less licensed veterinary technicians than veterinarians in the province, which is not a good ratio. And they are such a fantastic resource,” he told Your Morning Atlantic’s Brianne Foley.

West has previously worked in England, where vet techs are known as veterinary nurses.

“They’re fantastic people, it will make a fantastic career,” he said.

Vet techs are formally trained and licensed with a broad range of skills, which make them “essential” in a veterinary health-care team.

“They might do anything from nursing skills, so taking care of animals in the hospital, providing them with medications that have been prescribed by the vet. They’re also very adept at collecting and analyzing laboratory samples,” West said.

Vet techs are also trained in surgical settings.

“(They’re) responsible for preparing our patients for surgery and they do administer and monitor anesthesia as well as the veterinarians are doing the surgery,” said West.

A typical day in class at the college of animal welfare will involve a mixture of in-class and practical experiences.

“The morning is going to start with kind of lecture-based information, and then in the afternoon we’re going to move into hands-on skills, so for example teaching the students how to properly and kindly restrain our patients, or how to collect samples, how to analyze samples,” West said.

Later terms in the program will also include clinical rotations.

“We actually have a teaching hospital on site, which is pretty much a very accurate simulation of a typical veterinarian hospital in Canada, and they will receive their training in that environment,” said West.

A list of prerequisites and a link to apply to the program can be found online.

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