Members of Mercer County Community College’s Veterinary Assistants class that ended in June. Seated: Justina Siracusa and Melissa Nini. Standing instructor Leslie Sheppard-Bird, students Robin Scheiner, Trish Donahue, Colleen Reasoner, Amanda Briggs and Virginia Armstrong-Whyte and instructor Tina DeVictoria.
Mercer County Community College’s Veterinary Assistant certificate program earned a national accreditation.
The program, which is designed to prepare students for entry-level jobs in nine months, was recently approved by the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America.
Students in MCCC’s program are now eligible to take the NAVTA’s national certification exam.
CCS assistant director, Reed Langan, said the program is one of two in the state in 11 in the county to receieve NAVTA’s “seal of approval”
The veterinary program was first introduced in Fall 2011 as part of MCCC’s Center for Continuing Studies.
The curriculum includes four modules: Introduction to the Veterinary Profession, Nursing Skills, Laboratory Skills and Imaging, and a 75-hour Clinical Externship, which is arranged for each student in a clinical veterinary setting.
Andrea Pace, a certified veterinary technician, is the lead instructor and program coordinator. She said the program is designed to provide a gateway for professional development and career change.
Pace is the former chief counsel for the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She has also appeared on Animal Cops Philadelphia, part of an animal welfare reality series that runs on Animal Planet.
An information session for the Veterinary Assistant program is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 12, at the Conference Center on the West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road.
The fall 2013 cohort starts September 17 and concludes in June 2014.
CCS is set to host Back to School Night for Adults 5:30 p.m. Sept. 10 in the Conference Center.
More information is online at mccc.edu/ccs.
