Rabies Vaccine Notice: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who work directly with animals that could have rabies receive a 2-dose PrEP with titer once every three years. If you have questions regarding this vaccination series, please speak to the program director, listed below.

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/prevention/pre-exposure_vaccinations.html

In many cases, the possibility of furthering one’s education leads to greater jobs satisfaction, professional, recognition, and higher earning potential within one’s field. After working in veterinary medicine, credentialed, veterinary technicians, may choose to specialize in one of the approved specialty areas of the capital NAVTA (National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America). Specialization offers credentialed veterinary technicians the opportunity to focus on a specific aspect of the field, while advancing their careers by enhancing their skills, increasing their knowledge base, and providing more focused care to animals.

Veterinary Technician Specialties – NAVTA

For tips on how to find a veterinary partner to fulfill your program requirements, click here.

Great Falls College Veterinary Partners are defined as primary learning sites at which hands-on skills will be practiced. To be approved as a Veterinary Partner, veterinary facilities must meet certain minimum standards regarding hospital, staff, equipment, and practice quality. Each Veterinary Partner site must agree to follow these standards to be approved. These minimum standards must be met to ensure students receive adequate exposure to quality, veterinary medical practices and equipment.

Only practice owners, hospital, administrators, or practice managers may complete applications and sign on behalf of the facility.

Visit the Veterinary Partner page.

Great Falls College’s Veterinary Technician program is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, AFRI Agricultural Workforce Training Priority Area, award #2024-67037-42973.

Program Accreditation: The program has applied for initial accreditation from the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities under the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Technical Standards

The technical standards for the GFC Veterinary Technician Program are listed below and are considered criteria for admission to the program.

If you have questions or concerns about your ability to meet the technical standards with or without accommodations, or if you would like to arrange reasonable accommodations, you should contact Disability Services. Applicants who disclose a disability are considered for admission if they are otherwise qualified so long as such accommodation does not significantly alter the essential requirements of the curriculum and the educational program or significantly affect the safety of patients or others.

To successfully complete the Veterinary Technician program, students must demonstrate their competency in carrying out tasks necessary for safe and effective practice in the field, including:

Observation/Sensory-Motor

• Accurately identify and assess heart, breath, abdominal, and other bodily sounds
• Accurately assess skin and mucous membrane color for abnormal/normal changes and observe pupil changes
• Accurately differentiate colors and recognize patient odors
• Detect and respond appropriately to activation/warning signals on equipment (including auditory and visual signals)
• Detect significant environmental odors
• Distinguish fine print on various medication labels
• Observe and assess the conditions of a patient accurately, at a distance and close at hand, and observe body language when performing nursing assessments and interventions or administering medications
• Observe digital or waveform readings
• Perceive signs of disease and/or infection as manifested through physical examination, including visual images of the body surfaces, palpable changes in various organs and tissues, and auditory information (vocalization, heart, bowel, and lung sounds)
• Read gradients/calibrations on a syringe

Communication

• Accurately document treatment information
• Communicate accurately and effectively in English with other students, faculty, staff, patients, clients, and other professionals in a respectful manner
• Communicate effectively in classroom presentations, seminars, simulations, veterinary partner sites, conferences, and online formats
• Convey or exchange accurate information clearly and efficiently to obtain a thorough patient history, identify problems presented, and explain treatment plans
• Effectively communicate with and respond appropriately to other healthcare professionals’ questions, requests, and directions in classroom, lab, and clinical settings
• Process and communicate information on the patient’s status, including changes in behavior, activity, appetite, and posture with accuracy in a timely manner to members of the healthcare team

Psychomotor

• Adjust and operate diagnostic or therapeutic devices by manipulating knobs, dials, and keyboards
• Assemble medical equipment and supplies
• Conduct laboratory and diagnostic tests and carry out physical assessments
• Coordinate fine and gross muscular movements to treat patients in emergency situations
• Engage in patient care delivery in all settings and deliver care to all life stages
• Execute physical movements required to provide general care and treatment to all patients in all healthcare settings
• Move and position heavy and/or large equipment and patients
• Operate equipment typically found in the healthcare environment, including but not limited to anesthesia machines, IV pumps, blood pressure equipment, hydraulic and manual cattle chutes, fixed and portable radiology machines, and safe handling equipment
• Perform basic life support, ventilation/compression (including CPR), and other basic life support functions
• Perform inspection, palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers
• Provide holistic nursing care and perform or assist with procedures, treatments, and medication administration
• Respond to emergencies precisely, consistently, accurately, and quickly
• Safely transport large patients
• Turn/reposition recumbent patients

Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative

• Accurately perform mathematical calculations and calculate medication dosages & IV rates from instructions given
• Analyze, collect, and synthesize data to reach diagnostic and therapeutic judgments and to develop an appropriate plan of care
• Demonstrate factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge
• Effectively perform chart reviews and continuous assessment of the patient’s status
• Effectively prioritize multiple tasks
• Effectively take and record veterinarian orders, patient histories, and subjective/objective findings
• Exercise sound judgment in patient assessment
• Maintain accurate clinical records on patient care
• Manage the demands of time constraints and frequent interruptions
• Measure, calculate, reason, analyze, integrate, synthesize, and problem-solve in the context of the level and the focus of their curricular program
• Perform data entry tasks using available technology
• Perform universal precautions against contamination and nosocomial transmission
• Provide all aspects of patient care, including medication administration and treatments according to veterinarian orders and guidelines
• Provide an in-depth rationale for the plan of care
• Use and interpret information from assessment techniques/maneuvers, such as those used to assess respiratory and cardiac function, blood pressure, blood sugar, neurological status, etc.
• Use and interpret information related to physiologic phenomena generated from diagnostic tools (stethoscope, otoscope, ophthalmoscope) during a comprehensive examination of a patient

Behavioral and Social Attributes

• Abide by the professional standards of practice defined by the discipline
• Demonstrate compassion, sensitivity, and concern for patients, clients, and other veterinary professionals
• Demonstrate understanding and adherence to professional standards of veterinary nursing
• Function effectively under physically taxing workloads, including in times of physical and mental stress
• Function effectively under stress and adapt to an environment that may change rapidly without warning and/or in unpredictable ways
• Maintain appropriate professional decorum in high-stress situations and when exposed to unusual sights and smells
• Maintain confidentiality with regard to all phases of work

Is the Veterinary Office certificate of studies a prerequisite for the Veterinary Technician program?

Yes. Each fall, Great Falls College will offer a Veterinary Office certificate of technical studies. The 18-19 credits that make up this program are the prerequisites to get into the Veterinary Technician associate of applied science program. You may want to take some of the credits before the fall semester to lighten your load, especially for those needing an additional math course (based on math placement scores). You can discuss this with your advisor.

Do I need to have this certificate to apply for the Vet Tech program?

While the courses in the Vet Office certificate are the required prerequisites for the Veterinary Technician associate of applied science degree, you will apply for the Vet Tech program before completing that first semester of the Vet Office certificate. However, you will need to successfully complete the certificate before being officially accepted into the Vet Tech program. The Vet Tech program will start in the spring semester each year.

Does the school help me find a veterinary partner?

You are responsible for securing your own veterinary partners. However, the college continues to build relationships with veterinary partners throughout the state. Please visit the Veterinary Partners page for more information about the requirements of becoming a veterinary partner.

Are there any travel requirements for this program?

Yes, you will need to travel to the nearest approved veterinary partner facility to complete the hands-on skills. You also will need to travel to Preston, Idaho, to complete the skills on exotic animals one time in the fall of your second year in the program. You will be required to cover the cost of this travel when needed. Please discuss with the program director or your advisor if you have concerns about travel.

If I pass the certification exam, can I apply for licensure outside of Montana?

Yes! Graduates of an AVMA-CVTEA accredited program may apply for licensure in all 50 states. Some states have additional requirements. For example, Montana requires an additional open-book jurisprudence exam that ensures you understand the legal framework under which you will be working as a veterinary technician.

Can I take this program if I live out of state?

Not at this time.