Veterinary Technician Program

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