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WATC Launching Vet Tech Program

Austin Community College, flickr Creative Commons

Wichita Area Technical College plans to offer a new associate degree program for veterinary technology beginning in January 2017.

The WATC Vet Tech programwill prepare students for entry-level employment in animal healthcare at veterinary offices, hospitals and labs.

WATC Dean of Health Sciences Teddy Farias

Students will earn an associate of applied science degree when they complete the two-year program.

Teddy Farias, the dean of Health Sciences at WATC, says students will get experience with large and small animals.

"One thing that we paid attention to was making sure we had plenty of hands-on laboratory time and clinical time so our students would be prepared to hit the ground running and be the gold standard of professionals in the state," Farias says.

Farias says they’re accepting 24 students for the inaugural class.

Two community colleges, one in Colby and one in Independence, currently offer the veterinary technology program.

Farias says local veterinarians are excited that WATC will be offering the Vet Tech program in south-central Kansas. They have donated equipment and materials, and plan to serve as guest lecturers and industry advocates.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved WATC’s proposal earlier this month.

The Vet Tech program is 68 credit hours over four semesters. Upon completion, the students will be eligible to sit for the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE) certification.

Development of the Vet Tech program was one of the several new programs identified in a five-year, $2.25 million Title III U.S. Department of Education grant that was awarded to WATC.

The college plans to seek accreditation for the program through the American Veterinary Medicine Associate (AVMA) Committee on Veterinary Technical Education and Activities (CVTEA) by the 2018-2019 school year.

The Kansas Department of Labor, Long-term Occupation Projections 2012-2022 indicate the statewide growth rate of 30.85% for veterinary technologists and technicians, which equates to roughly 195 jobs, with a median annual wage of $30,870, or about $14.84 per hour.

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Follow Deborah Shaar on Twitter @deborahshaar

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

 

Deborah joined the news team at KMUW in September 2014 as a news reporter. She spent more than a dozen years working in news at both public and commercial radio and television stations in Ohio, West Virginia and Detroit, Michigan. Before relocating to Wichita in 2013, Deborah taught news and broadcasting classes at Tarrant County College in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area.