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Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Veterinary Techs-To-Be Train at TVI

By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Journal Staff Writer
    About 20 students gather at an Albuquerque animal hospital each week to hear veterinarian Frankee Eliot share a lifetime of accumulated wisdom about animals.
    Her patient Thursday was a friendly Labrador retriever named Lexi.
    "You should be able to feel the ribs easily," Eliot said, stroking Lexi's thick black coat. "You shouldn't be able to see them across the room."
    Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute launched the class in veterinary technology this month to train workers for a wide range of tasks, from record-keeping to assisting in surgery.
    The class is part of TVI's plan to create New Mexico's first associate-degree program in veterinary technology.
    "Statewide, we need better help in the veterinary community," said veterinarian John Heidrich, who co-teaches the class with Eliot at his clinic, the Town & Country Animal Hospital in Albuquerque.
    New Mexico's 500 veterinarians now must develop their own skilled work force through on-the-job training, he said.
    "We want people who can jump in and really make a contribution to the practice," Heidrich said. Veterinary technicians earn a starting wage of $10 to $12 an hour, he said.
    Many of the students who attended a recent class work for veterinary clinics and want to advance their careers and improve their pay.
    Gerrianne McDonald, 29, feeds and walks dogs and cleans stalls as a kennel worker at Acequia Animal Hospital in Albuquerque. After five months on the job, the work has grown on her.
    "Animals are wonderful," McDonald said. "I feel I could help them and be happy with it for the rest of my life."
    TVI hopes to inaugurate the new degree program this fall, said John Walstrum, vice president for instruction. He estimated the first-year cost at $229,000.
    But TVI's ability to fund the program depends on how the school fares during the legislative session, which began last week, Walstrum said. Veterinary technology is the only new degree program TVI plans to launch during the 2004-05 academic year, he said.
    Veterinarians are rooting for the program.
    New Mexico now has only 20 veterinary techs on the job, said Roy Stewart, a Belen vet and a spokesman for the New Mexico Veterinary Medical Association.
    "There is a real shortage of veterinary technicians here in the state," he said. "We've recognized it for years."
    Stewart said he has worked for 15 years to convince a New Mexico college to launch a veterinary tech program accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
    To earn accreditation, a program must offer at least two years of class work and intensive clinical training.
    New Mexico has neither an accredited tech program nor a school of veterinary medicine, Stewart said. New Mexico State University offers a pre-veterinary program.
    TVI plans to offer a five-term sequence with 18 required vet courses in subjects that include surgical technology, anesthesiology, dentistry, radiology and pharmacology.