Penn Foster VET101 Intro to Animal Care Objectives Flashcards

Page 2 - Desire to nurture animals; work well with animal owners and colleagues; good attitude, pleasant and cheerful personality; remain calm and patient during stressful environments and unexpected crises; have good communication and organization skills; be dedicated, reliable, creative and resourceful; must be able to walk, stand, reach, bend, climb, lift, and carry for long periods of time; have good vision, hearing, speech, steady arms and hands.

Page 3 - Veterinary medicine dates back to 2500 B.C. European government supported vet research to improve livestock health when plagues hit Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first veterinary college was founded in Lyon, France in 1761. U.S. veterinary schools began in the 1850's usually requiring less than 1 year of training. Henry Bergh founded the ASPCA in 1866. During the 20th century, males were the typical veterinarian who treated farm animals in rural areas.

Page 7, Part 1 - (AVMA) American Veterinary Medical Association: accredits college programs for vets and vet techs. | (BVME) Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners: administers license and certificate exams; also holds hearings to air complaints on a state's veterinary professionals. | (AAVSB) American Association of Veterinary State Boards: maintains a database of the requirements for credentialing of veterinary professionals in each state. | (DEA) Drug Enforcement Agency: enforces the Controlled Substances Act that controls the manufacture, purchase, and distribution of certain medications. | (OSHA) Occupational Safety and Health Administration: enforces laws that protect from workplace hazards. | (CVM) Center for Veterinary Medicine: branch of the FDA that monitors the animal health industry, administering the sections of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that pertains to animals. Food and Drug Administration. | (USDA) U.S. Department of Agriculture: has several agencies that regulate the veterinary industry - (APHIS) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: enforces Animal Welfare Act and oversees import and export of animals and control disease in food animals. - (FSIS) Food Safety Inspection Service: ensures meat and poultry are safe and correctly labeled. - Agricultural Research Service - Extension Service. [USDA agencies concluded] | Animal Welfare Act: group of federal laws to ensure laboratory animals receive the best possible care. | (EPA) Environmental Protection Agency: aim to reduce environmental pesticide contamination, grooming services. | State Department of Health: require registration of x-ray machines. | Department of Business and Professional Regulation: give business permits and licenses. Part 2 - Each state has its own set of regulations designed to enforce its veterinary practice act. All state practice acts require that a veterinarian and a vet technician graduate from an AVMA accredited school and pass both state and national board exams. You have to be a licensed veterinarian to diagnose, perform surgery, and prescribe medication for animals. Some states require veterinarians and vet technicians to attend a yearly quota of continued education to maintain their license. Veterinary technicians and supporting staff members must work under the direct supervision of a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine. For some tasks, only certain licensed staff members can perform them. State practice acts also define specific physical requirements a veterinary hospital must meet to assure public that the hospital has equipment necessary for adequate veterinary services.

Page 16 - Small animal practice: treat family pets and/or companion animals (birds/rabbits). Small staffed practices have each member take on multiple roles. Technicians and assistants may be responsible for giving the client an overview of the pet's health care needs and they must make sure that the client's questions are given complete and correct answers. Larger staffed practices have members work in just one aspect of patient care. | Referral practice: specializes in one aspect of an animal's care. Veterinary specialists work within a field they choose such as oncology, emergency medicine, equine medicine, and etc. Other practices usually refer specialty practices for patients needing advanced care. | Large animal practice: work exclusively with farm animals. Veterinarians (large animal practitioners) working with farm animals don't have clinics; they provide mobile veterinary services with a van or truck. Disease prevention is the main focus, but they also develop programs to help herd managers increase milk or meat production. | Mixed animal practice: treats both large and companion animals. These practices are similar to small animal practices/hospitals.

Page 24 - Veterinary Technician (VT) - roles & responsibilities: anesthesia, surgical preparation and assisting, preparing medications (pharmacology), nursing and caring for sick patients or patients that have had surgery, laboratory techniques, radiology, dentistry, handling and restraining animals, help out on physical examinations, perform receptionist and management tasks, educating clients and owners, supervising other staff members, and works under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. - certification requirements: complete over 300 skills before graduating from an AVMA accredited school. The potential vet tech needs to take and pass the national exam to become certified after graduating. | Veterinary Assistant (VA) - roles & responsibilities: helps restrain animals for exams, assists with e-rays (radiographs), develops x-rays, and maintains darkroom supplies, maintains pharmacy area, count, measure, label, and package prescriptions, help with injections and other technical procedures, maintain equipment and supplies, receptionist tasks, works under supervision of the veterinarian or vet technician. - certification requirements: formal training or on-the-job training. No higher training is required because assistants don't perform extensive tasks like vet techs. | Kennel Aide - roles & responsibilities: keep kennel area clean and well stocked, be familiar with animal handling and behavior, and assist veterinary staff observe hospitalized patients. - certification requirements: some are trained on-the-job. American Boarding Kennel Association offers programs to help train kennel aides. | Veterinary Receptionist - roles & responsibilities: answer phones, schedule appointments, greet clients, files patient records, collect and record payments, be friendly and cheerful, and have good organizational skills. - certification requirements: some training programs available, but usually learn on the job. | Veterinary Practice Manager - roles & responsibilities: responsible for all business aspects of the practice, hiring employees, posting advertisements for job openings and interviewing applicants, supervises inventory maintenance, ordering supplies, maintaining accounting records, pay bills, manage employee payroll, and handles legal requirements. - certification requirements: veterinarian can be the practice manager or a vet technician who has completed specialized training in small business management.

Page 34 - Reception area: coordination center, greeting clients, schedule visits and surgeries, take payments, answers phone, and files medical records. | Examination room: take temperature, pulse and respiratory rate, physical exam, blood samples, tests, and vet greets patients. | Surgical Suite: consists of three rooms, clients don't enter these areas. Room 1, animals are prepped for surgery by clipping hair and cleaning skin. Room 2 is used for operating and surgical procedures. Room 3 is used to monitor animals during their recovery from anesthesia and surgery. | Treatment area: inpatients receive medication or diagnostic procedures. Outpatients can get technical procedures done. | Grooming area: grooming and bathing animals. | Hospital ward: used for patients awaiting, undergoing, or recovering from medical treatments. | Isolation area: used for patients that may be infected with easily transmitted diseases. Area must be kept clean and disinfected. | X-ray room: used for taking x-rays, has protective equipment inside. | Dark room: used for developing x-ray films. | Laboratory area: may be a separate room or part of the treatment area. Used for clinical diagnostic procedures, microscopic work, analyzing blood, urine, and serum. | Employee lounge: used for employees to eat and take breaks, usually only place where food and drink is permitted. | Pharmacy: medications, vaccines, and related supplies are stored in this area. | Staff offices and library: rooms can be used for staff meetings or client consultations. The library holds many reference textbooks and journals for the staff to use. | Storage areas: holds stock of larger products such as food or pet supplies. Each area in the office, except examination and operating rooms, has its own area to hold the supplies required there.

Page 44 - Laboratory Animal Technician (LAT): In biomedical research companies or educational institutions, techs have to keep research animals healthy by feeding, comforting, maintaining proper environmental conditions, observing them in their daily care, and notifying the researcher of abnormal conditions that affect the animals. When supervised by the veterinarian, they can collect blood samples, take radiographs, assist in surgery and other advanced procedures. Most facilities require future lab animal techs to have experience with lab animals and pass the certification exam from the AALAS (American Association for Laboratory Animal Science). | Assistant Laboratory Technician (ALAT): help the lab animal technician care for the research facility by cleaning cages, observe animals, and check temperature and humidity in animal rooms. People who complete veterinary assistant training programs may be eligible for the assistant laboratory animal technician certification exam after completing additional studies or training programs from large research facilities or vocational schools. | Pet Sitter: care for animals when owners are away and check for signs of illness. Some services include watering plants and taking in the mail. No formal education is required, but training or programs in veterinary technology and business management help. | Salesperson: background and training usually makes vet technicians a good resource and salesperson for a company's target customers because of their perspective. The places that hire a vet tech for sales are pet food companies, drug manufacturers, vet supply distributors, electric fence companies, and lab equipment manufacturers. | Dog trainer: whether the trainer owns/operates a dog obedience school, employed at a large dog training facility, or a staff member at a vet practice, they have a background in animal behavior and some years of experience as a trainer. Trainers should attend seminars and additional programs offered by kennel clubs and dog breed associations. | Animal Control Officer (ACO): works for the state or county agencies responsible for stray animal control and enforcement of license and leash laws. They patrol a community, pick up stray/abandoned animals, and investigate animal abuse and cruelty charges. Training programs to be an ACO are offered by human societies and some state colleges and can take a few weeks to complete. | Animal Shelter Aide: care for stray and abandoned animals at animal shelters and humane societies. They clean cages, feed animals, provide adoption information to new owners and the public, give first aid, and may need to be certified to perform euthanasia on sick, injured, or unwanted animals. | Zoo Animal Caretaker: they work with one or two species and must have detailed knowledge of the nutritional and environmental needs for those species. Some even develop and present educational programs for the public. Caretakers mostly have four-year college degrees in zoology or biology. They're responsible for daily feeding, cleaning animal's enclosure, observing and watching for a slight sign of stress in animals which indicate a possible illness or disease. | Wildlife Rehabilitator: the goal is to return the no longer injured or orphaned animal to its natural environment and habitat when its health is regained by getting treatments, being taught how to catch food, being cared for, and observed. Most states require wildlife rehabilitators to be licensed.

Page 51 - Professionalism is the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. Professional qualities include dressing and looking neat and proper, be confident, patient, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, understanding, competent, show pride in your success, and be willing to learn the continual changes in the field. Professional ethics are a set of standards defining what's good and bad for the profession. Veterinary Medical Professional Ethics are defined by the Principles of Veterinary Ethics/Veterinarian's Oath and the Code of Ethics/Veterinary Technician's Oath. Implications in veterinary medicine - Professional and ethical staff can interact more successfully with clients and provide higher quality care to the patients when the office operates on a professional/ethical standard. (And by doing so keeps clients satisfied and coming back, avoiding legal issues, etc.)