CCRI debuting new vet assistant training program

WARWICK – A new veterinary assistant training program will debut in March through the Community College of Rhode Island’s Center for Workforce and Community Education.
The 15-week course will be offered this coming spring at the Knight Campus in Warwick. An orientation session is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Jan. 7 at the Knight Campus.
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor projected an increase of employment of up to 35 percent over the period from 2006 to 2016 in veterinary medicine.
This program prepares the student to assist in the care of animals in veterinary offices as well as shelters and animal hospitals and receive training in office tasks and communicating with pet owners and their families. The program is not a veterinary technician program, which requires an associate’s degree and additional certification.
From March 7 through July 25, students will complete 90 hours of classroom training for the course, which runs on Saturdays.
Topics of study include professionalism and ethics; office and hospital procedures including prescriptions; animal nursing, which covers medications, grooming, sanitation, feeding, safety and diseases; exam room procedures; surgical preparation and assisting; laboratory procedures and equipment; radiology; pharmacology; and urinalysis.
The program, which costs $1,800, also includes a 30-hour externship and results in a certificate of completion.
Interested students may contact Sue Caressimo to enroll at scaressimo@ccri.edu or at 401-455-6070.
CCRI has full-service campuses in Warwick, Lincoln, Providence and Newport and operates satellites in Westerly and in the Shepard Building in Providence.

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