Hi, my name is Grace. I’ve been with Petco for 12 years, and I am a manager of Partner Programs. The RVT training program at Petco is a program that we partner with Penn Foster on to give our partners the opportunity to complete an online, self-paced program so that they can become licensed veterinary technicians. Our Petco partners, which are our employees, are so passionate about pets and also passionate about their own careers that this program is the ideal situation for someone who’s looking to take that next step into the vet field. So, by creating this path for them, we’re really giving them the opportunity to follow both of their passions.
My name is Kelly Wagner, and I am a Vetco operations leader working out of Willowbrook, Illinois. I am a 2023 Penn Foster graduate. What inspired me to get into the veterinary health industry was helping animals, loving animals, working with them. I feel that animals need passionate people—passionate people who are able to help them, work with them, and have that voice for them. What interested me the most about the RVT program was the convenience of being able to study anywhere. This program has helped me improve my skills on the job by giving me the resources needed to do my job correctly and adequately, giving me the knowledge to work with different species—cats, dogs, exotics. I’ve been able to learn so many things I never thought I would ever learn.
Hi, I’m Whitney Miller. I’m the chief veterinarian here at Petco, and I’ve been here almost eight years. The RVT program was something that we really wanted to do from the start of expanding our veterinary services. We have over 250 veterinary hospitals now, and we operate over 1,400 mobile clinics every week. Our PA professionals are key drivers in that growth, and having registered veterinary technicians is a way that we can both give all of our partners a career path into vet services and also, for folks already in vet services, help them grow their career and education. I always say we vet folks are lifetime learners, and so we love to learn. This is a way that we can both support our partners in that and give them a path for additional credentialing. The Penn Foster curriculum really gives our partners the flexibility to learn at their pace, as well as providing them with one of the strongest programs on a national level, so all of our partners can have access to this amazing program.
I’m Mika Milholland. I’m a hospital lead on duty from Topeka, Kansas. I was able to balance life with the RVT program because it was self-paced. It allowed me to work full-time and take care of my kids and my family without having harsh deadlines. It’s nice because it’s separated out into lessons, so you have lessons, quizzes, and exams, and then at the end of semester two and semester four, you have an externship where you get to put all of your knowledge into hands-on learning, which really helps kind of combine everything together.
We’ve worked very closely with Penn Foster to customize our program to meet the needs of our teams through just a couple of different touchpoints, with reporting and having our leaders, when they’re out doing their visits, connect with the students who are in the program. Cheer them on. One thing that we implemented this year was our Dean’s List. Any partner that’s part of the program and achieves above a 3.4 GPA gets special recognition and goodies. We’ve also recognized them at a high level at the company so that they feel supported and excited to be part of the program and recognized for all their efforts.
My name is Laetitia Romanet. I am currently working as a vet assistant in the Kissimmee area in Florida. I’ve been in the industry for at least a good six years now. I just graduated two months ago and am very happy. I want to say, just don’t give up. Absolutely, don’t give up. I know it’s hard. I know it can be a long journey, but don’t give up. Stay in touch with your mentors, stay in touch with all the doctors, stay in touch with Penn Foster—they’ll help you a lot.
We really chose Penn Foster for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s a turnkey, amazing program that is accredited by the AVMA, so we can put our partners through a program and help them achieve their career goals of becoming a registered veterinary technician. It really offers the flexibility to learn at their pace, as well as access through technological means to all of the education they need to go through the curriculum. There’s also support for their in-person learning that they need to do, whether it’s within our vet services or helping them go through some of the other externships. We really have a super high need for strong, credentialed veterinary technicians in this profession. Veterinarians cannot do it all by themselves, and this is a way that we can support our teams in ultimately delivering what they want to do every day, which is amazing healthcare for pets and pet parents.
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