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What you get:

  • Full AVMA-CVTEA accreditation
  • Mobile-friendly access for anytime, anywhere learning
  • Access to dedicated and award-winning faculty
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National Veterinary Associates has collaborated with Penn Foster to offer career-focused programs to our teammates at discounted rates! Through this partnership, you can now apply to enroll in one of the four programs below to increase your skills, earn a credential, and advance your veterinary career.

Offered online, Penn Foster's programs allow you to train at home or on the go and receive support from a dedicated Veterinary Academy faculty of practitioners, technicians, and industry experts. Take the next step in your veterinary career and enroll today!

Veterinary Academy Programs

Veterinary Technician Associate Degree

Penn Foster College's Veterinary Technician Associate Degree is AVMA-CVTEA accredited and can help with the skills you need on your pathway to becoming a licensed veterinary technician. In this program, you'll study a wide range of topics and gain real-world veterinary technician experience during the clinical externship portions of the program. Graduates of the veterinary technician program will be eligible to take the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE) in order to be credentialed as a licensed veterinary technician.

Course Details
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Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

  • Possess effective written and interpersonal communication skills
  • Demonstrate effective quantitative skills
  • Display computer and information literacy skills
  • Exhibit an understanding of the liberal arts, natural sciences, and social sciences
Office and Hospital Procedures, Client Relations, and Communication
  • Facility management strategies including utilizing traditional and electronic media and appropriate medical terminology
  • Written, oral, non-verbal, and electronic communication methods
  • Veterinary practice legal requirements and the veterinary technology profession's ethical code
Pharmacy and Pharmacology
  • Prescription drug administration and explanation methods
Nursing
  • Patient assessment techniques 
  • Various animal species husbandry, nutrition, therapeutic, and dentistry tactics 
Anesthesia
  • Safe anesthesia delivery and management strategies
  • Anesthesia instruments and equipment monitoring techniques
Surgical Nursing
  • Common surgical procedure management tactics
  • Surgical instrument, supplies, and environment strategies to maintain asepsis
Laboratory Procedures
  • Laboratory packaging, handling, and storing methods
  • Laboratory specimen analysis procedures
Imaging
  • Diagnostic radiographic and non-radiographic image production methods
Laboratory Animal Procedures
  • Effective laboratory animal handling procedures
Avian, Exotic, Small Mammals, and Fish Procedures
  • Safe bird, reptile, amphibian, guinea pig, hamster, gerbil, and ferret care approaches

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Veterinary Technology Bachelor of Applied Science Degree

The Veterinary Technology Bachelor of Applied Science Degree is perfect if you are looking to accelerate your career in the veterinary technology or veterinary nursing field. The AVMA-CVTEA fully accredited completion program is specifically designed for students who have already earned an AVMA-accredited associate degree. This program concludes with a Veterinary Technology Course in which you'll have the opportunity to apply your knowledge in either the Veterinary Practice Management or Veterinary Technician Specialist tracks. For additional program flexibility, you will also have the ability to participate in digital proctored exams.

Course Details
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Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate effective written communication and interpersonal skills
  • Display a high level of analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills
  • Demonstrate an understanding of and integrate all aspects of patient surgical management in a variety of animal species
  • Possess an understanding of a Veterinary Technician Specialty (VTS) or of a Certified Practice Manager (CVPM)
  • Exhibit an understanding of leadership and management skills as a manager of a veterinary practice or a research/corporate institution
  • Advanced Pharmacology
    • Drug identification and dosage calculation methods
    • Drug administration benefit and side effect explanations
  • Veterinary Practice Management
    • Appropriate design, technology, diagnostic laboratory, and marketing strategies
    • Compassionate communication methods
  • Advanced Anesthesia and Nursing
    • Pre-anesthetic workup protocol, dosage calculation, and anesthesia preparation strategies
    • Anesthesia communications including describing anesthesia monitoring, recovery, and complications
    • Anesthesia and perioperative surgical care plan ideas 
  • Preventative Healthcare
    • Preventative healthcare and life stage guidelines
    • Integrative medicine fundamentals
    • Preventative and integrative medicine practices for birds, small mammals, and horses
  • Critical Care
    • Key wound management techniques
    • Emergencies, traumas, and CPR best practices including the care and nursing of urologic, reproductive, ocular, and neurologic emergencies
  • Leadership Methods
    • Planning, leading, organizing, motivating, and controlling management techniques
    • Effective team development strategies
  • Financial and Marketing Strategies
    • Basic financial procedures including analyzing transactions that affect current assets, interpreting financial statements, and analyzing cost-volume-profit relationships
    • Basic marketing tactics including analyzing marketing plans and performing SWOT and STP analyses

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Veterinary Practice Management Undergraduate Certificate

Working as a Veterinary Practice Manager is ideal for those who want to work in an animal care setting, but would prefer an administrative or managerial role rather than a clinical role. The Penn Foster Veterinary Practice Management Certificate program fulfills the formal education requirement to sit for the Certified Veterinary Practice Manager (CVPM) exam, offered by the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA). For additional program flexibility, you will also have the ability to participate in Penn Foster’s digital proctored exams.

Course Details
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Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

  • Identify individual life goals and steps needed to fulfill them, similarities between personal financial goals and business goals, the basics of setting up a budget and starting up and maintaining a business
  • Discuss both the business environment and a manager’s role in decision making, planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and developing an ethical perspective
  • Comprehend the management of the facility's finances, such as patient fees and billing
  • Discover the importance of understanding and implementing laws and requirements in a veterinary practice.
  • Examine how to provide exceptional customer service to their clients while helping the veterinary practice to grow financially
  • Describe the human resources function as it relates to the business environment
  • Examine the factors affecting marketing plans to promote the business’s products or services through an understanding of marketing principles, consumer buying habits, and advertising strategies
  • Discover the importance and methods of marketing and promotion for a veterinary practice
  • Summarize the ethical and legal standards in the business environment
  • Analyze relevant business ethics issues when confronted with a new decision situation in a veterinary practice

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Is Penn Foster College accredited?

Penn Foster College is nationally accredited. This form of accreditation means that Penn Foster has met the high standards required by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) in Washington, D.C. The DEAC is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.

 

Are the Veterinary Academy programs accredited?

Penn Foster College's Veterinary Technician Associate Degree and Veterinary Technology Bachelor of Applied Science programs are fully accredited by the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA) of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) as a program for educating veterinary technicians and technologists. This accreditation "represents the highest standard of achievement for veterinary medical education in the United States. Institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive peer review."

The Veterinary Assistant Career Diploma is approved by the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA). It is one of only three online Veterinary Assistant programs with this approval.

The Veterinary Practice Management Undergraduate Certificate program is applicable toward the formal education requirement for the Certified Veterinary Practice Manager (CVPM) program offered by the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA). The CVPM designation is recognized by many veterinary practice leaders as the highest level of credential for professional veterinary managers and is often preferred or required when applying for a veterinary manager position.

 

How do I enroll?

You can enroll in the program on this page by selecting "ENROLL NOW" next to the program of your choice.

 

How do I apply to the Penn Foster Program?

You will need to follow up with your manager for approval to apply to the program. If you are a hospital teammate and your hospital leadership team gives their approval for you to advance to the next phase in your application, they will work with your Regional Operations Director (ROD) and the HR Business Partner for your region to finalize your application.

Once I complete my program, am I qualified to immediately enter my vocational fields? If not, what other steps do I need to take to get certification or licensure?

Certification and licensure requirements will vary depending on the program, vocational field, and state. Students should check with the governing body in their state that oversees their field of interest to determine their state's requirements.

Are there online classes?

There are no physical classrooms, since Penn Foster is an online and self-paced school. However, there are some programs that have webinars that students must log into and attend.

 

How does the online program work?

After enrollment you will receive an email with instructions to create your login credentials to access your account. This will give you access to all your online materials and you will receive your hardcopy books in the mail in 5-7 business days if you did not choose the eBooks option. You will be contacted by a Penn Foster Student Success Coach to help get you started with the program. Assessments are taken through the student portal and other information is available there. If you need to contact your instructors for academic help or have other questions, use the “Contact Us” feature from the student portal.

What resources are available to me?

You have access to Penn Foster’s teachers and learning materials through your student portal. We also strongly encourage students to join the Penn Foster Community. It is a great place to connect with other students.

 

Will there be instructors to help me, and how do I contact them?

Yes, instructors are available over the phone (1-888-427-1000) Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 6:00pm, Eastern Time. They are also available through email by clicking on the “Contact Us” button in the Student Portal and typically respond within 24 hours. 

 

Can you tell me more about the Penn Foster Veterinary Technician Program?

The Penn Foster Veterinary Technician Program is both exciting and challenging. It is lots of hard work and also lots of fun, as you learn the fundamentals of becoming a great veterinary technician. The program is four semesters long and graduates can sit for the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE). Both semesters two and four include a clinical externship during which the student gains hands-on experience applying what they’ve learned in a veterinary hospital under the supervision of a veterinarian.

 

How do Penn Foster Veterinary Technician graduates do on the VTNE?

Penn Foster Graduates have a 83% pass rate on the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE).