• Discover how to be successful in your program, and review the types of veterinary practices, the veterinary health-care team, and veterinary practice design

• Learn about animal behavior, handling and restraint, patient history, and physical exams

• Master how to find and use information

• Build your computer skills, specifically your Microsoft® Office skillset, through a combination of reading and hands-on practice

• Become acquainted with the origin of life and the relationships between all living things

• Explore the world of structures and function of the animal body with emphasis on the similarities and differences of domestic animals and learn about body organization and metabolism of cells, tissues, and organ systems

Total Credits: 18

• Get the skills and techniques you need to develop, draft, and revise college-level essays

• Develop personnel management, customer relations, and leadership skills

• Establish a solid foundation performing basic math operations, writing and solving business-related equations, determining trade and cash discounts, and preparing a bank reconciliation statement

• Expand your knowledge of general nursing care including learning how to deliver emergency care and administering wound care

• Learn medical math functions such as calculating IV flow rates and performing dosage calculations

• Develop the essential framework of understanding around the use of drugs, dosages, and prescriptions in veterinary medicine

• Experience the work of a veterinary technician under the supervision of veterinarian. Gain a hands-on experience and apply what you've learned in your first two semesters. This is the first of two clinical externships at a veterinary hospital

Total Credits: 22

• Understand the diagnosis and prevention of disease as well as the theories behind the various tests you'll perform

• Learn how to care for the surgical patient before, during, and after surgery

• Establish an understanding of the surgical environment and the equipment involved

• Review the science that studies the parasites of animals

• Pick between Art Appreciation and Music Appreciation as your arts and humanities elective course

Total Credits: 18

• Review how x-ray radiation can be a useful tool for the diagnosis of injury and disease

• Study the interrelation between disease, pathology, and immunology

• Learn about the relationship between biology and behavior

• Pinpoint the nutritional needs of animals

• Review animal welfare regulations and understand biomedical research and the ethical considerations centering on the use of laboratory animals 

• Experience the work of a veterinary technician under the supervision of a veterinarian but this time in a mixed-animal practice. Be a part of the working veterinary team and practice the knowledge and skills acquired across all four semesters

• Spend the semester preparing for the VTNE. Credentialing varies from state to state but in approximately 40 states, the VTNE is administered as a means of credentialing

Total Credits: 20