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What you get:

  • Sponsorships for leading veterinary training or degree program
  • Mobile-friendly access for anytime, anywhere learning
  • Access to dedicated and award-winning faculty
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Rarebreed Veterinary Partners has partnered with Penn Foster to offer our employees sponsorships to career-focused programs! Through this partnership, you can now apply for a sponsorship to one of our programs below. Increase your skills, earn a credential, and advance your veterinary career all while working at Rarebreed Veterinary Partners!

Offered online, Penn Foster’s programs allow you to train at home or on the go and receive support from our dedicated Veterinary Academy faculty of practitioners, technicians, and industry experts.

Click here to enroll now!

 

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 Assistant Training

The NAVTA-approved Veterinary Assistant Training can help you take the first step in your veterinary career. Penn Foster's program is one of only three online veterinary assistant programs approved by the NAVTA! In this program, you'll learn important on-the-job skills including handling and restraint, emergency first aid for animals, and vet terminology.

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

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

  • Possess effective written and interpersonal communication skills
  • Demonstrate a high level of inquiry, analytical, and problem-solving skills
  • Exhibit effective quantitative skills
  • Display computer and information literacy skills
Office and Hospital Procedures
  • Front desk procedures, including basic veterinary medical record keeping procedures and invoicing skills
  • Basic animal kennel and bedding, examination room, hospital facility, and surgical suite cleaning techniques
Communication and Client Relations
  • Effective client communication skills including professional written and electronic communication techniques
  • Ethical and professional conduct regulations
  • Basic office procedures and personnel comprehension
Pharmacy and Pharmacology
  • Drug recognition techniques
  • Effective medication and inventory control strategies
  • Vaccine protocol procedures
Examination Room Procedures
  • Effective patient restraint strategies
  • Basic procedures including determining and recording temperature, pulse, respiration, body condition score, and weight
  • External parasite identification including mites, lice, fleas, and ticks 
  • AKC dog breeds and CTA cat breeds recognition
Small Animal Nursing (Large Animal Nursing –Optional)
  • Basic safety methods including normal and abnormal animal behavior
  • Routine record-keeping and hospital patient observation methods 
  • Common disease and medical condition comprehension
  • Restraint strategies for fluid therapy patients
Surgical Preparation and Assisting
  • Surgical preparation methods
  • Facility and equipment cleanliness strategies
  • Basic surgical practices including an understanding of surgical equipment, surgical instrument cleaning and care, and proper disposal methods
Laboratory Procedures
  • Laboratory assistance methods
  • Record keeping procedures including ensuring all laboratory results are accurately recorded, laboratory supplies and stocked, and laboratory reports are filed
Radiology and Ultrasound Imaging
  • Diagnostic radiograph and ultrasound measures
 

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Administrative Assistant Career Diploma

Learn the skills to prepare for a career as an Administrative Assistant. When you take our Administrative Assistant training classes online, you can study when you want, where you want, and at the pace you want. As a student in our program, you will qualify for a membership in the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). Our program also includes a Work Experience Option — all at an affordable price.

Course Details
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Topics That Will Be Covered:

Program goals and outcomes:

To prepare students for an entry-level career as an administrative assistant.

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

  • Describe how to maintain paper and electronic filing systems for records and messages as well as organize files, folders, and schedules in proper order so an office can run efficiently
  • Explain how to schedule appointments and make travel arrangements for executives and other staff
  • Recognize how to answer phones, draft messages, write memos and email when communicating with managers, employees, and customers
  • List ways to support staff in conducting research, compiling data, and preparing papers for consideration and presentation by executives, committees, and boards of directors
  • Describe how to read, analyze, route, distribute, and answer routine incoming memos, submissions, reports, mail, and email to determine their significance and plan their distribution
  • Explain how to communicate well with others in and out of the office
  • List how fax machines, videoconferencing software, phone systems, and other office equipment work
  • Explain how to create spreadsheets, presentations, reports, messages, databases, and other applications
  • Outline how to negotiate with vendors, buy supplies, manage stockrooms or corporate libraries, and get data from various sources
  • Prepare reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, or presentation software
  • Describe how to greet visitors and to decide whether they should be given access to specific individuals
  • Recognize a professional image in an office environment
  • List techniques for managing stress and time in professional ways
 

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Bookkeeping Career Diploma

Our Bookkeeping courses cover topics such as payroll accounting, revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, and more to help you succeed in the bookkeeping field. Our program includes 4 lessons on QuickBooks Online Plus™, one of the leading accounting and bookkeeping cloud-based programs on the market, to help you learn how to use a platform many small businesses and entrepreneurs expect.

Course Details
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Topics That Will Be Covered:

Program goals and outcomes: 

The program goal for Penn Foster's Bookkeeping Career Diploma program is to prepare graduates for an entry-level career as a Bookkeeper via distance learning courses.

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

  • Explain financial statements, with attention to detail, from accounting records for organizations
  • List employment opportunities in many industries, including firms that provide accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll services; federal, state, and local governments; and schools
  • Demonstrate basic math and computer skills, including knowledge of spreadsheets
  • Describe how to become certified in areas of bookkeeping by being able to carry out all bookkeeping tasks, including overseeing payroll and balancing accounts, according to accepted accounting procedures
  • Apply proper procedures for controlling an organization’s financial documentation and guard against misappropriation of its funds
  • Describe how to use accounting software to record, store, and analyze information
  • Apply proper procedures for receiving and recording cash, checks, and vouchers in compliance with federal, state, and company policies, procedures, and regulations
  • Create financial reports using QuickBooks online to complete bookkeeping tasks, ensure accuracy in receiving and recording payments, handle banking transactions, and monitor business accounts
  •  

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Business Management Essentials Certificate

Our online Business Management Essentials Career Certificate program covers topics such as principles of management, math for business and finance, and business and technical writing. Gain an understanding of a manager's role in decision making, planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and developing an ethical perspective, as well as business writing, business math, and other foundational basics.

Course Details
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Program goals and outcomes:

The Business Management Essentials certificate provides students with new job skills or refines existing business management knowledge to advance in a current position, improve performance in a current business or prepare for further training.
Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:
  • Discuss the various functions of business including competition, economics, accounting, technology and information systems; marketing; management through the phases of starting and growing a business; management of financial and human resources; along with the ethical and social responsibilities of business
  • Discuss both the business environment and the manager's role in decision making, planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and developing an ethical perspective
  • Demonstrate understanding of basic mathematical operations including percentages, discounts, interest, present worth, sinking funds, installment buying, pricing, depreciation, investments, insurance, use of symbols and their applications, equations and formulas, and the importance of statistics
  • Demonstrate methods of organizing material for a professional setting by composing business memos, emails, outlines, reports, and proposals using the ABC method

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Career Readiness Bootcamp

Nine out of ten employers say they need employees with soft skills. Invest in yourself with our Career Readiness Bootcamp, and learn communication skills, planning and organization, productivity tools, decision-making, and teamwork — the skills you need to stand out in any job.

Course Details
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Program goals and outcomes:

Teach those in the workforce to develop valuable workplace skills and project the confidence of an employee shaping a successful, upwardly mobile career.

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

  • Treat others with honesty, fairness, and respect
  • Display responsible behaviors at work
  • Work effectively with those who have diverse backgrounds
  • Actively look for ways to identify market demands and meet customer or client needs
  • Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with others
  • Maintain open lines of communication with others and communicating effectively
  • Plan and prioritize work to manage time effectively and accomplish assigned tasks
  • Demonstrate the ability to apply critical thinking skills to solve problems by generating, evaluating, and implementing solutions
  • Display the capability to adapt to new, different, or changing requirements
  • Select, use, and maintain tools and technology to facilitate work activity

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Small Business Management Certificate

In our small business management online courses, you’ll cover topics such as, developing business contacts and successful networking, writing business plans, financing, and preparing budgets, and learning about legal requirements and resources. In this program, you will even write your very own business plan that you can put into action upon graduation!

Course Details
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Program goals and outcomes:
 
The Property Management Career Certificate program provides students with an understanding of property management and may help those in the real estate field advance in their careers.
 
Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:
  • Understand the duties of a property manager, what types of properties use management services, and the qualities necessary for a property manager
  • Identify the different types of business ownership; understand the principles of business ethics and economics, including the concept of supply and demand
  • Understand the basics of building maintenance, including issues related to lighting for aesthetics and safety, HVAC systems, plumbing, and safety systems such as smoke alarms and sprinklers
  • Explain how to establish and maintain successful relationships with tenants through communication and understanding of tenant needs
  • Understand important accounting principles and concepts, including periodic and perpetual inventory systems, cash and accounts receivable, financial statements, and long-term assets and debt on the balance sheet; estimate a property’s financial performance and valuation
  • Identify the types of deeds and their content; interpret real estate descriptions in deeds; define encumbrances, easements, and licenses
  • Recognize effective management strategies for commercial, multifamily, and single family rentals, including how to advertise, evaluate credit reports, and schedule turnovers to minimize downtime between tenants
  • Identify everyday challenges of community association management; list several different types of tenant associations
  • Identify the key points that make an office building attractive to tenants and profitable for owners; determine whether a property maintains proper cash flow and if it’s a worthy investment
  • Demonstrate computer literacy using office software
  • List the various types of insurance coverage
  • Identify protected classes of people on a federal and municipal level and differentiate between properties that are bound by and those that are exempted from fair-housing law
  • Understand how to determine if a property needs a risk-management audit and how to shift risk liability to a third party using insurance and other methods

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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. Employees can also email PFSponsorship@rarebreedvet.com for more information.

 

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-VET-PENN) 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 80% pass rate on the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE).