Technician program a huge success
This year’s Veterinary Technician Program drew 156 partipants from all over Florida and elsewhere in the Southeast Oct. 8 for a full day of lectures and laboratories held at the UF Small Animal Hospital.
“Wow, what a turnout and what a success the program turned out to be this year,” said Megan Elliott, the hospital’s nursing coordinator, adding that most of the participants came from out of town.
UF CVM faculty members who gave lectures included Drs. Heather Wamsley, Matt Winter, Alessio Vigani, Gareth Buckley and Sarah Graham. Lecture topics included urinalysis for large and small animals, ultrasound on large and small animals, sedation and analgesia on small and large animals, what to do when a patient “crashes” in an emergency, and techniques in equine emergency management.
Web labs were conducted in ultrasound techniques, urinary analysis, advanced dental prophylaxis, anesthesia and equipment monitoring and CPR in small animals. In addition to the faculty members who conducted lectures on their areas of expertise, additional faculty members, including Dr. Andre Shih, Carsten Bandt and Julia Wuerz assisted by participating in web lab instruction.
“We focused on information and techniques geared specifically towards the technician,” Elliott said.