A SUMMARY OF
EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL OPTIONS
FOR ANIMAL HEALTH TECHNICIANS
A Thesis Presented
to the Graduate Faculty
of
California State University, Hayward
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Masters of Science in Education:
Option in Educational Leadership
by
Michael Lane Seely, D.V.M.
August, 1991
Recommendations
During the formative stages of this thesis, the order of presentation of the three parts of the proposal became a problem. Certificate programs in community colleges was the first part presented and proved to be such an unacceptable idea for some people that they either did not read the rest of the proposal or were so distracted that they did not respond with reward to the other two proposals. The order _ presented herewith is different and an improvement. The Career Ladder is presented first and presents a solution which the author believes to be at the core of the shortage issue--attraction AND retention of students. By providing a vision of growth, the Career Ladder makes veterinary technology more attractive. The second proposal, Non-traditional Educational Offerings in Community Colleges, is a logical up-to-date approach to making quality education available to students distant from the campus. Finally, the Certificate Option provides students with an affordable choice to be trained as a veterinary technician in a 5shorter period of time than is now available. The Career Ladder would then encourage them to continue their education.
Proposal I: Career Ladder for Veterinary Technicians
At first, please note the use of the term Veterinary Technician versus Animal Health Technician. People who assist veterinarians should share the title and the prestige of the veterinary profession. This title change is an important part or enhancing the attractiveness of the profession. It is the opinion of the AVMA that this title change should be made and thirty-five of the sixty-two AVMA accredited training programs use the term veterinary technology (see Appendix H). Others have proposed the title of Veterinary Nurse. For the purpose of this presentation, the term Veterinary Technician will be used.
The second thing to keep in mind is that the profession of Veterinary Technology has an extremely high turn-over rate with an estimated average practice life of five years. This factor intertwines with high dropout rates in training programs and low salaries to the point that national average of jobs available for each graduate is sixty-eight. As it stands now, the certification as a veterinary technician, or Animal Health Technician in California, is essentially a terminal degree or rating. No further ratings or titles are given to veterinary technicians regardless of their years of experience or amount of continuing education. By creating a Career Ladder (see Figure 2), additional goals beyond the Veterinary Technician Degree are established and with a suggested pay scale, a built-in incentive is provided to motivate technicians to continue their education.
Proposal. Establish a four-tier rating for the profession of Veterinary technology and accompany this structure with a suggested pay scale. The tier structure would be based on a combination of experience and education, and the basic purpose would be to acknowledge a technician's experience, education, an earning potential.
The exact qualifications would be determined by a committee of technicians, educators, and veterinarians. A suggested sample is discussed with this paper. Either the state veterinary association or veterinary technicians association could be the official registry of completed continuing education and working experience.
When a technician feels s/he has achieved the qualifications to advance to the next tier, s/he would apply to the association and, once verified, be granted a certificate of achievement. Individual steps between the tiers could be the responsibility of the local association or an employer.
This policy could be established by the veterinary association at the state level and, once in place, could become the ''standard of performance'' for evaluating technicians.
l. Tier I—Veterinary Technician Trainee. This tier is the entry level category for people working in a veterinary facility at the beginning skills level and proceeds up to the point of passing the State Board Exam and becoming a registered veterinary technician. Each step in this category would have educational requirements. Examples in Step 1 would include such things as high school graduation and a specific jobs skills list as is used in the FOR programs. Step 2 would include those who had successfully completed an ROP program or were enrolled in a formal veterinary technology program. Further steps would be based on working experience and completed course work.
Advancement to Tier II would be based on becoming a registered veterinary technician. Up to this point, a trainee would be considered a non-registered veterinary assistant as described in the California Practice Act.
Candidacy for the State Board Exam is the final stage or this tier and may be achieved by successfully completing one or the accredited veterinary technology programs. Another possibility would be through what has been referred to as ''grandfather clauses'', which are available in some states and is being considered again in California. The plan that is being considered in California is being referred to as the Five-Year Plan and requires five years of experience and forty hours of special training involving the job tasks which can only be performed by a registered veterinary technician.
2. Tier II—Veterinary Technician II. Those candidates in Tier I that have passed the State Board Exam are advanced to Tier II. As described in the California Practice Act these technicians possess entry level skills and may perform dental extractions, administer and monitor anesthesia, suture skin, apply bandages and splints, and operate radiographic equipment.
Progression through the steps of this tier would be based on combinations of working experience and completed continuing education. College offerings would be a clear qualification for continuing education. The value or short courses and professional seminars would have to be discussed by the qualifying panel.
The intention, in Tier II, would be to encourage progress towards the Associate of Arts Degree. In this respect, the course work may be no less than 15 (fifteen units) in the general education category.
Those candidates that have already completed the requirements for the Associate of Arts Degree would be considered for advancement to Tier III upon completion of three years experience in Tier II. Any continuing education they completed above the required thirty units would qualify them for a higher step rating when they advanced to Tier III.
3. Tier III—Veterinary Technician III. Qualification to Step l in Tier III would include the equivalent of the Associate of Arts Degree and three years of working experience in Tier II. A provision could be provided which would allow candidates with a Bachelor's Degree to enter at this level upon passing the State Board Exam.
The intention of Tier III is to encourage development of advanced level nursing skills, continued general education and management skills, and completion of upper division college work to achieve the equivalent of the Bachelor of Arts Degree. Advanced level veterinary nursing skills would include such topics as fluid therapy, emergency medicine, and dental techniques as offered by educational institutes and the profession.
The steps would also be based on combinations of continuing education and working experience. Advancement to Tier IV would occur with an additional sixty units above Tier III and three years of working experience in Tier III. For those technicians that possess the Bachelor's Degree upon entry to Tier III, a provision could allow advancement to Tier IV with two years experience and any continuing education beyond the Bachelor's Degree would put them at a higher step when they advanced to Tier IV.
It is important to remember that each year the universities produce a multitude of students with the four-year degree who are in search of a career. This proposal would likely attract some of these people to the profession.
4. Tier IV—Veterinary Technician IV. With the equivalent of a Bachelor's Degree and the required years of experience as a registered veterinary technician, these well seasoned technicians are qualified to perform the duties of facility management, educational instructors, and supervisory technicians. As in the previous tiers, steps would be based on education and working experience.
Human Resource Development. This type or rating system would provide technicians with a vision for a professional future. It also allows veterinarians to visualize the principles of human resource development and utilization of the job skills that technicians possess.
Since this rating system is based on education and experience, or in essence job skills, it follows that a higher rating implies higher earning potential. With this system, motivation is provided for growth, both intellectually and skill wise, and with that growth the personal fulfillment that attracts and retains people to a profession.
Earning Potential. It stands to reason that as technicians develop their job skills and their acquire general education, they are able to generate more income for a veterinary facility or institution. Likewise, it seems that higher earnings generated by a technician should be compensated by higher wages. Research facilities and educational institutions seem to have grasped this principle in that they offer wages and benefits that exceed most veterinary facilities. For this reason, a large number of registered veterinary technicians chose this line of work. '_his leaves even fewer technicians available for veterinary practices.
Veterinarians may be quick to point out the "fact" that these institutes have more money to pay their employees. Even if this is true, it does not change the basic principles of human resource development and earning potential. Veterinarians do not necessarily have to pay what industry pays to retain technicians. The practice of veterinary medicine holds special challenges and rewards not found in industry, and with improved compensation to reward improved earning potential, more people will be attracted to and remain in veterinary hospitals.
Suggested Pay Scale. Even with the added word "suggested", the mention to a pay scale seems to elicit varying degrees of fear in most veterinarians. It is agreed that present earning levels of veterinary practices are extremely variable. It is also agreed that the present "pay scale" is too low to attract and retain the larger number of formally trained technicians the profession presently needs.
Most private businesses resent imposed regulations and organized labor and, although it seems unlikely to occur in veterinary medicine, it certainly has occurred in every other profession. The basic point of the proposed Career Ladder and some pay scale guidelines is that when wages are both fair and attractive, more technicians will be attracted and retained to the field. Also, these measures will very likely circumvent the need for organization on the' part of labor.
Although there are established pay scales for other paraprofessionals, it is likely that' a "wage survey" throughout the state would suffice as a beginning point. The scale itself would begin at minimum wage for entry level trainees. At the other end of the scale, technologists at the Tier IV level should be able to earn what comparable college graduates earn.
Proposal II: Non-traditional Educational Offerings
At present, the traditional classroom lecture with hands-on laboratory experience is the the mainstay of all existing programs that train animal health technicians. While this approach serves as a valuable core for any educational program, it has inherent limitations and by the physical nature, serves a relatively small geographical area. All seven of the existing community college programs for the training of veterinary technicians in California have this type of program.
With the addition of instructional television (IT) video tutorials(VT), and computer-based instruction (CBI), the outreach and the convenience, and therefore the attractiveness of a given program may be greatly enhanced. This thesis proposes development of these types of instructional offerings and suggests two scenarios, the first being a cooperative effort between existing community college programs and the second via the utilization of resources available from industries allied with veterinary medicine. These educational offerings could enhance existing programs, vastly extend their outreach, and could be utilized by community colleges not presently accredited. In this case, these colleges could become "sister programs" until they qualified for accreditation. This part of the thesis also introduces the term veterinary mentor which will be described in detail later.
Scenario 1—Production by community colleges. The development of non-traditional education by this scenario would involve multi-phased, joint activity of the community colleges that offer veterinary technology training programs.
1. First phase would involve a planning conference of community college program directors. During this conference, the class offerings and course outlines of the various colleges could be compared and classified as to which category they would fit--instructional television (IT), video tutorials(VT), and computer-based instruction (CBI).
Examples of the type of class offerings that could be presented through video tutorials are surgical instrument identification and clinical pathology--blood analysis, fecal analysis, etc. Pharmacology is a subject that would lend itself to computer-based instruction. Animal restraint and basic nursing techniques are subjects that could be effectively handled by video tapes and instructional television. These classes could be scheduled in the evenings at sites distant from the college and a facilitator, an AHT or veterinarian could be present with each group to further demonstrate presented techniques and materials.
2. Second phase would take place after the directors agreed on classification of the courses, and it would seem that the auto-tutorial category would be the easiest to begin with. Each college could select a topic, or part of a topic, to work on and then return to their sites to work on the production. At predetermined times the tapes could be exchanged in the mail for review and editing suggestions, returned to the originator, and changes made. Upon final review and acceptance, copies could be made and distributed to each college.
An important thing to remember is that many of the colleges have some type of media department that could help in the technical production of these instructional materials.
3. Third phase would start once the tapes were available to students at the college site and at sites distant to the college. At the college site, the laboratory could be available at pre-scheduled times including evening hours, materials provided, and a "bench tutor" available to coach the students through the various techniques.
Another possibility would be arranging laboratory time and a "bench tutor" at one of the many community colleges that do not have an AHT training program. These classes would be structured and scheduled in a similar manner to regular course offerings.
Scenario 2—Production by allied industries. Production of these types of educational offerings could be sponsored by allied industries and produced with the direction of professional educators. With this type of approach, the educators and the accrediting bodies, like the CVTEA, could have input as to the content and structure and yet be free to carry on their usual instructional responsibilities. Since most instructors do devote a fair amount of time towards developing and updating their class offerings, this would reduce their load in that aspect and allow them more time for student support.
Veterinary mentors. At sites distant to the college, students that are employed by a veterinarian could take advantage of these electronic means of distance education and do their practical work in a veterinary clinic. For these students it would be necessary to enlist the aid of a Veterinary Mentor (VM). This mentor would be a veterinarian or a registered AHT who had agreed to sponsor a student and would assure they had satisfied the required qualifications, sign a form stating the fact, which would then be submitted to the accredited college in their area.
Training of veterinary technicians has traditionally taken place in veterinary hospitals and clinics and because of the shortage of formally trained technicians, this is still the primary mode of technician training today. The concept of Veterinary Mentors would be an excellent instrument to establish and reinforce the bond between educational facilities and practitioners. With the guidance of. educators, the quality and therefore standards of training in veterinary facilities would most certainly improve.
The relationship and responsibilities of veterinary mentors could,be formally described in handbook form and orientation sessions could be conducted at local veterinary medical association meetings. It would also create a sense of "buy in" for veterinarians and technicians with regard to their responsibility in improving the quality of training in their facilities.
Certification. Upon completion of the prescribed number of tutorial units for a given class, proficiency could be determined by a monitored examination, and the student would be granted college credit for that class. By using this approach, it is theoretically possible to offer an entire block of classes that would qualify a student to take the State Board Exam.
Summary. With distance education and Veterinary Mentors, it is clear that many students could be involved in the educational process that are now excluded from the traditional approach. The benefits of this approach are many-fold and include equity of opportunity for any qualified candidate, ease of access regardless of location, and relevancy of information to career objectives.
By developing network linkage, a common data base could be added to, updated, and shared by all of the participating programs. By informing public schools and colleges, veterinarians and their associations, these programs would be available to any person interested in becoming a veterinary assistant or technician.
It is also important to note that these types of programs lend themselves to corporate sponsorship. Many allied industries have already produced educational materials that could be integrated into these types of programs. Also, these types of course offerings would be especially useful in developing advanced level continuing education courses such as emergency medicine, dental techniques, and others.
At present, California has seven community college programs which are essentially independent, With the cooperative approaches suggested, and the support of allied industries, all seven programs could be greatly enhanced. It is also easy to see how this concept could be extended throughout the nation.
The relationship of students, colleges, veterinarians, and allied industries is often overlooked. This type of program development which utilizes non-traditional instruction is an excellent opportunity for a comprehensive contribution by all to the common goal we all abide by--better veterinary care for clients and animals.
Implications of the Proposals
The practice of veterinary medicine today offers clients a level of expertise and technology never seen before. Because of the large amount of information available and new technologies, specialty practices are flourishing and the general practitioner relies on these special services. At the same time, the quality of medicine offered in clinics and hospitals throughout the nation is being affected by a shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians. Formally trained veterinary technicians with practical experience can increase the work capacity performed by a veterinarian significantly when utilized to their full ability. Indirectly this can reduce some of the demand for more veterinarians while improving the quality of patient care.
When we look at the profession of veterinary technology and the problem of the shortage of technicians, we should not be mislead by the low salaries paid to these people. Income is important and will ultimately affect how long a talented person stays in the field, but business analysts constantly repeat that salary is not the number one factor reported in job satisfaction surveys. These analysts report that working conditions and opportunities for growth are usually at the top of the list. Until salaries do rise to a level that makes veterinary technology more attractive, we must ask ourselves what we can do NOW to improve the situation. This thesis offers three ideas which can be utilized and developed within a relatively short period of time.
Veterinary associations at the state level can adopt and enact a Career Ladder statute that would provide an attractive vision for growth in the profession of veterinary technology. These guidelines would provide a road-map for those that wish to assist veterinarians in the practice of medicine and surgery. With this road-map, assistants can visualize where they are on the ladder and what they must do to achieve a higher level of expertise. At the same time, a structure is provided that implies and encourages financial reward for continued professional growth. This structure would very likely attract and retain more students and prolong the duration of technicians in the profession.
Veterinarians, by supporting the Career Ladder concept, will be able to take advantage or the bond that exists between people and animals and draws them to the profession. Once attracted to the profession, the development of that human resource depends on education and financial reward. It is equally important that veterinarians allow that resource, once developed, to be utilized. Unused talent either leaves or dies.
Public and private schools that offer formal instruction in veterinary technology can expand their area of service by offering Non-traditional Instruction. The development of these offerings can be supported and financed by veterinarians and by industries allied with veterinary medicine. Academic and vocational class work can be integrated to enhance instruction and shorten the training period. Shorter training periods in the form or Certificate Options can be offered to those that qualify. It is also important to examine the large population of students that are attracted to the programs but drop out before completion.
Industries allied with veterinary medicine have a long history of being supportive to the profession. Traditionally public education has been reluctant to use this type of support. Today a serious need for formally trained veterinary technicians exists. This need offers an excellent opportunity for allied industries, public education, and veterinarians to join hands in an effort to meet that need and ultimately improve the quality of veterinary care offered throughout the nation.
Accrediting committees and examination boards are the watchdogs of the profession. The A_ through the CVTEA has established a process which has insured the highest of standards for graduates of two-year programs. Up to this point they have not been willing to consider other routes to the State Board Exam. In California, the State Board of Examiners made a decision to allow graduates of proprietary programs to sit for the State Board Exam for veterinary technicians. This decision has doubled the annual production of veterinary technicians now available to practice in California. At the same time, the Board has developed an examination of the highest standards, some parts of which veterinarians find difficult to answer.
In the face of the severe shortage of technicians, and considering that this shortage is a threat to the quality of veterinary care offered in clinics throughout the nation, it would seem important that the A_ at least open up a dialog about other options to sit for the State Board Exam. Shorter programs are successful in California and the AVMA, through recognizing these programs, would have an opportunity to influence the quality of these programs. By offering shorter training options, a broader spectrum of students would be served and those that complete these shorter programs would enjoy the national status now offered only to the two-year programs.
Today's registered veterinary technicians have demonstrated how valuable they are to the practice of veterinary medicine. The quality of care they offer is a tribute to formal training programs. This thesis has offered professional and educational options that will enable veterinarians and educators a means to attract and retain more people to the profession and enhance the quality of veterinary care our clients deserve.