BIOMED 3000
Specialty Careers for Veterinary Technicians
COURSE PROFILE
Course Description
Specialty careers for veterinary technicians are jobs which require
knowledge and skills beyond those needed in primary care clinical
veterinary practice. This course will explore veterinary technician
specialties, the education required, and the advantages of advanced
academic training.
Instructor
C.B. Chastain, DVM, MS, DACVIM
W-231 Veterinary Medicine Bldg.
College of Veterinary Medicine
Office Phone: 882-9594
e-mail: ChastainC@missouri.edu
Major Objectives
After completion of the course, a student will be able to:
1. Identify the specialty careers for veterinary technicians
2. Know the potential advantages of additional college education
3. Understand the additional education required for specialties in
veterinary technology and how to obtain it
4. Narrow choices for advancing his/her career in veterinary technology
Prerequisites
An AAS or equivalent degree in veterinary technology from an American
Veterinary Medical Association-accredited program or instructor consent
Delivery
This course is delivered completely online. Students are not required to
attend class at regular times; however, it is important that they follow the
attendance/participation guidelines and meet due dates and deadlines for
readings, assignments, discussions, quizzes, and exams. Communications
will be through the discussion board, announcements, and emails. Real
time video conferencing is possible on request.
Course delivery strategies may include: reading from required textbook(s),
reading resources linked to the internet, brief audio or audio/video lectures,
assigned projects, use of the discussion board, use of the internet, and
e-mails.
Organization
Course materials are located under the left-hand tab in the course Blackboard site
under “Units”. “Sessions” are found under “Units” and “Modules” under
“Sessions”. Further directions are provided in Blackboard.
Required Materials
Rose R, Smith CA. Career Choices for Veterinary Technicians. AAHA Press.
2009
EVALUATION OF
STUDENT
PERFORMANCE
Satisfactory
Performance
Exams and Quizzes
Scoring of
Assignments
Grading
There will be 1000 possible points. A portion of the possible points will be
achieved each week. More than 600 is required for a passing grade. Two
proctored exams will provide a total of 600 points. The remaining 400 will be
based on weekly quiz scores, professionalism (attendance, meeting deadlines), and
contributing to required course journals. The instructor reserves the authority to
adjust final grades if no student achieves 100% of possible points in the course.
Students with less than 61% at mid-term will receive a warning. Grades will be
available in Blackboard. To insure confidentiality, they will not be sent by e-mail.
Students must log on to the course at least twice each week to receive
professionalism points. Students who perform well typically log on 3 or more
times per week.
Exams are available only under the supervision of a proctor. Contact Mizzou
Online to locate a local proctor for your exams. Fifty minutes will be allowed for
exams.
Quizzes are not proctored, but you are expected to complete the quizzes by yourself.
Each quiz is timed so that you will not have time to rely on reference materials, i.e.
they are not open-book quizzes.
If you take more time than the quiz or exam allows, your score will be deducted the
points of one question each minute in overtime.
You may take a quiz or exam only once. You must complete the exam or quiz once
you start it. You may NOT come back to the quiz later. If you are disconnected
during an exam, contact the instructor immediately and then send an e-mail to
blackboard@missouri.edu with your name, username, course name, title of the quiz
or exam, and a description of the problem. Click “Submit” after you have
reviewed your answers to have the quiz or exam graded.
In addition to exams and quizzes, students will be scored on course participation by
submitting blogs and answering discussion questions. Blogs and discussion
questions will be scored on thoughtful content, appropriate length, grammar, and
spelling.
The grading scale will be A to F, including some pluses and minuses but no A+, C+,
C-, D+, or D-. Grades will be based on the following scale:
96-100% = A
91-95% = A88-90% = B+
84-87% = B
81-83% = B71-80% = C
61-70% = D
60% or less = F
Note: A Certificate in Biomedical Technology requires at least a “C” grade in this
course, plus a total of 15 cr hr BIOMED courses with an average GPA in all
BIOMED courses of 3.0.
COURSE
SCHEDULE
Unit Date
Unit/Session
1: Benefits of
Education Beyond
the AAS
1: Secrets of
Success
2:
Self-Assessment
2: Teaching and
Management
3: Teaching
4: Management
3: Industry and
Organization
5. Industrial
Veterinary
Technology
6: Associations
and Organizations
4: Government and
Exam #1
7: Government
8. Proctored
EXAM #1
Reading
Assignments
Other Assignments
Ch. 1
Ch. 2
Discussion Board,
Blog, and Quiz
Ch. 7
Ch. 8
Blog and Quiz
Ch. 12
Ch. 13
Blog and Quiz
Blog
Ch. 15
---
5: Clinical Specialties
1
Web sites
9: Dentistry
Web sites
10:
Anesthesiology
6: Clinical Specialties
II
Web sites
11: Internal
Web sites
Medicine; Nutrition
12: Emergency
and Critical Care;
Clinical Practice
11/14-12-4
(11/19-11/27 is
vacation)
7: Clinical Specialties
III
Web sites
13: Animal
Web sites
Behavior; Zoological
Medicine
14: Equine
Nursing; Surgery
12/5-12/10
8: The Future and
Blog and Quiz
Blog and Quiz
Blog and Quiz