A group of students and faculty members from Mercy College’s Veterinary Technology Program spent two days at Animal Medical of New City, NY providing free dental cleanings for shelter animals as part of their pre-clinical training.
“It’s important to give vet tech students a hands-on experience with live animals before they enter clinical rotations,” said Sandra Bertholf, MS, LVT, assistant professor of veterinary technology. “It helps them connect the dots between what they learn in their didactic training and what actually happens in the vet clinic.”
To adhere to social distancing guidelines, the class of 23 students was divided into three small sections, each supervised by faculty members who are practicing veterinary technologists and veterinarians. Students paired off in teams to prepare their canine patients for the dental procedure.
Bertholf, along with Program Director and Assistant Professor Dr. Lisa Schenkel, both of whom work at Animal Medical when not teaching at Mercy, have partnered with local shelters to provide free services for the animals in their care. “We use shelter animals for both our dental and spay-neuter labs,” said Bertholf. “It makes them healthier and more adoptable if they have clean teeth and fresh breath!” The labs help students develop crucial skills, such as radiography and anesthesia procedures, testing and treating the animals for parasites, administering vaccines and assisting veterinarians with spay-neutering.
“Most of our teaching has moved online since the pandemic, but some skills can only be learned by working with a patient,” said Bertholf. “The students are practicing in a low-risk environment before going out on their own during fourth-year rotations. The shelter animals they treat are receiving needed health services. And Mercy is building relationships with people and organizations that make a difference in the community. It’s truly a win-win situation.”
Schenkel added one more “win” to the list: “The veterinary technology program is extremely successful in preparing students for careers,” she said. “Most receive multiple job offers prior to graduation, often from one or both of their externship sites. The Mercy program has such a great reputation that our graduates are highly sought after.”