VTEC Practicum 3

Overview

Course description

In this course students take part in a four-week practicum placement in a small animal hospital. Students practice skills such as client communication, medication administration, intravenous fluid therapy, bandaging, anesthesia, radiography, dentistry and surgical nursing.

Course content

Workplace and client communications

verbal communications
written communications

Small animal nursing

restraint
physical examination
medication administration
grooming
pain assessment
medical records

Small animal procedures

blood and urine collection
intravenous catheter placement & nursing care
administration of intravenous and subcutaneous fluids
bandaging
laboratory procedures

Small animal anesthesia

patient assessment
anesthesia planning
induction, monitoring and recovery

Small animal radiography

Small animal dentistry

oral charting
local blocks
dental radiography
manual & ultrasonic cleaning

Surgical assistance

sterile preparation of gowns
drapes and instruments
patient preparation
post operative care
suture removal

Learning activities

This is a full-time in-clinic or in-hospital work experience.

Methods of evaluation may include written assignments, clinic evaluations, practical (essential skills) evaluations, case studies and online blog or discussion board posts.

Means of assessment

Assessment will be in accordance with the swag�鶹 Evaluation Policy. The instructor will present a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester.

This course will use a Mastery-based assessment. Students will receive a Mastery ("MAS") grade based on attendance at a minimum of 80% of the practicum hours, submission of all practicum assignments and satisfactory evaluation of assigned VTEC skills competencies.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

safely and competently perform dog and cat essential skills as designated by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association using live animals;
communicate effectively with co-workers;
communicate with clients using various methods such as phone, email and in-person;
perform patient admission and discharge procedures;
dispense medications to pet owners;
safely perform patient restraint and physical examinations;
administer medications by oral, topical and parenteral routes according to veterinarian instructions;
perform routine husbandry and nursing procedures such as kennel care, grooming, feeding, monitoring, pain assessment and bandaging;
perform sedation and anesthesia including induction, maintenance and monitoring of general anesthesia;
take diagnostic radiographs according to veterinarian instructions;
perform routine dental cleaning, dental radiographs and dental instrument maintenance.

Textbook materials

Consult the swag�鶹 Bookstore for the latest required textbooks and materials.

Requisites

Prerequisites

VTEC 1203 and VTEC 2108 and VTEC 2109 and VTEC 2112

Students in the Veterinary Technology program are required to maintain a minimum grade of C in all courses in order to progress in the program.

Corequisites

Courses listed here must be completed either prior to or simultaneously with this course:

VTEC 2304

Equivalencies

None

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

September 2026 (Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see

Institution	Transfer details for VTEC 2321
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.

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