A pet's nurse
Years ago, when Dr. Scott Keller had his own veterinary practice, he needed to hire a veterinary tech and could not find one.
Back then only one school in the state -- Parkland College -- offered a training program.
(Dawn Aulet/For The Herald-News)
(Dawn Aulet/For The Herald-News)
So Keller set out to do something about it, and the veterinary medical technology program at Joliet Junior College was born.
Today, nearly 10 years after the program began in Joliet, the demand has not decreased.
"There is a shortage of human nurses, and there is a shortage of animal nurses too," Keller said.
The job of a veterinary tech is similar to that of a nurse for a human.
"Instead of two-legged animals, they treat four-legged animals, some with fur, some with scales, some with legs," Keller said.
The program at JJC teaches students to work on any kind or size animal. Students who have graduated have worked in veterinary offices that treat domestic cats and dogs, or at places such as the Shedd Aquarium, where they care for marine animals.
When students enter the program, they are assigned an animal that will be in their care for the duration of the program.
Lauren Astle takes care of a cat named Tonk, a big gray tabby. Tonk, like all the animals in the program, were given a second chance at JJC. Every semester, about 30 cats and dogs are given to JJC from animal control for use in the program. If the animals are sick, students treat them; if they need surgery, they get operations. At the end of each semester, these same animals who were not claimed and not adopted go up for adoption again. JJC adopts out 98 percent of the animals used in the program.
The idea of caring for animals for a short time so they can be better companions for someone else is a familiar situation for student Barb Carey. Carey, a resident of Palos Heights, is entering veterinary technology as her second career. Casey has been in the mechanical engineering business for more than 30 years. But she has been raising service dogs for some time and found the JJC program when she did a service dog demonstration there.
"I liked the fact that you could work with animals, you could help heal them," she said.
For more information on the JJC program, call 815-280-2746 or visit http://www.jjc.edu/admissions/Pages/vet-tech-admissions.aspx.
