ER OST CO F LL N E N G E E P Tech Times 2.0 Volume 2; Issue 2 February, 2013 Sending Your Practi cum Skills and FROm The ediTOR: Timesheet via the Digital Dropbox dANA hANNAN You can now send all your practi cum skill sheets, videos (up to 20MB each), and pic- tures via your My Courses page uti lizing the Digital Dropbox. To upload the fi le, se- lect the butt on labeled “Digital Dropbox” next to the Practi cum on your My Courses page. Next, upload your individual skills February is a funny month, people in PRACTICUM 2 DROPBOX sheet and ti mesheet to the folder created some parts of the country are snow- for each submission. boarding while others are seeing By: Brent Siniawski Once you upload your materials, your spring fl owers blooming. Where I am I’m very excited to announce the launch faculty evaluator will receive a noti fi cati on in Alabama, the Azaleas are bloom- of the digital dropbox for Practi cum 2 via email to review your skill. You’ll then ing early and it’s Mardi Gras season. students! This will allow a much easier receive an e-mail noti fi cati on indicati ng Beads and moonpies are fl ying off method for uploading materials and com- that your submission has been accepted, fl oats and people are dressing for municati on between both the practi cum parti ally accepted, or rejected. Your fac- evening balls and screaming “Throw evaluators and the student when skills ulty evaluator will be able to pass com- me something Mister!!” at masked on the site need att enti on. With the ments to you via the Feedback document paraders. digital dropbox, students will upload their in the Instructor Dropbox Files. Scanning practi cum skills directly to their practi cum and uploading your fi les will signifi cantly The writers for Tech Times 2.0 have evaluator. reduce the turnaround ti me for your skills brought a great variety of topics to evaluati on and make it much easier for the table this month! Practi cum 2 There will be a long transiti on into the you to submit skills sheets. Your Digital new digital dropbox in order to accommo- Dropbox will also serve as your dashboard students will be thrilled with the new date students who are already in Practi - for the skills you have submitt ed and the method for submitti ng their skills de- cum 2. Students that have been submit- status of each skill. scribed on page 1, and proctor exam ti ng their materials the “old way” via snail study skills are discussed on pages 7 mail can conti nue to do so if they prefer. Additi onal Video Submission Opti ons— & 8. Lola has tested a new treat and They may also take advantage of this new YouTube pronounced it “fi t for a dog” in all system to get faster feedback and save the You can also upload your individual skill the best ways! A great story about postage cost. All new students should use videos to YouTube and share the private the Yorkie Doodle Dandee is on page this method to upload their materials. link with your faculty evaluator for review. 5 and some very informati ve infor- During your upload, simply select “Un- There are two new opti ons for sending in listed” under the privacy setti ngs so that mati on about blindness in dogs is your practi cum skills to Penn Foster! The your video isn’t in the public “searchable” covered this month as well. Finally, objecti ve is to simplify and signifi cantly area. Name the video in the following Dr Jim brings his lecture regarding reduce the turnaround ti me for your format: Student#_Name_Skill# (Example: the History of the Technician forward skills and allow for easier individual skill 2342342_John Doe_Skill7). When your and explains the beginning of the submissions. upload has completed, copy and paste AVMA as we know it today and how your video URL link into a Word docu- the VTNE emerged. ment and upload it to the appropriate skill folder in the Digital Dropbox. You Enjoy your reading and studying this must use this naming format for YouTube month!! videos or they’ll be rejected. Happy Valenti nes Day to All! Please contact Kathy Raune through a direct message on the community if you have any questi ons!! ER OST CO F LL N E N G E E P Tech Times 2.0 on Animal Technician Activities and Training to spending effort for validating the PES techni- reflect a broader scope of committee responsi- cian exam since the employing licensed DVM bility to the AVMA. The name would be changed is already legally controlled. Yet, an increasing again in 1989 to Committee on Veterinary number of State Examining Boards were buying Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA) to and administering the exam assuming that it utilize “veterinary” and also focus on “education” was AVMA-validated like the National Board of veterinary technicians. The use to the adjec- Exam (for DVM’s) without checking its content tive “veterinary” officially approved in 1989 by for validity of questions used to certify applicants the AVMA House of Delegates symbolized the in their states. Little did Dr. West know that his broad acceptance of Veterinary Technicians as analogy would be the rallying cry for AATE edu- well as an increasing need for more education cators and NAVTA leaders to continue lobbying beyond training in technical motor skills. the AVMA for PES validation for about a decade. These organizations’ persistent lobbying efforts 1972--The first national continuing education succeeded in 1985. meeting for animal technicians in USA was held From the Desk of: at the Western States Veterinary Conference in 1978--The AVMA added a continuing education Dr. Jim Hurrell Las Vegas, Nevada in February. This annual section for veterinary technicians to its program Director, Penn Foster meeting would have the largest attendance of at the annual convention in Dallas, TX after technicians at a CE meeting for the next two seeing the success of such meetings at Western Veterinary Technician Program decades. States and AAHA for several years. FOR The PAsT FeW mONThs, dR Jim 1973--The Association of Animal Technician 1979--44 of the 64 existing technician-training hAs TReATED Us TO AN ONGOiNG Lec- Educators (AATE) was formed at the Third Sym- programs were accredited by the end of the TURe OF The hisTORY OF The VeTeRi- posium on Animal Technician Training in August year. There were only eight programs at the be- 1973. That fall, the first two programs were ac- ginning of the decade with none accredited until NARY TechNiciAN. This mONTh, The credited by the new AVMA CATAT procedures: 1973. There would be no more expansion of LECTURe cONTiNUes ANd iNTROdUCES Michigan State University under Dr. Harold Knirk the number of training programs (discontinued The AVmA ANd The NVTe!! and University of Nebraska School of Technical programs would equal new programs for next Agriculture at Curtis under Dr. Walter Long. 15 years) until after 1995 when there were 68 The History of the Veterinary accredited. That number increased to 80 in 1999 Technician Profession 1974--Programs at Tacoma, WA; Sanford, NC; and 103 accredited programs in 2003! Colby, KS; Columbus, OH; Waseca, MN; and It is important for Veterinary Technician students to Madison, WI were the next group accredited. 1980’s--The “Adolescent” Decade of Develop- learn about the significance of the history of their ment profession. It is a very young profession (less than 1975--Programs accredited this year were in 50 years old), and is already rich with great stories Sacramento, CA; Kansas City, MO; Cincinnati, What (& when) were the signs of Veterinary and traditions. If a student knows the “roots” of this OH; Denver, CO; Glenwood Springs, CO, Delhi, Technician acceptance by the veterinary profes- great profession, it is easier to see the great poten- NY; Waco, TX; and Woodland Hills, CA. sion? tial for themselves and their profession in the future. Enjoy this look at where you came from! Dr. J 1976--The first Veterinary Technician journal 1980--The first refereed (meaning all articles was published as Methods, The Journal for Ani- must be reviewed and passed by expert review- 1970’s--The Early Development Stage mal Health Technicians in September. It was ers) designed for technicians were published in published for Animal Health Technicians (AHT’s) January 1980, as The Compendium on Continu- What were the most significant events of the in California bimonthly through January 1984. ing Education for The Animal Health Technician. 1970’s related to Veterinary Technician educa- The first issue included articles by Don Dooley The name was later changed to The Veterinary tion? on Drug & Supply Purchasing; by Dr George Technician in January of 1984. This decision Muller on Laboratory Diagnosis of Skin Disor- reflected growing national support of the name 1971--The Second Symposium on Animal Tech- ders; by James Wilson, DVM, JD, on The Legal change and helped bring about acceptance of nician Training was held at MSU to continue ad- Aspects off AHT’s; and a calendar of continuing the change in the veterinary profession. dressing problems common to all involved in this education (CE) events in California. new educational movement. A significant shift in The journal was initially published bi-monthly by attendee interest toward training technicians for 1976--The Association of Animal Technician Veterinary Learning Systems with Sally Oblas practice instead of research occurred compared Educators (AATE) held its first allied group Walshaw, MS, VMD as Editor in Chief and to the 1969 symposium.