Standardized assessment criteria covering all essential skills from the nine areas required by the American Veterinary Medical Association Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities

The newly revised and updated Fourth Edition of Assessing Essential Skills of Veterinary Technology Students provides a comprehensive review of the required American Veterinary Medical Association Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (AVMA CVTEA®) essential skills for completion of a veterinary technology degree. Each essential skill includes assessment criteria as well as decision-making instructions necessary to demonstrate proficiency both academically and professionally.

The text is organized based on the categories provided by the AVMA CVTEA, making it easy for an instructor and students to locate the assessment criteria for a particular essential skill relative to their course.

Several guidelines from veterinary organizations regarding standard of care in veterinary medicine have been updated since the publication of the previous edition, including 2018 A AHA Infection Control, Prevention and Biosecurity Guidelines, 2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, 2021 AAHA/AAFP Feline Life Stages Guidelines, 2019 AAHA Canine Life Stages Guidelines, 2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines, 2023 AAHA Technician Utilization Guidelines, and others.

Written by highly qualified authors, Assessing Essential Skills of Veterinary Technology Students includes assessment criteria that addresses the knowledge, decision-making capabilities, and hands-on skills for the following:

• Pharmacologic fundamentals of drug administration, pharmacy essentials of drug dispensing, compliance with state and federal regulation, and monitoring of therapeutic responses.
• Ethics, jurisprudence, and communication in veterinary management.
• Husbandry, nutrition, and therapeutics of common domestic species, handling and restraint, patient assessment, and dental procedures in small animals.
• Fundamentals of and experiences with common surgical procedures, patient management and use of anesthetic equipment, proper surgical assistance, pain management, management of surgical equipment and facilities, and perioperative management.
• Diagnostic laboratory procedures and management of laboratory specimens and equipment, parasitology of common domestic species and diagnostic procedures for parasite, microbiologic procedure and evaluations and necropsy procedures.
• Avian, exotic, small, and large animal husbandry and nursing skills.

The Fourth Edition of Assessing Essential Skills of Veterinary Technology Students is an essential study resource for all undergraduate students enrolled in an AVMA CVTEA accredited veterinary technology program and an excellent teaching resource for instructors of veterinary technology courses.

Lisa E. Schenkel, DVM, CCRT, CVMA, Program Director and Assistant Professor, Mercy University, Veterinary Technology Program, Dobbs Ferry, NY, US.

Amanda Colón, DVM, Assistant Professor, Mercy University, Veterinary Technology Program, Dobbs Ferry, NY, US.

Sandra Lynn Bertholf, MS, LVT, Associate Program Director and Assistant Professor, Mercy University, Veterinary Technology Program, Dobbs Ferry, NY, US.

Sabrina Timperman, DVM, Associate Professor, Mercy University, Veterinary Technology Program, Dobbs Ferry, NY, US.

Laurie J. Buell, MS, VT, Former Program Director and Former Associate Professor of Veterinary Technology (Retired), Mercy University, Dobbs Ferry, NY, US.