Nashoba Valley Will Offer Veterinary Assistant Program This Fall

This fall, Nashoba Valley Technical High School is going to the dogs. And the cats. And the rabbits. Heck, maybe even to the occasional turtle.

Nashoba Tech will add Veterinary Assistant to its program offerings, when the 2015-2016 school year commences, with a veterinary clinic opening later in the school year, and it has the backing and support of Boston-based Angell Animal Medical Center, one of the leaders in veterinary medicine.

The program will be the first of its kind for a high school in the Middlesex and Nashoba valleys. Worcester Technical High School has a program that is affiliated with Tufts Veterinary Hospital.

The Veterinary Assistant program will fill a need in the area to produce trained and certified assistants to local veterinarians, of which there are many. Klimkiewicz noted that within a few miles of Nashoba Tech — on Route 110 in Westford and Chelmsford alone — there are four veterinary clinics and hospitals.

“There’s a need in this area,” Klimkiewicz said. “There is still a lot of small farming taking place in the upper Merrimack Valley, and a lot of people have a great interest in taking care of horses, small farm animals, and dogs and cats.”

Angell will have a veterinarian on staff at Nashoba Tech’s veterinary clinic and, eventually, animals will be treated at the clinic, with assistance from students in the program, though Klimkiewicz stressed that won’t happen immediately.

For the first several months of the program, students will undergo training in the academic aspects of veterinary science in a classroom setting before receiving hands-on training in the clinic. A classroom that once held the Upholstery program until it was phased out about 20 years, and has been used for storage since, will be renovated to house the veterinary clinic.

Klimkiewicz said a technical instructor has already been hired to lead the program, and Nashoba Tech will accept incoming ninth-graders and 10th-graders to the program. No upperclassmen will be accepted the first year because students must undergo at least two years of training in a technical program to be able to become certified.

Ann Marie Greenleaf, DVM, DACVECC, chief of staff at Angell Animal Medical Center, said Angell is looking forward to partnering with Nashoba Tech to provide a clinic “targeting low-income pet owners who otherwise would lack access to veterinary care.”

She said the Angell at Nashoba Tech clinic will provide, eventually with assistance from trained Nashoba Tech students, discounted spay/neuter services, vaccinations and basic veterinary care, but not specialty care or 24/7 emergency service, as Angell’s Boston and Waltham facilities do.

“We are pleased to help train more veterinary technicians in the area through this program,” Greenleaf said, adding that Angell hopes the clinic at Nashoba Tech will be open by early 2016.

Nashoba Tech is still accepting applications for the 2015-2016 school year, including for the Veterinary Assisting program. For more information, call 978-692-4711 or visit the school at 100 Littleton Road (Route 110) in Westford.

The above article was submitted by Nashoba Valley Technical High School.