Tufts, Worcester Tech Share Pet Project

Students from in Grafton and Worcester Technical High School hope to learn from each other and from the animals they treat at Tufts at Tech, a new veterinary clinic at the Worcester high school.

The Tufts at Tech Veterinary Clinic officially opened yesterday morning with a ceremony attended by Lt. Gov Timothy Murray, among other local and state officials, and hosted by Deborah Kochevar, Grafton resident and dean at Cummings.

“ A world-class name like Tufts and a world-class institution like Worcester Tech … when they get together, you know great things will happen,’’ Murray said.

The clinic matches fourth-year veterinary students in the Cummings School’s doctor of veterinary medicine program with students in the veterinary assisting program at Worcester Tech.

The clinic will serve as an educational platform for both the Tufts and Worcester Tech students. Tufts students will gain more experience with routine care and have direct communication with clients. This will help the students become “well-rounded, service-minded veterinarians,’’ according to information provided by Tufts.

The high school students in the veterinary assisting program will gain increasingly greater responsibilities throughout the four-year program. They will learn safety and hygiene protocol, help take patient histories, schedule appointments, learn business transactions and handle animals during exams.

And there is also a public health benefit, the speakers said: Pets whose owners might not otherwise be able to afford veterinary care will now be vaccinated.

Worcester Tech student Anna Frazer said she and her classmates are enthusiastic about working with “living, breathing, moving animals’’ rather than the stuffed animals they currently use.

“This gives us the hope to succeed and the confidence to thrive,’’ she said. Having real-world experience in veterinary work “only adds to our excitement and to our confidence,’’ she said.

“This is an incredible opportunity to work together to help someone’s pet,’’ said Kimberly Oparil, a member of the Cummings School class of 2014.

She helped to organize a program that brings free veterinary care to pet owners who live in Worcester Housing Authority locations. This new clinic is a natural offshoot of that effort, speakers said.

Working at the clinic helps veterinary students improve their technical skills, such as drawing blood and inserting catheters, while continuing to “give back’’ to the community, she said.

Dr. Gregory Wolfus, a veterinarian who previously worked at VCA Westborough Hospital, will oversee the students’ work. “You never know when inspiration will happen,’’ he said. “We’re going to do everything we can to have it happen here.’’