N. Andover, May 10, 2007: As the veterinary industry grows, veterinary hospitals in Massachusetts are faced with a shortage of qualified veterinary technicians. Despite this growing need in the market, new regulations by the American Association of Veterinary State Boards AAVSB) in 2006 nearly led one local community college - North Shore Community College (NSCC) in Danvers - to close its doors on their veterinary technician program. InTown Veterinary Group, along with North Shore Animal Hospital, were pleased to work with the director of the program, Karen Komisar, DVM, to provide a solution which would enable NSCC to continue to offer a program which benefits local veterinary hospitals in the long term.
The veterinary industry is growing at a rapid rate. National annual consumer spending in the pet industry as a whole was $38.5 billion in 2006. Consumer spending on veterinary care alone in 2006 amounted to $9.2 billion according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA). These numbers are expected to rise in 2007 to an estimated $9.8 billion in veterinary care and $40.8 billion in overall spending.
While NSCC had been offering the veterinary technician program since the mid 1970's, it was not accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The purchase of the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VNTE) by the AAVSB in 2006 prompted Dr. Komisar to begin the accreditation process by reaching out to the local veterinary community.
InTown's Technician Training Coordinator, Betsy Hensley, CVT and Ray Cahill-Morasco, DVM, Medical Director at Muddy Creek Animal Care Center in Rowley, worked with Dr. Komisar to provide the NSCC with full access to Muddy Creek's surgical and treatment facilities. The AVMA site committee inspected our facilities and granted approval for NSCC to receive accreditation for their program if they used Muddy Creek's facilities for their Clinical Surgical Nursing classes.
Betsy Hensley, CVT, Ray Cahill-Morasco, DVM, and Karen Komisar, DVM came to an agreement on schedules, anesthesia and pain management protocols. Under the direct supervision of the NSCC Veterinary Technician Clinical Coordinator, Sheila Magesky, CVT, students of the program are now using Muddy Creek's surgical and treatment facilities to learn to monitor anesthesia and practice nursing skills on spay and neuter surgeries on dogs and cats from area animal shelters. The animals are receiving preoperative blood work, being spayed or neutered by Dr. Usiak, an instructor at NSCC, and are then put up for adoption by the shelter.
In a triple faceted win-win-win situation InTown Veterinary Group is helping to ensure that there are qualified veterinary technicians graduating from an AVMA accredited program to meet its future employment needs; North Shore Community College is able to continue to provide a local option for students interested in pursuing a career in the growing field of veterinary medicine, and local animal shelters receive access to free spays and neuters for adoptable dogs and cats.