Vermilion, Alta. — Students entering the veterinary health sector will soon have a new and much larger space in which to learn and practicing skills that will prepare them for the future.
The upgraded space, called the Animal Health Clinic, is scheduled to open at Lakeland College this fall. It will feature new equipment and more lab space to accommodate more students looking to enter the program.
The clinic is nearly complete and will replace the former facility, an old dairy barn that administrators and students say is too crowded.
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“Fitting everyone into the lab space right now is difficult, and it’s difficult giving everybody enough time to use the instruments and get familiar with them,” said Heidi Silver, a first-year animal technician student.
Silver will be among the first batch of students to use the new clinic. She said she and her fellow students, as well as teachers, are excited for the new space because it will give them more room to practice.
As well, they’ll be able to use newer technologies when assessing small animals and livestock. The school is installing equipment worth more than $1 million. This includes bringing in new animal models that will allow students to practice surgery without having to do it on real animals.
Their studies will also resemble what it’s actually like to work in a veterinary clinic on the Prairies, allowing them to be prepared for such jobs when they graduate, said Elaine Suddaby, who leads the animal health technology program.
She said the clinic itself will also emulate ones typically found in rural settings. It will have a reception area for patients to check in, examination rooms for small and large animals, as well as isolation areas for animals that need to be separated.
The new facility will have much larger windows than the old barn so students can peer in when taking notes, as well as cameras that let instructors monitor students without having to be beside them.
“The goal is to get students communicating with the industry and develop those relationships before they head out there,” Suddaby said.
For the past few years, Lakeland has been vying to expand the program due to increased demand for animal health technicians in Alberta and Saskatchewan, said Josie Van Lent, the dean of agriculture sciences with the college.
She said the program is at capacity, and many students hoping to get accepted remain on a waiting list. The new facility should allow for more students to enter the program, she said.
