New Zealand Certificate in Animal Technology with strands in Rural Animal Technician, and Veterinary Nursing Assistant
Course details
| NZQF Level | 5 |
|---|
About the course
The purpose of this qualification is to prepare individuals as either a veterinary nursing assistant or rural animal technician by providing them with the skills, knowledge and attributes needed to help assist veterinarians and veterinary nurses in a companion animal practice and veterinarians in a rural veterinary practice.
This qualification is targeted at people with previous animal handling experience who wish to work in a veterinary related field or in a veterinary clinic with either companion or rural animals.
The animal industry will benefit by having graduates qualified with skills to allow them to be ready to work in a veterinary clinic or independently as a rural animal technician, under the direction of a veterinarian.
Graduates of the rural animal technician strand will be able to assist a veterinarian in large animal or mixed practice and in the field or work independently as a rural animal technician.
Graduates of the veterinary nursing assistant strand will be able to provide assistance to veterinarians and veterinary nurses in a veterinary clinic and perform some tasks independently.
Entry requirements
For the Rural Animal Technician and Veterinary Nursing Assistant strands:
- Students should be able to demonstrate previous experience working with animals, and an aptitude for working with the public.
- Suitable experience includes: 3 or more days observing in a veterinary clinic for the VNA and technician strands or equivalent.
- An aptitude for working with the public may include reference from an employer where the prospective student has worked with the public (e.g. retail), reference from a teacher attesting to social skills.
For those people entering this qualification the following entry requirements apply:
- have completed 60 NCEA credits at level 2
- have a minimum of 12 NCEA credits in English at Level 2 and 12 credits in Maths at level 1; and 12 credits of relevant science at level 1
or
- the equivalent tertiary study
or
- meet the education provider's requirements for the equivalent numeracy and literacy standards.
This qualification, with the veterinary nursing assistant qualifier leads to the New Zealand Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Level 6) [Ref: 2491].
About the provider
Based in Hamilton, the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), is one of the country’s largest institutes of technology. We deliver high-quality education across vocational (technical) and professional fields of study to approximately 13,000 students, across over 130 different courses.
At Wintec students are educated in a way that builds their confidence and gets them work-ready. We differ from other types of tertiary providers in the way students get the chance to put their theoretical learning into practice from the very start. You will get to work on real-life projects based on relevant topics and themes as if you were in the workplace. You will also get involved in work placements. This means that by the time you graduate, you will be confident in your skills and knowledge, and know-how to apply your learnings. Our academic staff have years of industry experience between them, which means they can guide you on your journey.
Wintec maintains collaborative relationships with local industry and iwi to identify the needs of the region and community. Fostering strong networks that our students and graduates benefit from is a high priority for us. Understanding the needs of local industry, what type of graduates they need now, and what they will need in the future is critical to assisting industry and our graduates.