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After reading this book, the reviewer was reminded of the number of people over the years who have asked her where they can find a good training program for their veterinary hospital support staff. As an instructor of veterinary assistant training, this text held special significance for the reviewer. This detailed and comprehensive book covers everything from appearance and professional language to how to restrain a patient, as well as covering most technical aspects of the job. Veterinary hospitals are constantly on the lookout for training checklists and programs which they can use for the training of their new technical staff. This book definitely fills that need. It is written in a step-by-step manner, divided into sections based on subject matter and tasks. When addressing a task, the author does a good job of explaining the concept of the task, then providing a step-by-step “how to” of each procedure. A veterinary assistant could easily follow the instructions in this book to learn the necessary tasks for the job. If the hospital does not have a training program, the new veterinary assistant would benefit from using this book independently. In hospitals with a training program, this book used as a training guide supplemented by an experienced mentor would definitely enhance the learning process. It could even be the starting point for a training program within the hospital since it discusses all the information a trainer would be prompted to cover. The book includes a helpful appendix with a glossary and a Competency Record which, when copied, could be used to track the effectiveness of training provided. The Competency Record also serves as an excellent method of record keeping for orientation of new employees through various areas of the hospital when trained by different people.
The illustrations that are included in the book are very informative, although I feel that more illustrations or photographs of the tasks described would be beneficial. The book is spiral bound into a notebook style which appears to have been an attempt to make it easily accessible as a quick reference; however, the cover isn’t well constructed, making turning of the pages back and forth a bit cumbersome and prone to wear and tear. This could be remedied with a separate front and back cover whose spine doesn’t run through the spiral binding. Despite these mechanics, this book is an excellent resource for new veterinary assistants. It is apparent the author’s goal was for this book to be used as a step-by-step guide to prepare technicians in the performance of new tasks on the job or in an educational setting, which is very appropriate to the content and style.
The author differentiates tasks that should be performed by credentialed veterinary technicians or veterinarians, while defining the veterinary assistant’s important supportive role in such tasks. References are provided for many tasks described should the reader desire more detailed background information. The bibliography includes Internet resources for further learning as well. This book could be helpful to any practice, as it is not specific to companion animals, exotics or large animals although there is some information provided on birds and rabbits. It has some information on large animals and includes a section on ropes and tying knots. It remains more of an overview of the tasks most veterinary assistants would encounter as opposed to singling out specific species and their needs.
Overall, I found the book to be a good resource for veterinary assistants and their training. The text would be useful for the veterinarian as well as his or her team when welcoming new team members to the practice. Every veterinary hospital should have this as part of its training library as it will be used again and again.
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (2009).
685 pgs, soft cover spiral bound.
ISBN: 978-0-8138-1302-8.
Editor's Note: See also the VIN Review of this book.