At North Peninsula Veterinary Emergency Clinic (NPVEC) we are excited to re-ignite our relationship with the Foothill College Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) program. NPVEC currently boasts three Foothill College RVT program graduates who have been working with us for the past 15 to 25 years, and we hope to expand our RVT team with even more trainees through our internship program. Our RVTs lead our veterinary technician team, offer exceptional care to our emergency patients, and support the entire veterinary team in many ways. The NPVEC RVT graduates are at the helm of training the future RVTs from Foothill College.
Our current Foothill College RVT intern trainee, Adrienne Yang, came to us with an already excellent knowledge base. She spends a couple of days a week at NPVEC gaining hands-on emergency veterinary technician knowledge and experience and working towards proficiency in her required skills for her degree program. Under the tutelage and guidance of our senior technicians, Crystal and Amie, Adrienne is improving her technical skills and learning to manage emergency cases in real-time. We checked in with Adrienne recently to hear how her NPVEC veterinary technician internship is going so far.
When did you begin your internship at NPVEC and what were your first impressions?
Adrienne Yang: I started interning at North Peninsula Emergency Veterinary Clinic (NPVEC) in the summer of 2023. I was a little nervous to work in an emergency hospital because I have only had experience in general practice. Their Foothill Veterinary Technician Program graduates enjoy working here and together with Dr. Sophia have been very warm and welcoming!
What skills have you been learning at NPVEC?
Crystal and Amie (head technician team) are wonderful at showing me the workflow of an emergency hospital and teaching me different skills and techniques as they arise during my work here. Amie has taken the time to show me that medical math is not so scary, and Crystal taught me how to run blood tests and give medications to patients, and continues to train me and help me improve my technical skills.
Does your experience working at an emergency veterinary clinic align with what you expected when you first started?
This is definitely the toughest job I have had in veterinary medicine so far, but I have also become addicted to the intensity of an emergency hospital work environment. I have seen a wide variety of cases that I would not have been exposed to in general practice, and I believe this is going to perfectly round out my education and experience in the veterinary field.
In your opinion, what sets NPVEC apart from other emergency veterinary clinics in your area?
Everyone I have worked with at NPVEC is incredibly supportive and treats me with respect. The thing that has made the biggest impression on me is that during the intensity of the moment working on severe cases, everyone remains calm, yet moves quickly. More importantly, I have witnessed my coworkers here take great care and time with distressed pet owners. I like knowing that I work with compassionate people. I also enjoy that the team here has a sense of humor, which is needed when working in stressful situations. Overall, I am really enjoying my internship at NPVEC!
The Foothill College RVT trainees come to us with a checklist of skills that they must gain proficiency in to fulfill their intern training. These skills include but are not limited to: properly restraining animals for procedures, placing intravenous catheters, administering intravenous fluids and medications to patients, understanding the workflow of an emergency veterinary practice, triaging patients, assessing and accurately measuring patient vitals, learning sterile techniques, and accurately entering information into electronic patient medical files. Adrienne has been progressing well on many of these skills.
We looking forward to creating more RVT internship opportunities for the Foothill Veterinary Technicians in training and are excited to continue training the next generation of veterinary professionals at NPVEC.