I recently attended Robertson College, Calgary campus, in the online Veterinary Office Assistant Program. The online program does not meet the needs of employers in the veterinary field. The following is a listing of the program, its content, and its deficiences.
1) You will not be able to login into your account and begin your studies immediately. May take up to three weeks before you can begin. 2) You may not receive all of your textbooks at once. May have to wait for some of them. The textbooks may be new or may have been used 3) There is limited support. If you have a problem will have to solve it yourself. 4) The program is suppose to focus primarily on the skills that receptionists routinely perform. Instead their program focuses primarily on advanced medication information (theory) and no applied application of this information. (Only a licensed Animal Health Technologist is legally allowed to perform these tasks.) 5) They do not teach you how to use office equipment. 6) They do not teach you business telephones (You will have learn these things on your practicum site. That is, of course, if the receptionists want to help you. If they don't, then your out of luck!) 7) The online computer component part of the program consists of simple tutorials and then a test on each tutorial. There are no applied assignments. This is not the best way to learn Microsoft 8) The Animal Restraint program is inadequate. The course consists of reading and looking at pictures in a textbook and their printed modules. They do not use, nor do they provide live animals to practice animal restraint positions. Again you will have to learn this during your practicum. You will go to your practicum not knowing how to properly restrain animals. 9) They lost one of my exams. I had to review the course material and rewrite the exam. If they lose one of your exams they will not give you the option of either rewriting the exam or automatically giving you a passing mark of 70%. 10) They use a software called Cornerstone.They only teach you a few simple tasks. For example: how to make an appointment, bill, etc.Most vet clinics do not use Cornerstone. You will have to learn another software program during your practicum. (Again, you will have to rely on receptionists at the site to help you. If they want to, well good luck!) 11) Each patients electronic file is a legal document. You have to enter information about each client, the content of each conversation you have with them. This medical info must be typed into their file. This program does not you how to write these notes, and what to include. You have to learn that for yourself. 12) Tuition for program is very high. You can enroll in similar programs at other colleges for the fraction of the cost. 13) Most veterinary clinics do not pay their staff well. Starting salaries are from minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. Most jobs are only part time. 14) Industry is not people friendly. It consists primarily of "animal lovers and people haters". Most vets I encountered act like dictators towards their employees. They are the boss. They don't have an open door policy regarding problems. They have a way of solving staff problems and it goes like this: should you have a problem, they are not interested in hearing your side of the situation. Instead they will remove you from your receptionist position and you will assigned other tasks such as cleaning a cupboard, frig, cleaning the floor, watering the plants. When they think you have learned your lesson you can back to the reception desk.This type of disciple is the norm in this industry 15) Their website states that the practicum is used so you can practice the skills that you learned in their program. That statement is incorrect.Much of what you do during your time at the practicum site is either not taught properly or not taught at all. Summary Of My Practicum Experience: Vet wanted me to learn the Software program.The receptionist assigned to help me did the exact opposite. She ordered me to answer the phones and left the front desk. Phone range and I answered it. A client wanted to make an appointment. As I was making the appointment for her the receptionist runs back to the front desk and yells at me. The vet blamed me for her behavior. The receptionist just laughed. l found myself treated like crap at the clinic and left. Contacted college about this. Robertson College assigned me a failing mark in this program because I had removed myself from the practicum site to eliminate this abusive behavior. I later found out this vet had called my present employer and harassed them. If you think you still want to work in this business, do your homework. Not all schools are created equal. The best programs are at Olds College in Olds Alberta. Most vets in Alberta only want to hire graduates from this school. Do not complete your practicum at the following clinics: Western Vet Specialist Emergency Center, Rocky Ridge Pet Hospital. read more