Western Iowa Tech Community College’s Veterinary Assistant program offers students practical learning experiences through a partnership with the Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue Center. Veterinary Assistant Instructor Heather Erickson started this collaboration to help students apply their classroom skills in a real-world, hands-on setting while supporting an organization with limited time and resources.
During each visit, students assist with essential animal care tasks, including vaccinating, deworming, microchipping, nail trimming, bathing, ear checks, and applying flea preventatives for dogs and cats at the shelter. Students typically work with around 20 animals during each visit. Depending on the adoption center’s needs, students may visit the shelter up to four times a semester, helping build technical skills and confidence.
Erickson says the experience is so valuable because it exposes students to animals they do not already know. In a classroom setting, animals can be familiar and predictable, but in a shelter environment, they exhibit a wide range of sizes, behaviors, and wiggle levels. “The students love it,” Erickson shared. “They’re excited to work with pets that are so friendly, even though they sometimes get a little sidetracked visiting them.”
