Are you interested in tools for teaching vet science? In a recent webinar, Jamey McIntosh, Realityworks Education Programs Manager, showcased our top tools for teaching veterinary science foundational skills. Read on to see how you can use hands-on learning aids to teach essential vet science skills for companion animals.
Canine Vet Trainer
The Canine Vet Trainer is a replica of a male dog that helps with teaching vet science skills such as blood draw, bladder and lymph node palpation, injections, and more. The trainer also helps students learn how to muzzle securely and practice correct restraint techniques for both standing and sitting positions.
Students can use this trainer to practice intramuscular and subcutaneous injections between the trainer’s shoulder blades. Additionally, they can get hands-on practice drawing blood from the jugular, cephalic, and lateral saphenous veins. The trainer comes with three bladders for palpation practice: full, empty, and bladder stones. Students can also practice proper catheterization placement and technique.
The trainer comes with a downloadable, three-lesson curriculum that covers basic canine anatomy, vet tech skills, canine bladder issues, bladder palpation, and urinary catheterization. The curriculum was written by Jamie Whittenburg, DVM, who has 16 years of clinical practice in animal medicine and surgery.
Feline Vet Trainer
Teaching vet science fundamentals is easy with the Feline Vet Trainer. This full-size trainer allows learners to practice CPR with both chest compressions and mouth-to-snout breathing. It comes with CPR bags to keep mouth-to-snout CPR practice safe and sanitary. Students can see the trainer’s chest rise and fall with each breath during mouth-to-snout CPR practice.
Students can use the trainer to perfect different holds and restraints when handling a cat. Additionally, this male cat trainer gives learners hands-on practice with catheterization and the stitch to keep it in place. This unique trainer also allows for realistic blood draw practice of the femoral, cephalic, and jugular veins. Students can practice pilot study, FeLV, Rabies, and FVRCP injections as well.
The trainer comes with a downloadable, two-lesson curriculum that covers cat care and handling, performing CPR on a cat, injection, venipuncture, and catheterization. It boasts up to three teaching hours and addresses learning objectives such as knowing the mental characteristics of cats in stressful situation, learning how to handle cats appropriately, and understanding why sedation may be needed.
Canine Auscultation Trainer
Teach your students canine auscultation with the Canine Auscultation Trainer. This trainer familiarizes students with the main healthy and unhealthy sounds of a dog and what those sounds mean. This unique trainer helps with teaching vet science by giving learners practice placing a stethoscope correctly when listening for heart, lung, and bowel sounds.
This trainer features 22 sounds to listen to and connect with the correct position on the dog. Using a real stethoscope and the RealityScope™ stethoscope attachment, learners can hear the different sounds and understand the various conditions that a dog may have. Here is a complete list of sounds students can hear with this trainer:
- Heart Sounds: Healthy, slow, and fast heartbeats; arrythmia; murmurs (systolic, diastolic, and continuous); patent ductus arteriosus; and atrial fibrillation
- Lung Sounds: Slow, normal, fast, faint, and heavy breathing; wheeze; crackles; stridor; and stertor
- Bowel Sounds: Healthy, hyperactive, and hypoactive
This trainer comes with a downloadable, two-lesson curriculum that covers proper use of a stethoscope and auscultation. The curriculum features up to four hours of teaching time, but you can easily select a specific lesson or activity to add to your current lesson plan. It includes presentation slides, student activities, and pre- and post-assessments.
Canine CPR Trainer
Canine CPR is a procedure that veterinary technicians must master. The Canine CPR Trainer can help future vet techs do just that. This large breed dog replica helps with teaching vet science by allowing learners to train on proper CPR technique. The trainer allows students to feel a pulse on the femoral artery and practice mouth-to-snout resuscitation. Worried about having 20 students practice mouth-to-snout CPR on the same trainer? The 50 disposable CPR bags keep hands-on practice sanitary by covering the trainer’s snout during practice.
This trainer comes with an Ambu bag and endotracheal tube to practice endotracheal intubation. You can even see the trainer’s chest rise and fall during CPR and intubation practice. In addition to mouth-to-snout CPR and intubation, students can practice chest compressions. This trainer and its included curriculum align to the following standards:
- AFNR-VS-8
- AFNR-AS-02 Basic First Aid and Administering CPR
- Basic First Aid – Canine Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) procedures – GA -7.0
- Vet Science Technologies – TN – Animal Nursing 7.2
The trainer’s curriculum features up to three hours of teaching content and helps teach CPR readiness, signs CPR is needed, CPR scenarios, and basic cardiovascular anatomy. It’s designed for middle and high school students in animal or veterinary science programs. After completing the lessons, students will know what CPR is, how to be prepared for canine CPR, and how to tell if a dog needs CPR.
Additional Resources
Want to see more resources for teaching vet science?
- Watch the full webinar on demand for more information on these teaching tools
- See how you can implement these tools into your classroom here
- Decorate your classroom with free posters and infographics on vet science careers, agriculture education, and more
