Vet Tech Talk

By: Appalachian State University
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  • Summary

  • Vet Tech Talk introduces you to the professionals that run the four-year, Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Technology degree program at App State as well as those making a difference in the field of Veterinary Technology the world over. Each episode of Vet Tech Talk also explores the powerful bond between animals and their humans.
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Episodes
  • EP06 Meet the Team - Leigha Wright

    EP06 Meet the Team - Leigha Wright
    Mar 29 2023
    On this episode of Vet Tech Talk we welcome Leigha Wright. Leigha is the Clinical Coordinator at App State’s Veterinary Technology Program. She is an award-winning veterinary technician and teacher, as well as being an avid supporter of her students dedicated to creating a productive environment for their learning. She and her two Airedale terriers live on a Texas. Transcript Dave Blanks: Hello there. Welcome to Vet Tech Talk! I'm Dave Blanks, and I work here at App State in University Communications. On this episode, we're joined by Leigha Wright. Leigha started her veterinary technology career in the Appalachian mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Her career has taken her across multiple states while working in diagnostic laboratories, veterinary schools, and veterinary technology schools. She is a credentialed technician in Texas and was awarded the Licensed Veterinary Technician of the Year Award from the Texas Veterinary Medical Association in 2021. Leigha worked as the Clinical Coordinator for a veterinary technology program in Texas for 3 years prior to joining Appalachian State. Wright earned a Teaching Excellence Award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development in 2020. She works with the Texas Airedale Rescue Team and has two Airedale Terrier mixes of her own, along with two cats that she rescued while in veterinary technology school. Here’s my conversation with Leigha Wright. Dave Blanks: Leigha? Leigha Wright: Yes. Dave Blanks: Do you want to do a podcast with me? Leigha Wright: Yes, please. Dave Blanks: Let's do this thing. Leigha Wright, you are the clinical coordinator for the Veterinary Technology Program. And where do you live? Leigha Wright: I live in Texas right now. Dave Blanks: All right. Leigha Wright: But I'm from Eastern Kentucky. Dave Blanks: Okay. Leigha Wright: We can't be mistaken for a Texan. Dave Blanks: Well, it's a different accent, right? Leigha Wright: It is. It is. Dave Blanks: But Texans have an accent as well. Leigha Wright: They do. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Leigha Wright: They get a little confused with mine because they're like, you ain't from around here. Dave Blanks: Oh, really? Leigha Wright: But you kind of sound like you might be. So what's going on? Dave Blanks: All right. So you're the clinical coordinator, so that means you're in charge of what? What is your gig here at Appalachian? Leigha Wright: My job as clinical coordinator is I will match all of our vet tech students with the clinical site where there is a credential technician or a DVM. So a veterinarian, that will help them to obtain those hands-on psychomotor skills. Dave Blanks: Psychomotor. Leigha Wright: Yeah. Fancy, right? Dave Blanks: That sounds cool. Leigha Wright: So they get those skills. They learn how to do them at a clinical facility during their clinical externship, and that way these students, yes, it is an online program. So they get those, they get the didactic knowledge. They get it in class. It's online. We're still a community. We're still a team. But then I also help to provide them with teams in the field. So they get to make those connections, make those interactions. And my happy place is matching students to these clinical sites. Dave Blanks: Nice. Leigha Wright: So we match their personalities and everything. Dave Blanks: I gotcha. Wow. Okay. Cool. Well, that sounds very comprehensive. Can you tell me how you came into veterinary technology, veterinary medicine? What was your journey that led you to that? Leigha Wright: Yes. Dave Blanks: Did you always love animals? Leigha Wright: Oh, yes. Dave Blanks: Yes. Leigha Wright: I missed my last day of eighth grade to help my dog give birth. Dave Blanks: Aw. Leigha Wright: So it's always been in my mind. I grew up not knowing what a veterinary technician was. I grew up in eastern Kentucky. I'm from Pike County, Kentucky, deep in the mountains, and I did not know what a vet tech was. I know what a veterinarian- Dave Blanks: Welcome back to the mountain mountains, by the way. Leigha Wright: Yeah. Oh. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Leigha Wright: I'm so happy to be back in these mountains. Dave Blanks: I bet. Yeah. Leigha Wright: Just wake up and smell that air. I'm like, Hmm. Look at that fog. Dave Blanks: Doesn't it smell different? Leigha Wright: It is. Dave Blanks: Golly. Leigha Wright: It does. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Okay. All right. So you grew up there. Leigha Wright: Yes. And so I went to college thinking, all right, I'm going to be a veterinarian. Dave Blanks: Oh, okay. Leigha Wright: Because I wanted to play with animals. Dave Blanks: Right. Yeah, sure. Leigha Wright: But that didn't really fit right. It didn't fit with my soul of exactly what I wanted. I wanted more of the hands on. I don't have to take O Chem. My gosh. Please don't make me do it. Dave Blanks: What is that? Leigha Wright: Organic chemistry. Dave Blanks: Organic chemistry. Oh, I should know what that is. Being a part of higher education. Leigha ...
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    17 mins
  • EP05 Meet the Team - Rebecca Newman

    EP05 Meet the Team - Rebecca Newman
    Mar 7 2023
    On this episode of Vet Tech Talk we welcome Rebecca Newman. Rebecca is the Wellbeing Coordinator at App State’s Veterinary Technology Program. She is a frequent volunteer in the veterinary community, with a focus on wellbeing and advocacy. She and her husband live on a farm in rural Colorado with their 17 well-loved animals. Transcript Dave: Hello there. Welcome to Vet Tech Talk! I'm Dave Blanks, and I work here at App State in University Communications. On this episode, we're joined by Rebecca Newman. Rebecca is new to App State and has taken on the role of Well Being Coordinator for the Veterinary Technology Program. Her passion for wellbeing began when she was a college student working with adolescents with substance use disorders. While pursuing graduate work in clinical psychology, Newman worked as a therapist, primarily focused on anxiety and depressive disorders as well as eating disorders. Always an enthusiastic animal lover, Newman became a credentialed veterinary technician in 2016 and combined her passions for wellbeing, education, and veterinary medicine in her role as Student Services Coordinator and then Student Affairs Director at Bel-Rea Institute. Newman served on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Association of Certified Veterinary Technicians from 2018-2022. Rebecca and her husband live in Colorado on a ranch with so many animals. We’ll get into that in just a bit. Here’s my conversation with Rebecca Newman. Welcome to the podcast, Rebecca. Rebecca Newman: Thank you so much, Dave. Dave: Yeah, I'm glad you're here. So are you ready to get, can we get started? Is that cool with you? Rebecca Newman: I would love to. Dave: Let's jump in. So Rebecca Newman, your official title is the wellbeing coordinator for the Veterinary Technology program here at App State. Rebecca Newman: That is correct. Dave: All right. So have you been a wellbeing coordinator for a veterinary technology program before? Rebecca Newman: I have not. Dave: Oh, new experience. All right. Rebecca Newman: New experience. Dave: Excellent. So what does that entail, being a wellbeing coordinator? We'll get into a little bit about your background, but just brief overview, what's your gig here at Appalachian? Rebecca Newman: So it is a new role in veterinary technology programs, Dave: Okay. Rebecca Newman: And I believe App State has the very first wellbeing coordinator in the United States for a veterinary technology program. And this is huge because wellbeing is an area that has been kind of a side note in vet med, and we are bringing it to the forefront. App State is leading the way. Dave: Awesome. How, Rebecca, did you come into this position? Where'd you start? Was it in the world of veterinary medicine somehow, Rebecca Newman: Sure. Dave: Or? Rebecca Newman: Well, actually, my first career was in clinical psychology. I worked with college students at Rutgers University. Dave: Okay. Rebecca Newman: And I wanted to become a psychologist. My path changed over time and I actually went back to school to become a veterinary technician. So I am a, Dave: Really? Rebecca Newman: A certified veterinary technician. Dave: How uniquely qualified are you for this? Rebecca Newman: I have to say, Dave, these are three of my greatest passions. One, veterinary medicine, two, wellbeing, and three, education and working with students. Dave: Awesome. Wow. Okay. Well that's super interesting to hear. So let's see, how did you find out about this particular position? Rebecca Newman: Well, so I live in Colorado. Dave: Oh, okay. All right. Cool. Rebecca Newman: Yeah, I was student affairs director at a program there, and I left the program to spend a year working on my farm. Dave: Cool. Rebecca Newman: And, Dave: What kind of farm? Rebecca Newman: Oh, we basically take in as many old animals as possible. They don't make us any money, and that just provides extreme happiness to my husband and myself. Dave: That's great. Is it like agritourism in a way? Do you have people come by or volunteer or? Rebecca Newman: You know what, that's down the road. Dave: Okay. All Right. Rebecca Newman: Dream big. Dave: Yeah. Right. Yeah. Rebecca Newman: For right now it is a, we have 18 animals. Dave: Awesome. Rebecca Newman: And goats. Dave: Okay. Rebecca Newman: One-eyed horse, chickens, two cats. Dave: Okay. Have you seen, okay, there's this lady on Instagram, I feel like it's called Useless Farm, is what her name is. Rebecca Newman: Ooh. I should talk to her. Dave: She's a hoot. She's really funny. She has this super aggressive ostrich who, I'm think his name, Karen, and I swear that's what it's called. I'm just going to Google it right now. But yes, she's really, really funny and I highly recommend her. Some of it may be not safe for work type stuff, but isn't that what it's called? Useless Farm. Rebecca Newman: I would say we make no money. Dave: Anyway. Well, that's cool that you're doing that. I love that. So you're actively doing that,...
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    21 mins
  • EP04 Meet the Team - Hannah Huff

    EP04 Meet the Team - Hannah Huff
    Nov 22 2022
    Hannah Huff joins us for this episode. If you are going to be a student in the Vet Tech program you will most assuredly be talking to Hannah or another Academic Advisor here at Appalachian State. Hannah shares the ways in which she supports her students as well as her advice for navigating this fully online program. Transcript: Dave Blanks: This is Vet Tech Talk, a podcast about Appalachian State University's online four-year Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Technology degree program. Hello there. I'm Dave Blanks, and I work here at App State in University Communications. On this episode, we're joined by Hannah Huff. Hannah has been affiliated with Appalachian State for the past seven years as a student, a graduate assistant, and now an academic advisor as well. She graduated in 2019 with her Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Human Services, and then returned to App in 2020 to pursue graduate school. She graduated in 2022 with her Master of Arts in Student Affairs Administration, and she has a background in academic advising from her graduate assistantship in the Advising and Orientation Center, as well as experience serving college students using theory-to-practice frameworks, which we get into in the conversation today. In this role currently, Hannah is very excited to expand her advising skill set to learn about the veterinary profession and to support students as they navigate this fully online program. Now here is my conversation with Hannah. Hey Hannah. How's it going? Hannah Huff: Hi, good. How are you? Dave Blanks: I'm great. Thank you for coming down today. We appreciate you being here. Let's start out with what's your job at Appalachian State? What do you do here? You're an academic advisor, but specifically for the Vet Tech program, correct? Hannah Huff: Right. So I am an academic advisor for the Vet Tech program, which is in the College of Arts and Sciences. So, my position is actually pretty unique in that I am split between the College of Arts and Sciences and what's called the Cash Office, and then the Vet Tech team. So, I have my own caseload of Vet tech students, but I also get to learn all of the roles that go into the College of Arts and Science advising and work with second degree students, work with readmission students and learn all the processes and procedures there as well, so I get a good, well-rounded set of skills with this. Dave Blanks: Gotcha. So with Tech, you're advising 70 students. That seems to me like a lot of people to be advising, but I understand it's kind of a small caseload for you. Hannah Huff: Yeah, it's generally pretty small. In my previous role as a graduate assistant, I had at one time about a hundred, maybe a little bit more than that, but 70 right now, and that'll probably increase over the coming semesters when we have more students join the program and more students actually officially declare their major. Dave Blanks: Gotcha. Hannah Huff: Right now I'm coasting at 70, but we'll get a little bit more over time. All right. Dave Blanks: Good plan. So I'm a student, or I want to be a student in the Vet Tech program. How would I encounter you? Hannah Huff: Yeah, so generally, I will be the one who reaches out to students in terms of making appointments. I do have students who reach out to me with general questions that they have, either about their classes or about things at App State and how things kind of work here at the school because- Dave Blanks: These are students already enrolled? Hannah Huff: Already enrolled. Yes. And there were students who were interested in the program who weren't yet enrolled, who were still contacting me, asking me questions. So, I would be able to point them in the right direction or give them whatever answer I could to help them. Obviously, we want them to join the program. We're very excited about it. And anything I can do to encourage them to apply or encourage them to enroll in their classes, I'm going to help them do. Dave Blanks: And I see they probably found you through the website, which is vet tech.appstate.edu. But there you are right there with your two doggos. Okay, so they would end up coming to you and did you say that every student is required actually? Hannah Huff: Yes. So every student will be required to meet with me for advising to get their PIN number for registration for the next semester. So, we will talk through classes for the next semester. I also have made planners for the student, so I've kind of mapped out a rough idea of their progression through the degree so that they have a rough idea of what classes to take in certain semesters and how long it will take them to graduate based on any transfer credit that they have, kind of what they're starting with and those sorts of things. Dave Blanks: Gotcha. So are you dealing with students who are having academic problems? Say there's a student who's really struggling with one class. Is that somebody that's going to come to you or that you...
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    13 mins

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