Jacksonville University's Online BSN program offers you the opportunity to complete your nursing education online, without ever stepping foot on a college campus.
Therapeutic Health Technician Degrees
If you love animals and are considering a career working with them, you may consider pursuing an animal health technician degree. Animal health technicians not only work in veterinarian offices, they also work in places such as zoos, spaying and neutering clinics, animal shelters, biological laboratories, and food inspection centers.
Your chances of finding a job in the animal care field are very good but competition can be fierce, especially for positions in zoos. Employment of animal health technicians is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupation through 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
All animal health technicians must first graduate from a veterinary technology program that is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). There were more than 80 such programs in 41 states in 2003, according to BLS statistics.
In general, community colleges offer two-year animal health technicians programs, but a few colleges also offer four-year bachelor's degrees in veterinary technology. The coursework in all these programs involves classroom lessons as well as clinical and laboratory practice with live animals.
After you graduate from an AVMA-accredited veterinary technology program, you are eligible to take an exam and receive your animal health technician credentials in any state you choose.
If you wish to work in a research facility, it is usually recommended to seek certification from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. You can reach three levels of certification: Animal Laboratory Assistant Technician, Laboratory Animal Technician and Laboratory Animal Technologist.
