A new part time hybrid offering is available starting Fall 2024. To review the admissions and program requirements, see the September 2024 Program Guideline.
Fall 2024: Full time In-person: Applications Closed
Fall 2024: Part time Hybrid: Applications Closed
Become a valuable member of the veterinary medical team with the Diploma in Veterinary Technology. You'll get both theoretical and practical training in medical and surgical nursing, anesthesia, anatomy and physiology, radiography, dentistry, laboratory procedures, nutrition, pharmacology, workplace communications and more.
You'll get hands-on experience working with small and large animals on campus or at off-site facilities including veterinary clinics, stables, farms and animal care centres.
Flexible ways to study
The Veterinary Technology program now offers two ways to learn. Choose from either the full-time in-person cohort or the part-time hybrid cohort. In the full-time in-person cohort, you’ll graduate in just two years. In the three-year hybrid cohort, almost all courses will be online during the Fall and Winter semesters. During the Summer semesters, you'll be on campus for two to three weeks each year for in-person condensed lab courses where you'll be taught the practical skills required to become a veterinary technologist.
Get certified
Upon graduation, you’ll be eligible to write the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE). Once you have passed the exam, you can register in Canada and in many parts of the United States as a Registered Veterinary Technologist.
All graduates of the Douglas VTEC program will be eligible for the Kristianson Veterinary Technology National Exam Bursary to cover the cost of the exam.
Get paid, full-time work experience during your studies
Earn money and get relevant work experience before you graduate with the optional Co-operative Education Program.
International students are not currently eligible for this program. For more international information, contact Douglas College International.
Applicants must meet the admission requirements listed below:
After official transcripts have been reviewed by Enrolment Services determining that you have met the program academic prerequisites, the following additional program documents are required:
All of the above documentation must be received by the program application deadline date. It is then reviewed and ranked. Applicants may be invited for an interview.
Calculate your tuition and see the approximate cost of taking your program at Douglas College with the tuition & fee estimator. See costs broken down into categories including tuition fees, textbooks, student activity fees, U-Pass and more.
For more information, refer to the tuition fee charts.
Graduation Requirements
Course Requirements:
| Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
| Semester 1 |
||
| VTEC 1101 | Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology 1 | 3.00 |
| VTEC 1102 | Veterinary Laboratory Procedures 1 | 3.00 |
| VTEC 1103 | Veterinary Nursing 1 | 3.00 |
| VTEC 1112 | Veterinary Administrative Procedures | 3.00 |
| CMNS 1111 | Workplace Communications for Veterinary Technology | 3.00 |
| MATH 1183 | Mathematics for Veterinary Technology | 2.00 |
| Semester II | ||
| VTEC 1201 | Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology 2 | 3.00 |
| VTEC 1202 | Veterinary Laboratory Procedures 2 | 4.00 |
| VTEC 1203 | Veterinary Nursing 2 | 3.00 |
| VTEC 1204 | Veterinary Pharmacology | 3.00 |
| VTEC 1205 | Veterinary Diseases | 3.00 |
| Semester III |
||
| VTEC 2112 | Veterinary Elective Procedures | 3.00 |
| VTEC 2107 | Large Animal Clinics | 3.00 |
| VTEC 2108 | Veterinary Anesthesia | 3.00 |
| VTEC 2109 | Veterinary Radiography | 3.00 |
| VTEC 2110 | Animal Behavior and Welfare (offered either semester III or IV) | 2.00 |
| Semester IV | ||
| VTEC 2311 | Veterinary Nutrition (offered either semester III or IV) | 2.00 |
| VTEC 2313 | Veterinary Nursing 3 | 3.00 |
| VTEC 2304 | Veterinary Surgical Assistance | 4.00 |
| VTEC 2315 | Veterinary Genetics and Reproduction (offered either semester III or IV) | 2.00 |
| VTEC 2307 | Lab Animal and Exotics | 3.00 |
| VTEC 2309 | Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging | 2.00 |
| VTEC 2312 | VTEC Practicum 3 | 2.00 |
| Total Credits | 65.00 | |
Program Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this program and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the program, consider the previous version as the applicable version.
The Veterinary Technology Diploma program (VTEC) is now available in two formats: You can choose to study either full-time (in-person) or part-time (hybrid).
Graduate in two years with the full-time, in-person cohort (four semesters and a practicum).
In the three-year, (nine semester) part-time hybrid cohort, almost all courses will be online during the Fall and Winter semesters (September to April). Each year, mostly during the summer semesters, you'll be on campus for two to three weeks for in-person condensed lab courses where you'll be taught the practical skills required to become a veterinary technologist. You are required to work in a small animal or mixed Veterinary Hospital for at least four of the nine semesters.
No. You must decide when you apply which cohort you are applying for: the in-person, on campus, two-year option, or the hybrid part-time, three-year option.
There is a strict maximum of 30 student in each cohort. The differences in teaching methods means that many of the courses in the part time option are structured and sequenced differently than the full time, on-campus option and therefore even if there were space, it will be difficult to match up courses to switch between the part time and full-time cohort (or vice versa).
You are very unlikely to get a seat in the on-campus program after the January deadline because our full-time cohort is always fully subscribed. However, seats may be available in the new (starting 2024) part-time hybrid option. If you submit an application after the January deadline, please indicate if you only wish to be waitlisted for the full-time option or if you would like to be considered for the part-time hybrid cohort.
Yes, you do. The prerequisite courses are in place to ensure you can be successful in the program and successfully write the Veterinary Technologist National Board Exam (VTNE). There is a lot of theory that requires some basic background in the sciences, including math to calculate dosages, etc.
All applicants must spend 80 hours working in a veterinary hospital or clinic, observing or working with a Registered Veterinary Technologist (RVT) and/or Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) so that the Task Observation Form (TOF) can be completed. Hours and TOF must be signed off by a veterinarian, RVT, or hospital manager.
Please log all animal related work experience (e.g. volunteer work in rescues, shelters or with wildlife, work experience at a dog daycare, boarding facility or pet store, farm work, horse riding, etc.). The more work experience hours and the wider the variety of work experiences you have, the stronger your application to the VTEC program will be.
Typically, we use a preferential admissions process, which means we don’t take the first 30 students that apply. The applicants that register and submit their completed applications before the application deadline are reviewed and “scored” from all the components of the application. Seats are offered to the top 30 candidates based on those scores.
Please note that for the first year of the part-time hybrid option (2024) fully qualified applicants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Criteria reviewed for scoring are:
Required high school courses and grades
Additional post-secondary courses, certifications or degrees (please submit transcripts for ALL post-secondary academic qualifications, completed undergraduate courses, etc.)
Short answer questionnaire
Reference letters
Veterinary hospital work experience hours (80 hours required)
Other animal work experience or volunteer hours (optional, but the more the better)
Yes, there is a waitlist for applicants that do not receive the first seat offers. If a spot becomes available, the waitlist contacts are contacted.
If you are waitlisted for the on campus full-time VTEC diploma option, you may get offered a spot for the part-time hybrid VTEC diploma option (if there is space available). If you are waitlisted for the part-time hybrid VTEC program option and do not get offered a seat, please let admissions know if you wish to be considered for the following year’s student intake.
You can apply for the following year using the same documents, but you must let the Registrar’s Office know that you intend to do this.
If you do not get offered a seat in either the part-time or full-time VTEC cohort, and wish to reapply the following year, we strongly recommend you take the time to obtain additional work experience by applying for a job as a veterinary assistant in a veterinary hospital. Or consider taking a Veterinary Office Assistant certificate program (typically six months). These are offered at many BC Colleges, including Douglas College. If you improve your application in this way, you will need to re-submit new documents to the Registrar’s Office.
Upon successful completion of the Veterinary Technology Diploma, graduates are eligible to write the Veterinary Technologist National Exam (VTNE). Once this exam is successfully written, you can apply to your provincial veterinary technologist association. Once accepted, you will be a Registered Veterinary Technologist (RVT). Most Douglas VTEC students will be eligible for funding to cover the cost of writing the VTNE.
Yes, you will be on campus for three weeks in each of the three years of the program (David Lam Campus, Coquitlam, B.C.). The first week on campus will be in February of the first year, all remaining weeks will be in the Summer semester (May to July). These are mandatory condensed lab courses where you will learn and practice your practical essential skills required for graduation.
Yes. There are four Clinical Placement courses for which you will be required to work in a veterinary hospital/ clinic, in the fall and winter semesters of the second and third year. Each student is required to complete a minimum of 120 hours work for each of these four courses – we recommend two to three days per week of work.
It is not a requirement to work in a veterinary clinic during the first year of the program, however, it may help with your studies, and will allow you to establish the productive mentor-mentee relationships that you will need for your second- and third-year clinical placement courses.
You will need to reach out to your VTEC program co-ordinator and each situation will be assessed individually. We will work with you and your clinic to help support you, however, the program requirements must still be fulfilled to proceed in the program.
No. It is the student's responsibility to arrange a clinic placement, however if you cannot find a suitable placement we can put you in contact with local veterinary industry managers looking to hire VTEC students. It is important that the student discuss and confirm the clinical placement mentorship requirements with the clinic that they are interested in working with. It will be beneficial to work at the hospital/clinic before it is required in the second year to ensure it is a good fit for both the student and the clinic.
The clinic must be a CVBC/CVMA approved full-service small animal (or mixed animal) veterinary hospital or clinic and must agree to host the student for a minimum of 120 hours per semester (starting in the Fall semester of second year).
The host veterinary hospital or clinic must have a DVM or RVT (with a minimum two-years clinical experience) available and willing to supervise and mentor the student. These mentors will be the student’s clinical supervisors and will work with the students to help them completing their learning outcomes, assignments and video evaluations on live animals. Students can have more than one clinical supervisor.
If you're working in a clinic in your first year, clinic participation in your education is not required (although support is appreciated).
You must have a DVM or RVT (with a minimum two-years clinical experience) supervising and mentoring you during your Clinical Placement courses in years two and three. You can have more than one clinical supervisor; however, all supervisors must be listed on the Clinic Affiliation Agreement.
The clinical supervisors are not required to teach or deliver any lessons. You'll receive a course outline and you are responsible for reviewing it with your supervisor so that you are aware of the course topics that you are learning, equipment required and essential skills that you must complete to successfully complete your courses. You are responsible for discussing the essential skills assignments with the clinical supervisor, and the supervisor should assist you in finding suitable patients, ensuring you are is prepared for the skills assessment, watching you complete the skill, giving you feedback and signing any relevant paperwork that needs to be submitted to the College with the essential skill evaluation photos/videos.
You'll complete your exotic and large animal essential skills during the condensed three week on-campus labs in the final semester of the program in the summer of the third year of the program.
Tuition deposit
When offered a seat in this program a non-refundable, non-transferable $350 tuition deposit is required.
Application documents
To access and download the application documents, visit the VTEC faculty page.
For more information regarding the full time or part time VTEC study options, and/or for questions about the work experience admission requirement, please email the VTEC Program Coordinator: vtec@douglascollege.ca.
Career opportunities include: