{"id":27598,"date":"2025-01-17T12:37:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T17:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/?p=27598"},"modified":"2025-12-02T08:35:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:35:58","slug":"partnership-to-make-purdue-veterinary-nursing-distance-learning-program-available-to-employees-at-more-than-1000-general-practice-veterinary-hospitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/partnership-to-make-purdue-veterinary-nursing-distance-learning-program-available-to-employees-at-more-than-1000-general-practice-veterinary-hospitals.php","title":{"rendered":"Partnership to make Purdue Veterinary Nursing Distance Learning program available to employees at more than 1,000 general practice veterinary hospitals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Already Purdue\u2019s largest online program, the College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Veterinary Nursing Distance Learning program is partnering with National Veterinary Associates General Practice<\/a> to offer the VNDL program to technicians at NVA\u2019s more than 1,000 general practice veterinary hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purdue\u2019s VNDL program makes a partner rate available that reduces the per-credit-hour cost and yields a considerable savings for a curriculum spanning 70 credit hours, said Josh Clark, the VNDL program\u2019s assistant director. The partner rate is available to any veterinary practice that has at least two staff members who enroll in the VNDL program and take a minimum of four credit hours every semester, with the practice covering at least a portion of the tuition cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VNDL program can allow veterinary practices both large and small to take a \u201cgrow-your-own\u201d approach and upskill existing veterinary assistants and other employees, Clark said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVeterinary technicians are crucial to our teams, only with their support can our doctors deliver the best possible care,\u201d said Dr. Sandra Faeh, chief veterinary officer, NVA General Practice. \u201cWe want our technicians to have long and fulfilling careers with us. That\u2019s why we continually strive to offer more career development options and assist with the cost of continuing education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As NVA seeks to deliver more growth opportunities for its people, Purdue\u2019s College of Veterinary Medicine<\/a> was a natural partner given its breadth of curriculum and flexible learning options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur partnership with Purdue ensures our technicians can expand their skills and knowledge,\u201d said Janine Miletic, president, NVA General Practice. \u201cWith Purdue\u2019s strong reputation and dedication to advancing the industry, their programming helps us further our mission to give every pet \u2014 and their families \u2014 the best life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VNDL program is among the oldest online programs offered by Purdue \u2014 and currently the one that has the largest enrollment, with a record 780 registered students for fall 2024. The program\u2019s goal is to grow 10% year over year. But over the last three semesters, it has seen growth of 40% in spring 2024 from spring 2023, 50% in summer 2024 from summer 2023 and 44% in fall 2024 from fall 2023, Clark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educated veterinary nursing professionals are in short supply. Demand for veterinary technicians<\/a> is projected to grow by 19% through 2033, faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of veterinary practices are struggling to attract credentialed veterinary technicians, or struggling to find them, partly because there are not enough out there,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VNDL program\u2019s growth has necessitated an increase in instructors, with two new instructors joining in August to help manage the growing student load. Plans are to add two more in the coming months, further reinforcing the program\u2019s capacity to accommodate rising demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, student retention rates were 76% from fall 2023 to fall 2024, also the highest ever, and the program’s pass rate for the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE) also remains high at 89.6%, well above the national average of 65%.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A
Several VNDL program graduates came from across the country to participate in Purdue’s Winter Commencement in December. (Photo by Ed Lausch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Despite its success, the program isn\u2019t standing still. It is close to concluding a significant overhaul of its 27 didactic courses, with the last two set to be completed in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next up is a refining of the program’s plan of study, consolidating redundant material, and identifying ways to reduce course load without compromising education quality. Approved by the faculty in December, the revised curriculum will reduce the total credit requirement from 70 to 64 credit hours and trim the minimum completion time from nine to eight consecutive semesters. This adjustment could allow students to complete their studies in closer to two and a half years, aligning more closely with the timeline of a typical associate\u2019s degree program and responding to student requests for a shorter pathway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Purdue\u2019s VNDL program recently underwent a successful accreditation visit from the American Veterinary Medical Association\u2019s Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (AVMA CVTEA). Occurring every six years, the accreditation process ensures that the program meets or exceeds educational standards. Clark said the committee members offered positive feedback during a September site visit and have approved continued full accreditation for the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about the Purdue Veterinary Nursing Distance Learning program, visit the program\u2019s website<\/a>. Veterinary practices interested in the VNDL program\u2019s partner rate can contact Purdue\u2019s Veterinary Nursing Office at vetnurse@purdue.edu<\/a> or 765-496-6579.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Already Purdue\u2019s largest online program, the College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Veterinary Nursing Distance Learning program is partnering with National Veterinary Associates General Practice to offer the VNDL program to technicians at NVA\u2019s more than 1,000 general practice veterinary hospitals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,29,42,3,644],"tags":[56,1221,25,802],"class_list":["post-27598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-our-people","category-students","category-vet-tech","category-veterinary-nursing","tag-homepage","tag-partnership","tag-top-story","tag-veterinary-nursing-distance-learning"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27598"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31774,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27598\/revisions\/31774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}