Things are looking up for Palo Alto's Veterinary Technology program, one of three recipients in Bexar County for a $299,992 federal grant.

The federal grant has been awarded to Palo Alto's Veterinary Technology program, Southwest Independent School District, and Texas A&M University.

Palo Alto's two-year Veterinary Technology program is the only one of its kind in the region. Courses in the first year include anatomy and small animal medicine. The second year deals with clinical pathology, radiology, and other courses to train students to work in a research setting.

The program offers Vet Tech majors preparation for their state board exams to become Registered Veterinary Technicians. All of Palo Alto's Vet Tech courses are taught at Brooks Air Force Base.

The federal grant was awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to improve the number of Hispanic students enrolled in science courses and to encourage them to stick with it. Each recipient will receive a third of the grant money, which will be distributed over a three-year period.

“The grant is mainly for getting high school students interested in veterinary technology and human medicine,” said Dr. John Golden, the Director of Palo Alto's Veterinary Technology program. “The medical field would be the main thing. We're trying to expose them to routes, particularly in veterinary medicine and in any medicine.”

Soon, Southwest School District students will be able to interact and participate in classes and workshops with personnel in Palo Alto's Vet Tech program. Vet Tech personnel met with the counselors from Southwest High School and mapped out what they are going to do. “We are setting up some tours over here [Brooks Air Force Base] and some tours at A&M,” said Golden.

The Vet Tech program has graduated three classes and is expanding. “It started with only about seven students,” said Golden.

There are currently 22 second-year students and 35 first-year students enrolled this semester. According to Laurie Pawelek, who teaches in the Vet Tech program, there have been three graduated classes. Of those 29 students, all but one remain in the field. Most of those students are scattered throughout San Antonio in small animal clinics.

Rudy Castillo, one of the current first-year students, said that he wanted to get into Veterinary Technology when he got out of high school. “That's what I was looking for in a college. I like animals and nothing else was interesting to me,” Castillo said.

The program has a set curriculum, meaning that there will not be any be any course changes and that the program totals to 72 credit hours. Nearly four years ago, classes were held at Palo Alto's main campus at 1400 West Villaret, but there was not enough lab space or enough room to cage all the animals. Classes were moved to Brooks Air Force Base three years ago.

“Dr. Don Wideman, head of the Agriculture-Agribusiness Institute thought it would be a good place. So he started talking to the Air Force four years ago and we've been here [Brooks Air Force Base] three years now,” Golden said.

The Vet Tech program was the first city-base lease for Brooks Air Force Base. According to Golden, if Brooks does close down, the plan is to make it a research center. With the Vet Tech program already on the base, it should fit in well. The Vet Tech program is being held in a facility with cages for animals, a new computer lab (purchased partially with the grant money) and more equipment for the students.

Classes are taught in a one-story building near an open field with two columns of cages on each side. It resembles a small clinic, but is just the right size for 50 or so students.

The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine began Distance Learning with Palo Alto's Vet Tech program in late February 2000, thanks to the federal grant. The faculty members from the College of Veterinary Medicine offer instruction on clinical pathology, as well as parasitology, according to Dr. John August, one of the coordinators of the project and a veterinary professor.

The Vet Tech program is expanding and is available to all Palo Alto students. With the federal grant that's been awarded, there will be changes and more equipment added to the two-year program throughout the next three years, providing more opportunities for those who would like to get into the fields of math, science and medicine. For those who would like to find out more information on the Vet Tech program, contact Dr. Golden at (210) 530-8705 or e-mail him at jgolden@accd.edu