Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

This is the first term of a sequence of three consecutive courses which will be taught fall, winter, and spring terms of the second year. The purpose of this sequence of courses is to provide the students with the technical knowledge and skills in order to enable them to properly and safely anesthetize, monitor, recover, perform the necessary pre-op, operative, and post-op procedures, and other aspects of anesthesia, and surgical and medical nursing. The first course is devoted solely to anesthesia.    

This is designed for second year veterinary technology students and is a graduation requirement for the Associates Degree in Applied Sciences in Veterinary Technology. Credits in this course are not transferable to a four-year school towards a baccalaureate degree.    

The text required for this course is Small Animal Anesthesia by McKelvey and Hollinghead

Upon successful completion of the course, the short term outcome will be that the student will have satisfactorily accomplished the goals and objectives of this course content guide and confirmed as provided in the assessment above. The desired long-term outcome is for the student to gain sufficient knowledge of veterinary anesthesiology to successfully pass the National Veterinary Technician Board Examination, and be able to effectively utilize the knowledge gained in this course and apply it in their Cooperative Education Experience and as a practicing veterinary technician upon graduation. The course content guides are developed by college-wide subject area faculty and approved by the administration.    

Laboratory tasks with an asterisk indicate tasks the student must be able to perform since they are listed as “essential tasks,” and tasks with two (**) asterisks indicate tasks considered to be “recommended tasks” by the Accreditation Policies and Procedures of the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Tasks with no asterisks are considered neither “essential” nor “recommended,” but are taught based on instructor, SACC, and/or advisory committee recommendations. This course content and outcome guide specifies which tasks students are required to perform (as indicated in the task description) and the tasks on which they have been educated and have observed but individual performance is not required

1.0        PREANESTHETIC CONSIDERATIONS

INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS:    
The goal is for the student to develop an understanding of the various terms, considerations, and drugs related to preanesthetic preparation.    

2.0        GENERAL ANESTHESIA MONITORING

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL:    
The goal is for the student to develop knowledge of the normal and abnormal patient vital signs during general anesthesia.    

3.0        INJECTABLE ANESTHETIC DRUGS

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL:    
he goal is for the student to develop an understanding of the pharmacology of the various types of injectable anesthetics.    

4.0        INHALATION ANESTHETIC MACHINES AND SYSTEMS

INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS:    
The goal is for the student to develop and understanding of the principles and practice of inhalation anesthesia.  

5.0        INHALATION ANESTHESIA

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL:    
The goal is for the student to develop a comprehensive knowledge of inhalation anesthesia and be able to administer these anesthetics using various types of machines effectively and safely.  

6.0        LABORATORY COMPETENCIES

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL:  
Through these laboratories, the student will be able to develop necessary skills and put the training taught in lecture into practical application.

This course is designed to be a lecture-lab course. It is a three-credit-hour course that meets for six-lecture-laboratory hours per week. Two hours per week will be devoted to lecture and four hours per week to laboratory. The lab is split into 2 sections with half of the class attending each section. This is to reduce the number of students per animal, and thus reduces the number of procedures being performed on each animal, such as endotracheal intubations. It also enables there to be a student to instructor ratio of approximately 7:1.   Topics covered will be preanesthetic considerations and drugs, anesthesia monitoring, pharmacology of anesthetic agents, gas anesthetic machines, gas scavenging systems, and safety concerns using gas anesthetics. The lab will cover practical application of the above, plus the placement of intravenous catheters, tranquilization, sedation, and anesthesia on animal patients.

Grades will be based on the student’s understanding of the course content as demonstrated by periodic examinations, homework assignments, a comprehensive final exam, and by attendance. To receive a passing grade, the student must have attended a minimum of 80 percent of each of the lecture and lab classes.

Upon successful completion of the course, the short term outcome will be that the student will have satisfactorily accomplished the goals and objectives of this course content guide and confirmed as provided in the assessment above. The desired long-term outcome is for the student to gain sufficient knowledge of veterinary anesthesiology to successfully pass the National Veterinary Technician Board Examination, and be able to effectively utilize the knowledge gained in this course and apply it in their Cooperative Education Experience and as a practicing veterinary technician upon graduation. The course content guides are developed by college-wide subject area faculty and approved by the administration.    

Laboratory tasks with an asterisk indicate tasks the student must be able to perform since they are listed as “essential tasks,” and tasks with two (**) asterisks indicate tasks considered to be “recommended tasks” by the Accreditation Policies and Procedures of the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Tasks with no asterisks are considered neither “essential” nor “recommended,” but are taught based on instructor, SACC, and/or advisory committee recommendations. This course content and outcome guide specifies which tasks students are required to perform (as indicated in the task description) and the tasks on which they have been educated and have observed but individual performance is not required

1.0        PREANESTHETIC CONSIDERATIONS

INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS:    
The goal is for the student to develop an understanding of the various terms, considerations, and drugs related to preanesthetic preparation.    

2.0        GENERAL ANESTHESIA MONITORING

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL:    
The goal is for the student to develop knowledge of the normal and abnormal patient vital signs during general anesthesia.    

3.0        INJECTABLE ANESTHETIC DRUGS

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL:    
he goal is for the student to develop an understanding of the pharmacology of the various types of injectable anesthetics.    

4.0        INHALATION ANESTHETIC MACHINES AND SYSTEMS

INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS:    
The goal is for the student to develop and understanding of the principles and practice of inhalation anesthesia.  

5.0        INHALATION ANESTHESIA

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL:    
The goal is for the student to develop a comprehensive knowledge of inhalation anesthesia and be able to administer these anesthetics using various types of machines effectively and safely.  

6.0        LABORATORY COMPETENCIES

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL:  
Through these laboratories, the student will be able to develop necessary skills and put the training taught in lecture into practical application.