Iowa Vet Tech study plan

Calculate 15 doses end-to-end (mg/kg to mL) using stock concentrations, percentage solutions, and dilutions, showing the setup for each and reaching 100% accuracy before moving on.

Build a 30-agent drug card set covering class, mechanism, routes, key adverse effect, and reversal agent or antagonist for antibiotics, NSAIDs, opioids, anesthetics/sedatives, antiparasitics, and crash-cart drugs.

Distinguish controlled-substance handling requirements, including log entries, waste witnessing, and secure storage, and state the consequence of each documentation gap.

Identify the classic species-specific toxicities you must be able to recognize by presentation: permethrin in cats, ivermectin sensitivity in MDR1 dogs, acetaminophen in cats, and xylitol in dogs.

Explain first-pass effect, half-life, therapeutic index, and enteral versus parenteral routes, and predict how each factor changes dose or dosing interval in a written scenario.

Reconcile three written prescriptions and find the planted errors in dose, concentration, species, route, or label directions, then rewrite each correctly.

Compare pure mu-agonists, partial agonists, and agonist-antagonists, and state when naloxone or atipamezole reversal is indicated and what to monitor afterward.

Classify pain as acute versus chronic and somatic versus visceral versus neuropathic, then build a multimodal plan combining NSAID, opioid, local block, and an adjunct.

Apply a validated acute pain instrument to three written case vignettes, justify the numeric score using the descriptors, and set a reassessment interval.

Explain cyclooxygenase selectivity and the species-specific limits on NSAID use, including feline restrictions and cautions in renal or hepatic compromise.

Describe steam autoclave parameters, cold sterile technique, and ethylene oxide, and explain what biological and chemical indicators actually verify.

Sequence patient skin preparation, surgeon scrub, gowning, and gloving, and identify each break in sterile technique described in written scenarios.

Select an appropriate suture pattern (simple interrupted, cruciate, Ford interlocking, subcuticular, tension-relieving) and material for skin, bladder, intestine, and fascia, with a stated rationale each time.

Sketch suite flow from dirty to clean to sterile zones and place instrument, pack, and personnel movement correctly within it.

List postoperative monitoring parameters and the earliest signs of dehiscence, seroma, hemorrhage, and infection, with the action to take for each.

Compare premedication classes (anticholinergic, alpha-2 agonist, benzodiazepine, opioid) and state the case-based reason to choose or avoid each.

Contrast induction agents (propofol, alfaxalone, ketamine plus benzodiazepine) and maintenance options (inhalant with MAC considerations, TIVA, CRI) with species cautions.

Interpret a monitoring strip of HR, RR, SpO2, ETCO2, blood pressure, ECG, and temperature, and write the intervention for each abnormal value.

Assign ASA physical status and modify the protocol for a geriatric patient, a brachycephalic patient, and a trauma patient.

Walk through the anesthetic machine check, pressure leak test, scavenging setup, and recovery monitoring sequence in order.

Assign triage categories to 10 written vignettes using a primary survey approach and justify each category with the findings that drove it.

Calculate shock doses and resuscitation volumes of isotonic crystalloid, colloid, and hypertonic saline, plus maintenance rates for a 5 kg cat and a 30 kg dog.

Outline CPR using current small animal resuscitation guidelines: compression rate and depth, ventilation ratio with and without an airway, defibrillation, and arrest drug doses.

Describe recognition and initial management of gastric dilatation-volvulus, urethral obstruction, hemorrhagic shock, and heatstroke, including what to do in the first 10 minutes.

Stock and organize a crash cart, listing storage requirements, expiration checks, and the drugs that must be immediately accessible.

Choose tube type and additive, order of draw, and handling steps for blood, urine, and cytology samples, and name the handling errors that cause hemolysis or iatrogenic results.

Read PCV/TS, blood smear, urine specific gravity, and dipstick data, and flag every abnormal value with a plausible explanation.

Explain in-house analyzer quality control and calibration, and list how lipemia, hemolysis, icterus, and delayed processing distort results.

Demonstrate restraint and venipuncture site selection for dog, cat, and rabbit, and state the risk of each hold you use.

Build a nursing care plan for a hospitalized patient covering nutrition, husbandry, comfort, and monitoring frequency, and interpret common screening tests such as FeLV/FIV, heartworm, and parvovirus.

Chart dentition using the Triadan system and record fractures, resorptive lesions, and periodontal pocket depths from written patient descriptions.

Order the dental prophylaxis sequence from assessment through scaling, polishing, and irrigation, and state when ultrasonic versus hand instrumentation is preferred.

Explain dental radiography positioning and the correction for the three most common positioning errors.

Position a patient for thoracic, abdominal, and orthopedic radiographs and apply collimation, PPE, and restraint alternatives to keep dose as low as reasonably achievable.

Identify common radiographic artifacts across film-screen and digital systems, and describe the basic principles and indications for contrast studies and ultrasound.

Sit one full-length timed mock exam under exam conditions with no notes or pauses.

Review every missed item back to its source concept and log the domain, the reasoning error, and the corrected fact.

Re-drill the 25 most-missed topics and re-quiz them until each is answered correctly twice in a row.

Recompute 15 drug calculations and 5 fluid rates under time pressure to rebuild speed and accuracy.

Condense each of the nine domains onto a single page of must-know facts for final review.