HARCUM FEATURE
When your passion becomes your profession: A love for animals led them to Harcum College By Nancy McCann
What does someone do in life when she has a degree in elementary education, is about to turn 40, is married with two children, logged years of teaching third grade, and owns three dogs, two potbellied pigs, one Russian tortoise, two rabbits, and five chickens? And she has a lifelong allergy to—but lifelong passion for animals? Switch career gears and head to Harcum to earn a Veterinary Technology degree, of course. That’s exactly what Christine (Chrissy) Devlin did. Having just graduated in May, she’s embarking on her lifelong dream—sans allergy— with not one, but two veterinary nurse jobs.
“When I realized my allergy was gone,” said Devlin, “I decided to change my profession to one where I would be responsible for taking care of animals and found that animal nursing was exactly what I was meant to do my entire life.” And she’s not alone. Her classmates told similar tales of passion: “I’ve always loved animals.” “I’m a big lover of dogs and cats.” “I always wanted to help animals.” Whether they are 18 years old with newly minted high school diplomas or age 51 and on a fourth career change, it’s their boundless love for animals and their passion to turn that into their life’s work that drives these students to Harcum. The Veterinary Technology Program is the oldest and largest animal nursing program in the area, according to current Program Director Kathy Koar Wisniewski and a 1999 Harcum Vet Tech graduate herself. It was started in 1972 by Dr. Samuel Scheidy, a veterinarian who was “well-loved and well respected in Pennsylvania veterinary medicine. He had the foresight to see that Pennsylvania should be training people professionally for the job
Chrissy Devlin (right) was a winner of the Veterinary Technology Achievement Award at the 2014 Student Leadership Awards Ceremony, conferred by Alicia Preston, Assistant Director of Veterinary Technology.
that his wife held all those years,” said Dr. Nadine Hackman, a veterinarian and recently retired (2012) Harcum Vet Tech teacher and program director. A partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital began in 1975, and the Harcum Vet Tech Program was accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in 1976. It’s a competitive major, taking only 65 applicants per year. Once accepted, the standard curriculum is four semesters of classroom studies at the Bryn Mawr Campus followed by six months of clinical rotations
The Vet Tech Program houses numerous animals for training purposes, including male cats that students like Sarah Sabatini care for as part of their work study responsibilities.
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