Page 11 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

PREFACE

Reference Book and Task Card Box
you gather from this textbook should be close to the
A usual day in most veterinary practices is often fast standards of care maintained at any veterinary clinic in
paced and demanding. As a new person it is sometimes which you find employment and just needs to be modi-
difficult to find someone that is free to answer a question fied to the “way they like things.”
or clarify an instruction. The amount of information an The reference book and task card box can be made
assistant needs to know can be staggering, and it seems very simply with prehole punched index cards that can
like you have to know it all on the first day! be kept bound together with “D‐rings” or a binder
A technique used in many veterinary technology pro- made for index cards. The index card fits nicely into
grams is to have the students put together a reference scrub or lab coat pocket and can be changed out as
book or a task card box. The idea is to put key activities duties or procedures change. The task card box also
and information at your fingertips or in a central loca- utilizes index cards kept in a recipe box with dividers
tion for quick reference. The information in the refer- for weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks. However you put
ence book is usually common information or standard your reference book and task card box together, make
operating procedures and the task card box is usually it yours! Be as creative as you wish; just try to keep in
reminders for tasks that need to be performed weekly, mind that as you grow in your job, you will be given
monthly, or yearly. This information can be tailored to more or at least different tasks, which in turn will
the practice in which you work or can be used right from require more or different information. So keep it flex-
this book as a means to study for exams. The information ible and changeable.

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