I am thinking about attending an online University for a degree in Veterinary Assistant...?

You may live far away from a regular school, but don't waste your money on a weird online school nobody has ever heard of. Your thinking is correct, you will not get a job unless you go through a real hands on program. Who wants to hire a Vet Tech or Assistant that learned everything from the computer and not by working directly with trained doctors and actual animals. These online schools are everywhere for all fields, but unless they are directly linked to a real university forget about them. If this is something you really want to do then you are going to need to move or figure out another career choice that doesn't require and education to do it. Nothing in life worth doing is easy.

I received my Veterinary Assistant Degree through Stratford Career Institute (www.scitraining.org). I learned quite a bit through them, however, I've found that correspondence courses only teach you as much as you really want to learn. You don't have to study at all in order to pass, in fact, most of the tests are open book. This is how most veterinarians that I have talked with feel about correspondence courses. You may be lucky enough to have a more open minded, trusting vet near you, though.

If I were to have the chance to redo my Veterinary Assistant Degree, here's what I'd do. I would request information from each and every Correspondence school in the country that carries a Veterinary Assistant program (Stratford Career Insitute, Phoenix, Thompson, etc.) Then I would try to set up a day or two to shadow at each of the clinics near me. Once I'd decided which ones I liked the most, I'd ask to speak with the owner of the clinic (usually the head vet). I would present the Vet with the information that I'd collected from the different schools and ask them to look over it. I would ask for their opinion on which program they would be most likely to consider hiring a graduate from. I would also ask if they are in need of any help around the clinic. It would have been wonderful to be in a Veterinary Clinic setting while I worked towards my certificate. Even if it means that you'll be cleaning kennels part time for a year or two while you complete the program, it will get your foot in the door. (And to be honest, cleaning kennels is usually the Veterinary Assistant's job anyway. )_ Good luck!

I dont know, I did the same thing except I am a RVT, I haven't worked in the field for about 10 years now, as now I have a degree in Finance, but at the time they didn't have on-line classes, I had to be in a class room, and I was a mom too, See if there is a National American University in your area, You may be able to attend night or evening classes, Another suggestion is try and volunteer at a animal emergency clinic, sometimes vets will allow you to come in and observe, and have a bit of hands on while you are going to school,

Go to your local vet clinic and ask what the vet assistants did to get their credentials. Watch out for the online degrees.