Lone StarCollege-Tomball Vet Tech alum David Sessum is the first student from the program to be awarded with the highest state honor given by the Texas Veterinary Medical Association.
The TVMA awarded Sessum – a 2000 LSC-Tomball Vet Tech two-year program graduate and registered rehabilitation veterinary technician – with the Registered Veterinary Technician of the Year Award for 2009. Organized in 1903, the TVMA supports veterinarians as they practice the art and science of veterinary medicine in Texas and is one of the largest state veterinary medical associations in the nation.
“I still don’t believe I got it,” says Sessum, who currently works as a registered rehabilitation vet tech at Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “It’s a great honor and very humbling.”
Sessum says he wouldn’t have received the award – or the advanced training in animal rehabilitation – were it not for the solid education he received while a student at LSC-Tomball.
“When you say you are a graduate from the LSC-Tomball Vet Tech program people know that you have received the highest level of training possible,” says Sessum. “When I graduated I literally had 15 job offers.”
After finishing the LSC-Tomball program, Sessum worked for Gulf Coast Vet Surgery in Houston and then for Texas A&M University in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He is currently working on certification training in canine rehabilitation from The Canine Rehabilitation Institute.
The VTVMA award isn’t Sessum’s first: In 2007 TAMU Veterinary school recognized his efforts, as well.
“I feel very much like a proud father,” says LSC-Tomball Veterinary Technology Program Director and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine George W. Younger. “This is a very high honor for David and his achievements not only as an RVT, but also for his postgraduate work in the area of animal rehabilitation.”
Younger says David was a standout for his talent as well as his leadership skills and was one of only two men during the program’s history to be elected by his fellow students as leader of the Vet Tech Student Organization.
“Aside from the fact that he has a wonderful sense of humor and is a lot of fun, David has true compassion for animals and has invested a great deal in providing the best care available,” says Younger.
“I am very proud of David Sessum’s accomplishments, and what he has brought to the program here at Texas A&M,” said Dr. Sharon Kerwin, Texas A&M Diplomate-American College of Veterinary Surgeons.“Our veterinary technicians are truly ‘mission critical’ in helping us serve the state of Texas both by providing outstanding clinical service and also by producing well-trained, caring veterinarians who will go out and provide great service to the state of Texas and beyond. David has worked very hard to be the best technician, supervisor, rehabilitationist and leader that he can be, and he sets the standard for our group.”
RVT’s do for animals all the things an RN does for human patients, but they have an additional array of skills that include taking x-rays, developing x-rays, operating laboratory equipment and many other tasks, Younger says
The Tomball College Veterinary Technology program offers a 72-hour Associated of Applied Science Degree in Veterinary Technology, which upon completion, enables students to take the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE) and the Texas State Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) exams – requirements to become Registered Veterinary Technicians.
The LSC-Tomball Veterinary Technology program boasts an almost 100 percent passing rate for all graduates on the VTNE and RVT exams thanks to strong instructional leadership as well as state-of-the-art equipment (such as a digital X-ray machine).
The Vet Tech program also offers a three-semester Certificate in Veterinary Technology program which provides students with the credential of Certified Veterinary Assistant (CVA).
For more information on the Tomball College Veterinary Technology Program, please call (281) 351-3358.
Lone Star College-Tomball is located at 30555 Tomball Parkway in Tomball, Texas. The Lone Star College System consists of five colleges, including Cy-Fair, Kingwood, Montgomery, North Harris, and Tomball, six centers and Lone Star College-University Center. With 49,250 students, it is the largest college system in the Houston area, and third largest community college district in Texas. To learn more, visit http://www.lonestar.edu/.