Page 32 - Harnett Life Fall 2021

CCCC VMT graduate making

impact in Hawaii

By William “Chip” Pate
CCCC Marketing Correspondent

and expanding it into a two-year associate degree in veterinary
technology.

She later had a major role working with architects to build a
new, state-of-the-art facility to centralize instruction and now
serves as coordinator for a new, three-year hybrid program
combining remote and in-person instruction to expand oppor-
tunities for Hawaii residents living on islands other than Oahu,
where her college is located about 10 miles northeast of Ho-
nolulu.

It’s quite a resume for anyone, but especially for someone who
began in central North Carolina, where she acquired her ex-
pertise, her passion for teaching and the Associate in Applied
Science in Veterinary Medical Technology, her only academic
degree.

An Uphill Climb
If those achievements weren’t enough, one of Geiling’s most
notable accomplishments may be helping create the Hawaii
Veterinary Technicians Association and secure state licensure
for veterinary technicians. That one was an uphill climb.

Central Carolina Community College Veterinary At the time, Hawaii had no educational or training require-
Medical Technology graduate Sam Geiling teaches at ments for veterinary technicians at all. Each veterinarian hired
Windward Community College in Hawaii’s only veterinary their own staff and trained them however they saw fit. Geiling
technology program accredited by the American Veterinary remembers an early public hearing in the state legislature on
Medical Association. She serves as president of the Hawaii her proposal to create licensure. Speaking in favor was Geil-
Veterinary Technician Association ing, alone. Aligned against her were the state auditor and the
state veterinary board, who didn’t see the need to credential
It’s hard to overstate the impact Sam Geiling has had on her veterinary technicians.
profession in Hawaii, where she teaches at Windward Commu-
nity College in the state’s only veterinary technology program Things seemed bleak until the debate took a turn.
accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
“I got up to give my testimony and made the simple point,” she
When the Central Carolina Community College graduate won said. “If you polled the entire room and asked them if the per-
the Frances Davis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate son putting their animal under anesthesia had gone to school or
Teaching, an honor presented to the best teachers across the did they just come from a job flipping burgers, they would all
entire University of Hawaii system, she was praised as “the assume they went to school, but is it more likely they hadn’t.”
heartbeat of the veterinary technology program,” the only one It proved to be a persuasive point and the bill passed later that
of its kind in the entire state. year.

Geiling helped create it, taking a one-year certificate program It was a hard battle, Geiling said, but one worth fighting. She
in veterinary assisting, where she began her teaching career, explains how rigorous veterinary technology programs must

Page 32 Harnett Life ~ Fall 2021