Certificate in Veterinary Medical Assistant

at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Canada

The focus of this program is the accommodation and food and beverage segments of the hospitality industry. Students gain business and customer service skills in food and beverage service techniques, front desk check-in procedures, financial accounting, economics and written communications. The Hospitality Management program is a two-year course of study which provides students with the skill sets and abilities required to work in the hospitality industry. The program focuses on service skills for food and beverage, catering and front-desk operations with specific courses in hospitality law. The second year examines marketing, financial management, supervisory skills and advanced courses in hotel, restaurant and catering operations. A 400-hour work experience term is also included.

The program is also built around traditional business subjects such as business communications, accounting and organizational behaviour. Courses are delivered through lab and lecture formats beginning with supervisory skill development and progressing toward more complex management functions. The Hospitality Management program provides training and skill development in:

• business communications
• food and beverage service
• banquets and catering service
• operations management
• front-desk principles and procedures
• hospitality law
• supervisory principles and procedures
• organizational behaviour
• computer applications
• introduction to marketing
• introduction to accounting
• general tourism knowledge

Graduates of the Hospitality Management program may find employment in a variety of sectors and positions within the tourism industry, as:

• food and beverage servers
• food and beverage supervisors
• food and beverage managers
• banquet and catering supervisors
• front-desk supervisors
• front-desk managers
• front-desk agents
• night auditors
• reservations agents
• entrepreneurs
• consultants

Over 10,000 employees are injured at work in Alberta every year. Some are seriously injured, even killed.

As a result, organizations across the province continue to invest more time and resources to better train and equip their personnel, identify potential dangers and develop strategies and policies that keep employees safe.

The NAIT Occupational Health & Safety (OHSD) diploma program will prepare you to fill essential health and safety roles in industry to meet the growing demands of government regulations.

Our 2-year program focuses on real-world issues and practical skills and is the only program in the province that offers full-time OHS training. We are recognized by the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals, and our graduates meet the educational requirements for Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) certification, the most recognizable designation for safety professionals in Canada.

Over 5 terms, you’ll be provided with classroom and lab instruction, as well as applied learning opportunities in a variety of workplace settings.

Co-Op Work Term
Your co-op work term will give you the opportunity to apply your professional skills and theoretical understanding in a workplace setting. You’ll be given various occupational health and safety responsibilities and projects in a business, industry, government, education or non-profit organization. 

In addition to providing new learning experiences, the work term will give you valuable on-the-job skills and industry contacts that will set you up for success after graduation.

In the Millwork and Carpentry program, you will gain hands-on skills in the design and construction of wood structures, cabinets, shelving units and furniture. This certificate program will explore the two traditional woodworking trades of Cabinetmaker and Carpenter, with an emphasis on tools and safety.

Students specialize in either the cabinetmaking or carpentry stream. Each stream emphasizes materials and techniques relevant to that trade specialization.

The Cabinetmaking stream (Millwork), introduces students to construction of both upper and lower casework, complete with doors, drawer, mouldings, hardware and exposure to a variety of different materials used in the trade.

The Carpentry stream provides an introduction to residential home construction in foundations, framing and finishing carpentry.experience related to their stream.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant training
Successful Millwork and Carpentry certificate graduates display the following attributes.

• Safety conscious
• Work well with tools
• Work well within a team environment
• The ability to stand, crouch and kneel for long periods of time
• Manual dexterity
• The ability to lift heavy loads
• The ability to solve arithmetic problems accurately
• A positive and professional learning attitude, with an interest in woodworking

All students in the Biological Sciences Technology program take a common first semester before entering into their specialization - Lab and Research, Renewable Resources or Environmental Sciences. The common first semester provides students with strong fundamentals in Biological Sciences while semesters two, three, and four build on these fundamentals with additional specialization-specific education and training. 

Graduates of Biological Sciences Laboratory and Research program are highly skilled, hands-on technologists with the ability to use and apply current technologies and research methods in animal physiology, molecular biology, cell culture, immunology, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and microbiology. Graduates are valued for their professionalism, effective communication, lab competency, and work safely and efficiently in a team environment. They are aware of the changing industry, and are committed to lifelong learning.

This program offers a rewarding and challenging career for those individuals interested in providing emergency medical services to the sick and injured in a prehospital care environment. Primary Care Paramedic (formerly known as Emergency Medical Technician-Ambulance) training utilizes the facilities at NAIT, active treatment hospitals, basic and advanced life support ambulance services and other allied emergency services.

In addition to the program being offered twice a year at its main campus, NAIT also offers the program twice per year in partnership with Lethbridge College and once per year in partnership with Lakeland College as part of its Emergency Services Technology Diploma Program.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant training
In this certificate program, you will learn about providing basic emergency care, including assessment and treatment of patients with a variety of medical disorders and injuries.  Your learning environment will consist of lectures, labs, clinical simulations and practicum.  Areas of learning will be focused on but are not excluded to:

• Introduction to emergency medical services and pre-hospital care
• Human anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology
• Basic life support skills including medical and trauma management
• Pharmacology
• Diverse patient populations including management of some pediatric disorders and assisting with childbirth

You will also be trained in physical and mental health self-care, to ensure you are prepared for a demanding patient care environment.

Practicum will consist of placement with an ambulance service and one week in an acute care hospital emergency department. You will be expected to work shifts including evenings, nights and weekends, and you may be required to travel outside of Edmonton for your practicum placement.

The first 6 courses in the program consist of a mixture of lectures and labs of approximately 400 hours, and the last course will consist of practicum placement of approximately 240 hours.

You can expect to spend, on average:

• 28 hours per week attending classes over the course of a semester
• 15 to 20 hours per week studying and completing class assignments
• 40 hours per week on practicum

Businesses and organizations are finding ways to become smarter, more efficient and make better decisions. Data has become a key aspect in finding a competitive advantage and predicting the future.

Data analytics is a field that combines data, technology, processes and analysis to enhance business decisions and drive success. The Data Analytics post-diploma certificate program provides you with the skills needed to inform real-world business decision-making and planning through data insights, analysis, visualizations and predictions.

Play a key role in an organization by mastering the art of converting data into information and turning information into action

What You Will 
Data-driven, industry-relevant skills
This post-diploma certificate builds on foundational knowledge and skills acquired in related diploma programs and prepares graduates for employment in the field of data analytics.

This 10-course program, which may be completed full- or part-time, will prepare you for Data Analyst roles in a wide variety of industries. Upon successful completion of the program, you will be able to:

• Design and assemble data sets for further manipulation and analysis
• Interpret data sets and communicate findings to make data-driven decisions and support organizational goals
• Use data analytics to provide business insights and organizational opportunities.
• Apply security, privacy, ethics, regulations and information and data management principles throughout the data lifecycle
• Use industry leading artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics tools to analyze, interpret and present data

Captioners and court reporters are highly skilled professionals who can capture speech at speeds of 225 words per minute (wpm) and higher. Using an electronic shorthand machine and sophisticated computer technology, reporters translate a conversation virtually simultaneously to the printed word.

Being a captioner or court reporter is a profession like no other. It is exciting to meet the challenges when no 2 days are alike and when you learn new and fascinating information every day.

NAIT offers the only captioning and court reporting program in western Canada to be approved by the National Court Reporters Association - a 35,000 member organization based in the United States. Consequently, the program is well-regarded and graduates obtain employment not only across Canada and the United States, but around the world.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant skills
In the Captioning and Court Reporting program, you will learn how to write machine shorthand at 225 words per minute (or faster). This will allow you to work as a court reporter, Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) provider or broadcast captioner.

You can expect to learn and develop:

• The ability to write machine shorthand verbatim at 225 words per minute with 95% accuracy
• Proficiency with computer-aided transcription software
• Comprehensive English skills
• An extensive understanding of criminal and civil law
• Interpersonal and leadership skills

The Baking and Pastry Arts diploma program focuses on the art and science of bread, cake and pastry making, including

• Cake design and decorating
• Confectionery training (chocolate and sugar)
• Artisan-style baking
• Frozen desserts

There is also a focus on culinary fundamentals, international and specialty baking, baking for alternative diets, business, customer service and showpiece making.

Using NAIT’s fully equipped bakery and pastry arts training lab, you will learn to safely operate and maintain the kinds of equipment used in a variety of bakery, pastry arts and confectionery operations.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant skills
The 2-year Baking and Pastry Arts diploma will train you in traditional, contemporary and modern baking methods. The program provides hands-on experience in the art and science of bread, cake and pastry production, including cake design and decorating, confectionary training (chocolate and sugar), artisan-style baking and frozen desserts.

This practical knowledge is complemented by training in:

• Baking theory
• Nutrition
• Baking for alternative diets
• Showpiece making
• Trade calculations
• Sanitation
• Safety
• Business concepts
• Customer service

The Digital Media and IT (DMIT) program is multi-disciplinary in its approach. Spanning a range of career opportunities from business analyst to visual designer, this innovative program allows you the ability to meet industry demand while developing skills aligned with your individual talents and inclinations.

In the Visual Communications area of emphasis, learn how to create high-quality, eye-catching products by applying advanced design principles.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant skills
The Visual Communications area of emphasis will give you the skills you need to be a professional graphic designer. Courses will focus on 2 core software tools that will help you accomplish this goal: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.

Supplemental courses will teach you the practical and theoretical sides of visual design, such as colour theory, typographic history and the art of telling a story using characters and images. To round out the program, you will also take time developing a portfolio and learning the business side of this industry.

The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree with Accounting emphasis is designed to advance students beyond a solid working knowledge of accounting and information systems to learn quantitative analysis techniques critical to business success. Accounting emphasis students in the BBA are taught to make effective financial decisions, analyze and plan business processes and adapt to changing economic conditions. Students also develop skills in personal and corporate taxation, external auditing and accounting information systems. All accounting-related courses have prerequisites, so it is important to carefully plan the order of studies.