Shaelyn St. Onge-Cole believes in the transformative power of veterinary education—so much so that she’s bringing it to a population that needs a second chance the most.
St. Onge-Cole offers her expertise as an instructor at Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, California, teaching incarcerated individuals veterinary medical skills as part of a veterinary assisting program.
“We’re doing it for a couple of reasons. One, they found whenever you introduce education, you reduce the recidivism rate. The other thing is, these students are going to get out of the facility with bankable skills,” said St. Onge-Cole. “They’re going to know basic terminology, they’re going to know how to restrain, how to do physical exams, how to assist in surgery. And that is going to allow them to get into a clinic and start working on supporting their family in a way that they may not have been able to do before.”
The veterinary assisting program, which St. Onge-Cole believes is among the first in the country, provides the students with all of the skills needed to be an entry-level assistant. The facility offers various college credit courses in partnership with local community colleges.
“If we really want to decrease crime and decrease recidivism like we always talk about, you’ve got to give people a chance. You’ve got to give people hope. And that’s what our mission is. That’s what our belief is,” said Patrick Marshall, PhD, inmate rehabilitation manager for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
Establishing a medical education program in a correctional facility was not an easy task. But St. Onge-Cole, with the support of Marshall and Lt. Gill Gurpreet, was up for the challenge.
“Elmwood has been unbelievably supportive when it comes to allowing opportunities for the students. When we first started, I told them: ‘Hey, we can’t have this program if the students can’t use syringes and needles, like you can’t be a vet assistant.’ And so we went through all of their higher command and we figured out a way to do it safely.”
Read More: Hear Shaelyn St. Onge-Cole’s story in our Clinic Champions series.
“These people are brilliant individuals, and if given the opportunity and chance they will always rise up to the occasion,” said Marshall. “I have that belief in them.”
While this classroom setting differs from St. Onge-Cole’s regular work as an instructor at Foothill College in Los Alto Hills, California, she brings her same passion for sharing knowledge to this group.
“It’s amazing, those students are so engaged. I never have to say: ‘OK, guys, get off your phone or pay attention,’” says St. Onge-Cole. “They’re so engaged, they’re so thirsty for knowledge, even if it’s just questions about their friends’ animals or their family animals. I love the students and I love how much they want to learn and how curious they are.”
To date, five released students are continuing their veterinary assistant courses at Foothill College and one released student completed the final veterinary assistant course and is now beginning his career as a veterinary assistant in a clinic in California.