Retired
Madison Area Technical College
Cottage Grove, Wisconsin
Kleist has been a veterinary technician since graduating from Madison Area Technical College's Veterinary Technician program in 1981. Upon graduation she worked at a mixed animal practice in Oregon, then moved to West Lafayette, IN, for a position in the Small Animal Surgery Department at Purdue University. Her experience there allowed her to secure a position as a lab tech III at the brand-new University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in the Surgery Department in 1983. She was the lead scrub tech for total hip replacements and thoracic cases. After eight years there, she moved to the veterinary technician program at Madison College as a laboratory coordinator and has been there for 30 years. She retired from Madison College in 2021. Her first love is and always will be surgery. Kleist has authored various peer-reviewed articles in addition to co-authoring the only textbook dedicated strictly to surgical nursing. She is currently in the beginning stages of starting a second edition. Kleist has served on many state and national executive boards, including as chair of the VTNE Committee of AAVSB, president of NAVTA, president of WVTA, and a member at large on the AVTE Executive Board. She was a charter member of the organizing committee for AVST and has served as president, secretary, exam committee member, and currently is the AVST liaison to the ACVS continuing education committee as the seminar chair for the technician program. Orthopedic surgery and joint replacement are of special interest to her, but there's nothing better than a good colic surgery.
Thursday, October 13, 2022
10:15am – 6:00pm
Friday, October 14, 2022
8:00am – 12:00pm
Friday, October 14, 2022
1:30pm – 6:00pm
Saturday, October 15, 2022
8:00am – 12:00pm
Saturday, October 15, 2022
1:30pm – 6:00pm