If you have a special affinity to animals, being a veterinary technician might be the right career path for you. As a vet tech, your job essentially centers on providing help to a certified veterinarian by doing most of the routine tasks—from recording medical information to assisting in surgical procedures. While you don’t do the actual diagnosis and treatment, your presence and expertise are absolutely essential in providing healthcare to animal patients. As in the case of other health careers, the path to becoming a vet tech is a meticulous one. Here’s how to become a vet tech.
- Shadow or mentor with a vet tech. The first step toward learning how to become a veterinary technician is to know and understand the exact job description. This will help you know if you would really like this career. In most settings, the veterinarian technician job description means that you will make and keep animal records, prepare the diagnostic and surgical equipment and room, put on bandages and wound dressings, administer prescribed treatments, assist the vet when performing surgery, run laboratory tests as supervised by the vet and operate surgical equipment. Additional duties may be required of you depending on the work setting and location. For instance, if your veterinary career is performed while working in a rural area where your work is most likely centered on farm animals, you will travel to the farm with the vet and maintain communication with the animal owner. In animal shelters, you may be tasked with euthanizing severely ill or injured animals.
- Meet the academic requirements. There are two pathways for a veterinarian technician career in veterinary technology. Make sure the educational program that you choose is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Coursework includes animal disease, advanced animal nursing, ultrasonography, veterinary clinical laboratory techniques, veterinary anatomy and physiology, and veterinary medicine. Here are the two pathways:
- An associate’s degree in veterinary technology. This usually takes two years and you will be a veterinary technician.
- A bachelor’s degree in veterinary technology. This usually takes four years and you will be a veterinary technologist.
- Choose a specialization. As with most health careers, you can choose your specialization in veterinary technology. Depending on your interest, you can consider dental care, anesthesiology, emergency, internal medicine, research and veterinary behavior.
- Develop the necessary traits and skills required. To be a vet technician, you must be gentle, caring and patient with the animals. This last trait is particularly important because there will be times when you will need to manage noisy, misbehaving animals. Additionally, you must be adept at following instructions, doing clerical work and communicating with the vet, animal owners and other staff members. You also must be physically strong, as this is a 40- to 50-hour-per-week job, and you must be emotionally strong to manage any feelings you have for dying and seriously ill animals.
- Get certified. After earning your degree through vet tech schools and completing an internship program, you need to take a certification exam. Many states administer the Veterinary Technician National Examination of the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB). AAVSB provides a listing of exam requirements by state on its website. Each state has a different title for a certified vet tech, which includes Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT), Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) and Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT). Most states use the National Veterinary Technician (NVT) exam.
- Apply for a job. You can look for an entry-level position in animal clinics and hospitals, laboratories, research facilities, humane societies and animal shelters. If you have extensive experience, you can even apply for a managerial position.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for vet techs are likely to increase by more than 46% until 2018. This translates to around 23,000 open positions. The high demand is due to a changed attitude toward responsible pet ownership, plenty of employment opportunities in different facilities and veterinarians’ movement to replace the career of veterinary assistants with a vet tech career within their staff. Median annual wages for veterinary technologists and technicians are around $28,900 with the middle half earning between $23,580 and $34,960.
If you love animals and want to help them lead happier, healthier lives, becoming a vet tech may be an ideal job for you. Predictions of increased demand and increased salaries combined with the sense that the animals you care for will be wagging their tails, purring, mooing and calling out their thanks, will reward you in many wonderful ways!