What is a Veterinary Technician?
In Veterinary Hospitals Skilled Nurses Provide Care for Pets
Aug 21, 2008
In the modern veterinary hospital or clinic veterinary technicians play a key role in providing quality pet healthcare. They assist the veterinarian in many ways. Like nurses, they may perform the initial examination procedures such as temperature, heart and respiration rate. Veterinary technicians also do most of the treatments pets need such as wound or abscess cleaning and bandaging and ear cleaning.
But they also function as radiology technicians, taking and developing x-rays ordered by the veterinarian. In most modern veterinary clinics, the technicians perform dental x-rays and do all the basic dentistry other than complicated tooth extractions.
In surgery, the vet techs take the role of anesthetists, do all the pre-surgical prep, and often assist in more complicated procedures. When a pet requires laboratory tests, it is the veterinary technician who takes the blood, urine or other samples and then runs many of the basic tests in the clinic lab.
Veterinary Technician Training
Unlike veterinary assistants, who are often trained on the job, veterinary technicians or technologists attend American Veterinary Medical Association approved schools and then must pass a national examination, and in some states, a state examination as well.
Depending upon the state, veterinary technicians are called Registered (RVT), Licensed (LVT) or Certified (CVT). These differences occurred when the field was just beginning to develop, and states each had separate requirements for their veterinary technicians.
Today there are 150 programs throughout the United States providing training for those wishing to take the National Veterinary Technician Examination. Of these, eighteen are four-year degree schools and many are 2-3 year programs resulting in an associate’s degree. All schools must include classroom, laboratory and clinical experience aspects to be approved. There are a minimum number of hours of clinical experience required before a student is allowed to sit for the national examination.
Veterinary Technician Specialty Credentials
For technicians working in specialized areas, there are also advanced certification programs. The first to be recognized was in the field of emergency and critical care medicine. In many parts of the country veterinary emergency clinics perform the function of the emergency room in a human hospital. The need for highly trained veterinary technicians who could effectively triage and perform life-saving emergency procedures quickly became apparent. Advanced training was initiated and the certification examination developed.
The field of veterinary dentistry has also grown to the point where dental specialist practices are common in larger metropolitan areas. Again, highly trained veterinary technicians perform many of the same tasks that dental hygienists and x-ray technicians would on the human side.
Anesthesiology and Internal Medicine are two other areas of specialization for veterinary technicians and the Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians has just been recognized in the summer of 2008. With the need for advanced knowledge and skills in other areas increasing, other specialties are likely to be recognized in the near future.
Where Veterinary Technicians Work
Although the majority of vet techs work in small animal practices, they may also be employed by large animal or equine practices, veterinary teaching hospitals and emergency clinics, or in laboratory animal medicine, zoos, wildlife rehabilitation, and in the military.
A love of animals (and people), an interest in medicine and enthusiasm for varied, and often intense, working conditions characterize the best veterinary technicians. The field is continuing to grow, with increased variety and opportunities for those interested in a career with animals.
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