Veterinary Technician
She matured from being a high school student who stayed home from school because frogs were being dissected in biology class, to becoming a certified veterinary technician.
FAMILY CAREER INFLUENCE
AK’s father was a police officer whose later career was in accounting. Her mother worked as a paralegal within a law office. AK is the oldest among two brothers and a sister. She attributes any family influence for her adult career to her aunt, a trained nurse, who showed dogs and encouraged AK to assist at the aunt’s kennel during school vacations.
CHILDHOOD THOUGHTS ABOUT A CAREER
AK always wanted to help people and enjoyed accompanying family pets to any veterinarian’s office. She thought about becoming a nurse when she grew up, not yet realizing that she could undertake similar care for animals.
EARLY FEARS CAN BE OVERCOME
During her high school days, AK stayed home from school, with her parent’s permission, when frogs were scheduled to be dissected in biology class; she feared frogs and didn’t want to see any animal, dead or alive, being cut into.
HIGH SCHOOL DAYS
AK always loved science and did well in those courses. She also loved history. Her English teacher predicted an adult career for AK as an author. (Editor’s note – It’s never too late to engage in an interest or passion as a “side” activity – nights or weekends – in addition to continuing an interesting, money earning career.)
Math has always been a challenging subject for AK. She asked for extra help from her teachers, who kindly stayed late after school, to tutor AK. She still accomplishes math problems in a different way but fortunately, usually concluding with the correct answer.
INTERNSHIP PROVIDES PREVIEW OF A POTENTIAL CAREER
Following her volunteer assistance at her aunt’s dog kennel, AK started working part-time at age 14 as an assistant in a veterinary hospital, where she was involved in feeding and bathing the animals, cleaning up and stocking supplies. The vet and vet techs recognized AK’s caring attitude and growing skills with animals, so she was able to assist with surgeries and restraining animals for vaccine injections.
Editor’s note – Most SPCA and Animal Rescue organizations would love to have volunteers! If you have time to make treats, take dogs for walks or give animals some attention, it can be a great way to gain experience and begin your career with animal care. If you are interested in becoming a veterinarian, you could contact local vet offices and hope to find one which you allow you to shadow the vets or vet techs for a day or two. Offering to volunteer there is a good way to gain such access.
CAREER PREVIEW RESPONSIBILITIES INCREASE WITH EXPERIENCE
After 9 1/2 years as an uncertified vet tech assistant, AK left to work at a vet emergency hospital, where her responsibilities were more significant, involving more advanced medical procedures. AK began to realize that to continue her progression toward learning more to be able to do more challenging work with animals, she would need to earn formal certification as a veterinary technician.
FORMAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFIED VET TECHNICIAN
(Editor’s note – If the reader of this Career Stories Project decides to pursue a career as a vet tech, your state’s formal requirements for certification should be reviewed in detail.)
AK notes that the process to be a certified vet tech has changed from a two-year course to a four-year course. However, AK could not afford to attend a four-year college so at the time she was interested in pursuing certification, she was able to qualify to take the vet tech exam after working as a vet tech assistant for five years including three within emergency care plus recommendations from approved veterinarians with whom she had worked.
After successfully passing the vet tech exam, a vet tech must attend a minimum of 10 hours of continuing vet tech education, annually. However, consistent with AK’s constant desire to improve her knowledge to enable the best care for her animal patients, she regularly attends over 100 hours of continuing education!
SPECIALIZATION WITHIN A CAREER
All vet techs want to perform every aspect of animal care, for which they are qualified, to the best of their ability. Some, such as AK, develop an interest in specialty areas of veterinary medicine, such as anesthesia and pain relief.
As of 2021, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has accredited vet tech specialties in the following areas of animal care (average Philadelphia area, annual salary for each certified, vet tech specialty area was at least $38,000. in 2021 dollars):
Anesthesia – vet tech uses anesthesia and analgesics to lessen or eliminate an animal’s discomfort during a medical procedure; duties include preparing and administering anesthesia under the veterinarian’s supervision, adjusting dosages as necessary during surgery, and assisting animals with recovery from anesthesia.
Surgical – assists with common surgical procedures such as orthopedic or soft tissue operations plus wound management and assistance with diagnostic exams; vet techs maintain the operating and recovery areas, clean and prepare surgical instruments and medical equipment and may administer anesthesia.
Internal Medicine – usually pursues a sub-specialty such as cardiology (dealing with the heart), neurology (dealing with the brain, nerves and the nervous system) or oncology (cancers of various parts of the body).
Dental – vet tech provides dental services to all types of animals, usually under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.
Emergency and Critical Care – vet tech works in a hospital or urgent care setting.
Behavior – facilitates human-animal cooperation and bonding, from domestic pet training to working with zoos and wildlife. Vet tech specialists might also focus on animal therapy, behavior modification or research and education.
Zoo – vet tech is trained in all aspects of zoological medicine, from basic health care to dentistry and diagnostic work.
Equine – focuses on horse health and wellness, which usually requires certain physical abilities to handle and treat horses.
Clinical Practice – vet tech typically works in private practice, specializing in canines and felines, exotic companion animals (e.g. parrots) or production animals (e.g. chickens).
Nutrition – specializes in basic animal nutrition, along with providing care related to food allergies and special nutritional needs.
CAREER SATISFACTION
The average vet tech’s career lasts about five years before they either move up (if accepted for enrollment at a school to study to be a veterinarian) or move out to another career interest. Hiking the average, AK has been a vet tech (at the time of her story’s preparation) for 31 years and is still “going strong” because she loves the challenge to learn more while caring for animals.
