If your pet gets a little unruly during an examination, there’s probably a trusty vet tech right there to help. Welcoming your pet–and calming him or her down–is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the responsibilities of a qualified veterinary technician or vet tech.
Where it all Begins
An excellent vet tech must have an innate love of animals before entering the field. With this appreciation, admiration, and understanding, a prospective vet tech can effectively cultivate the required skills.
After the completion of an associate’s degree (or higher), a vet tech must graduate from an accredited vet tech program and pass the Veterinary Technician National Examination before acquiring a state license. Once he or she is deemed knowledgeable and competent, a vet tech can find work in private veterinary hospitals, clinics, research labs, or even zoos.
The Big Deal
The biggest reason we love vet techs is due to the lifeline of service between us (your pet’s vet) and you (the owner). Without this fluid and open communication, diagnosing and treating health problems would be much harder (if not impossible!). In short, veterinarians perform better with qualified vet techs on their team.
The Beautiful Details
While vet techs never diagnose, perform surgery, or prescribe medication, they’re charged with carrying out any and all of the following duties at a given time:
- Offering a high level of customer service to all patients and clients
- Completing intake paperwork
- Taking your pet’s vitals
- Drawing blood
- Assisting with anesthesia protocol and monitoring
- Assisting with or preparing for surgery
- Collecting lab samples and analyzing diagnostics
- Placing catheters
- Caring for wounds
- Administering medicine
- Supporting dental care procedures
- Restraining patients
- Administering vaccinations
- Caring for pets in our boarding facility
- Euthanasia
- Assisting with emergency care
- Lending a hand with office cleaning
An Elevated Practice
At West Park Animal Hospital, we rely heavily on our vet techs and appreciate all they do every single day. If you’ve had a great experience with one of our vet techs, we’d love to hear about it. Also, if you or someone you know is interested in becoming a veterinary technician, please contact us. Each member of our dedicated staff is ready and willing to help – especially our valued vet techs!
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