Preparing Your Requirements to Get Into the Best Vet Tech School

Being a pet technician or veterinary technician allows you to care for animals regularly while making significant scientific and medical improvements.
They will work with lab animals daily and care for them in scientific and medical research laboratories. They will also be accountable for ensuring they receive the best care and well-being.

Techs function in a role that is essential in facilitating unique scientific research in the field, such as establishing novel treatments and looking at alternative methods of diagnosis. The working environment for your cats and dogs might vary based on the species and the research being carried out.

They may be encouraged to participate in experimental laboratory procedures at an advanced rank with a veterinary team, aiding researchers in developing research projects about exotic animals.

Vet Technicians do not have the authority to prescribe medications, unlike veterinarian doctors. Still, they may fill prescriptions at the pharmacy, distribute meds to clients, and calculate doses. They can also give patients medications in various methods, such as tablets, eye drops, ointments, or IV injections.

Veterinary Technicians are not authorized to make official diagnoses. They are, nevertheless, accountable for executing all activities required to assist the doctor in reaching a diagnosis for the patient. Drawing blood, collecting x-rays, processing samples in the laboratory, gathering detailed patient history from clients, and giving primary client education are a few possibilities.

A technician is not capable of doing surgery. They are, however, in charge of administering and maintaining anesthesia, providing comprehensive dental cleanings, monitoring vital signs on sedated patients, and even scrubbing in to help the Veterinarian during surgical procedures.

Once you have your first qualification and some job experience, you may pursue various courses to supplement your current knowledge or specialize in an area you are interested in.

Among these specialized roles are:

Veterinary Dental
Under the guidance of a veterinarian, veterinary dental technicians perform dental operations, care, and cleanings on animals.

Veterinary Nutrition
Vet Techs specializing in veterinary nutrition help manage the nutrition of animals and pets. If nutrition is your thing and you enjoy working with animals, this may be a great area to specialize in. 

Veterinary Surgical
Veterinary surgical technicians assist veterinarians during operations. They are also in charge of animal care before and after surgery.

Veterinary Clinical Pathology 
Vet Technicians in clinical pathology receive further training to specialize in testing animal bodily fluids for diagnosis.

Veterinary Behavior
This can be a good specialization for you if you enjoy the behavioral aspect of animal care. Veterinary behavioral Technicians work with animals to evaluate and improve their behavior.

Equine Veterinary
If you like working with horses, you may pursue an Equine Veterinary Tech career. Equine Vet Technicians are exceptionally trained to help Equine Veterinarians. When choosing this area of expertise, you can work in an animal hospital or a position requiring you to travel to farms needing veterinary services.

Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care 
If you are good at dealing with crises, you might want to try becoming an emergency and critical care Technician. These Veterinarian Technicians handle emergency cases where animals have experienced severe trauma and require immediate treatment. And because most emergency care clinics are open 24/7, this specialization may demand you to work nights, weekends, and even holidays.

To prevent misunderstandings among state-based accreditation, certification, and registration systems for vet technicians, the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA) uses the term “credentialed veterinary technician” to encompass all options.

While not all states need vet techs to be certified, doing so may advance job eligibility, earning potential, career advancement, and specialty prospects.

The following are standard prerequisites for becoming a credentialed vet tech:

• Proof of graduation from a program approved by the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA)
• Passing the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE)
• Paying the application fee

Some of the skills examined on the VTNE, a $320 exam administered three times a year, include:

• 9 Domains
• 38 Task Area Statements
• 50 Knowledge Area Statements

The nine domains are the Vet Tech specializations or the primary areas of duty for Veterinary Technicians. These are as follows:

• Pharmacology and pharmacy
• Pain Management (Analgesia)
• Surgical Nursing
• Dentistry
• Laboratory Procedures
• Nursing and Animal Care
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Anesthesia
• Emergency Medicine (Critical Care)

In smaller veterinary clinics, there may overlap between Vet Technicians and Assistants. However, in general, Vet Technicians do more technically complex surgical nursing activities like anesthesia administration and reading x-ray images to assist the Veterinarian in improving the patient’s health. Veterinary assistants do not perform invasive procedures (such as injections), administer anesthesia, or perform medical calculations associated with dispensing drugs.

Vet Assistants tidy exam rooms and groom small animals such as household pets. This is because Vet Techs must complete a two-year track and an apprenticeship program before becoming certified. As a result, most Vet Assistants learn the required skills on the job and earn less.

The additional education is also why Vet Technicians are paid more. Vet Techs must also be certified by their state to work, whereas certification is optional for Vet Assistants.

Veterinary Doctors and Veterinarian Technicians work closely together in a veterinary clinic to guarantee the optimum medical welfare of animals.

Veterinarians need significantly more education and take on far more responsibilities than Veterinarian Technicians. As a result, they earn considerably more than Technicians since they also perform clinical rotations to find visual insights into their patients, especially before any surgical procedure.

Vet Techs undergo a two-year post-secondary program to acquire the licensing and certification required to work in the industry. They may also undertake an apprenticeship program to boost their chances of employment.

On the other hand, Veterinarians first get a bachelor’s degree with a pre-medicine specialization before continuing their education for four years to earn the title of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Some additionally pursue residency training to become qualified in a particular field.

The Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE) is intended to assess the ability of entry-level veterinary technicians to practice and become credentialed.

If you fail the VTNE, you have four chances to retake it. Although you must pay the registration cost each time, you only need to submit your transcript once, like first-time candidates.

One of the most basic operations in veterinary medicine is euthanasia. It is loaded with emotional and ethical complexities that need careful consideration before proceeding. And with its universality comes the necessity to have qualified veterinary medical experts on board.

Approximately ten states presently allow veterinarian technicians to execute euthanasia with or without the presence of a veterinarian. Nine states, including Colorado, specify that the technician may conduct it if the Veterinarian is present and available to assist if needed.

In any case, the Veterinarian may only prescribe euthanasia as the appropriate medical approach for the patient if their physical and mental condition is severe. Without the Veterinarian’s approval, the vet tech cannot perform it.

Becoming a Vet Tech is unquestionably rewarding for those who desire to give proper care to animals outside the workplace. The field is expanding rapidly, with 10,000 new employment positions being added to the market each year.