The Savvy VetTech

Whether you’re preparing for your first job as a veterinary technician or beginning an internship as part of your vet tech training, big job changes are often accompanied by some anxiety. 

It’s normal to be nervous when starting a new job… especially when you’re transitioning to a new role within veterinary medicine! Fortunately, there are several things that you can do to calm your nerves and help your first day go smoothly.

When you graduate from vet tech school, the most obvious option is to begin working in a local veterinary clinic. Regardless of whether you want to work with small animal or large animal patients, many vet techs envision themselves in general veterinary practice, providing a combination of wellness, medical, and surgical care.

What if general practice isn’t a good fit for you, though, and you’d like to do something different?

We know that veterinary technicians do so many things in the practice. Where is the line between what they can and cannot legally do? The tasks vet techs can perform vary depending on the state.

Check this more thorough recently updated list of tasks by state to see what is allowed in your own state!

There are many job posting websites that you may use to find job listings (Monster, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Linkedin), but there are also veterinary specific sites you should include in your search for a new job.

A vet tech is essentially a pet nurse, but vet techs do much more than nursing! It sounds simple enough, but there are many challenging responsibilities that come along with being a veterinary technician. Besides just “caring for animals”, vet techs have many responsibilities.

These often include drawing blood and collecting urine or fecal specimens, cleaning cages, running the blood machine, performing fecal testing to look for parasites, taking radiographs (x-rays), setting up appointments, giving injections, placing IV catheters, assisting the doctor in the exam room, restraining animals, providing customer service and client education, presenting financial estimates, performing dental cleanings, running anesthesia for surgeries, and many others. So the question is, should you become a veterinary technician?