Career profile Veterinary Technician

Table of Contents

• What does a Veterinary Technician do?
• What is a typical salary for a Veterinary Technician?
• What personality traits are common among Veterinary Technicians?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Veterinary Technicians need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Veterinary Technician do?

Veterinary Technicians perform medical tests in a laboratory environment for use in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases in animals.

In addition, Veterinary Technicians

• prepare vaccines and serums for prevention of diseases,
• prepare tissue samples, take blood samples, and execute laboratory tests, such as urinalysis and blood counts,
• clean and sterilize instruments and materials and maintain equipment and machines,
• may assist a veterinarian during surgery.

What kind of tasks does a Veterinary Technician perform regularly?

Veterinary Technicians are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Administer anesthesia to animals, under the direction of a veterinarian, and monitor animals' responses to anesthetics so that dosages can be adjusted.
• Care for and monitor the condition of animals recovering from surgery.
• Maintain controlled drug inventory and related log books.
• Perform laboratory tests on blood, urine, or feces, such as urinalyses or blood counts, to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of animal health problems.
• Prepare and administer medications, vaccines, serums, or treatments, as prescribed by veterinarians.
• Restrain animals during exams or procedures.
• Administer emergency first aid, such as performing emergency resuscitation or other life saving procedures.
• Clean and sterilize instruments, equipment, or materials.
• Provide veterinarians with the correct equipment or instruments, as needed.
• Perform dental work, such as cleaning, polishing, or extracting teeth.
• Observe the behavior and condition of animals and monitor their clinical symptoms.
• Give enemas and perform catheterizations, ear flushes, intravenous feedings, or gavages.
• Fill prescriptions, measuring medications and labeling containers.
• Collect, prepare, and label samples for laboratory testing, culture, or microscopic examination.
• Prepare animals for surgery, performing such tasks as shaving surgical areas.
• Take and develop diagnostic radiographs, using x-ray equipment.
• Discuss medical health of pets with clients, such as post-operative status.
• Clean kennels, animal holding areas, surgery suites, examination rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.
• Take animals into treatment areas and assist with physical examinations by performing such duties as obtaining temperature, pulse, or respiration data.
• Prepare treatment rooms for surgery.
• Maintain laboratory, research, or treatment records, as well as inventories of pharmaceuticals, equipment, or supplies.
• Maintain instruments, equipment, or machinery to ensure proper working condition.
• Dress and suture wounds and apply splints or other protective devices.
• Provide assistance with animal euthanasia and the disposal of remains.
• Schedule appointments and procedures for animals.
• Provide information or counseling regarding issues such as animal health care, behavior problems, or nutrition.
• Monitor medical supplies and place orders when inventory is low.
• Supervise or train veterinary students or other staff members.
• Perform a variety of office, clerical, or accounting duties, such as reception, billing, bookkeeping, or selling products.
• Bathe animals, clip nails or claws, and brush or cut animals' hair.

The above responsibilities are specific to Veterinary Technicians. More generally, Veterinary Technicians are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Veterinary Technician salary?

What personality traits are common among Veterinary Technicians?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Veterinary Technician are usually higher in their Realistic and Investigative interests.

Veterinary Technicians typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Also, Veterinary Technicians typically have very strong Investigative interests. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Veterinary Technician tend to value Relationships, Support, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Veterinary Technicians strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Veterinary Technicians moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Lastly, Veterinary Technicians moderately value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Veterinary Technicians must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, stress tolerance, and dependability.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Veterinary Technicians, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Veterinary Technicians need?

Veterinary Technicians often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Veterinary Technicians usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Veterinary Technicians

• 1.7% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 15.7% completed high school or secondary school
• 23.5% completed some college coursework
• 32.8% earned a Associate's degree
• 22.6% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 2.3% earned a Master's degree
• 1.3% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Veterinary Technicians

Important Abilities needed by Veterinary Technicians

Veterinary Technicians must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Veterinary Technicians need abilities such as oral expression, deductive reasoning, and inductive reasoning in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Veterinary Technicians, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Veterinary Technicians

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Veterinary Technicians frequently use skills like active listening, critical thinking, and reading comprehension to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Veterinary Technicians, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.