As an brute lover, you might recollect nigh becoming a veterinary technician (vet tech).

But y'all may have no idea what the job entails.

Vet techs work in many different settings, such as:

  • Labs
  • Veterinary offices
  • Colleges

Just all vet techs have one thing in common.

Yous all love animals, and you want to assist them in any way possible.


What Does a Vet Tech Exercise?

vet tech taking care of a dog

A vet tech's typical workday varies from day to day and workplace to workplace.

As a vet tech, yous volition be:

  • Helping the animals
  • Advising the animals' owners
  • Assisting the veterinary

Duties

Here are the duties yous will perform:

  • Give the animals necessary medicines and vaccines
  • Bathe animals
  • Collect a variety of different samples
  • Observe the conditions and behaviors of animals
  • Perform lab examinations
  • Provide nursing care and first aid
  • Assist the veterinarians during procedures and exams
  • Do diagnostic tests like fecal exams, blood tests, urinalysis, ten-rays, etc.
  • IV catheter and phlebotomy placement
  • Prepare the animals for surgery, helping during and after the surgery
  • Educate owners about the welfare and proper intendance of their pets
  • Make sure that animals in the lab are treated humanely
  • Provide injured or sick animals with emergency care when necessary

How Much Does A Vet Tech Earn

Ane question many people enquire is how much this job pays.

The pay that y'all receive changes depending on a diversity of factors, such as:

  • Specialization
  • Work surround
  • Amount of schooling
  • Experience

The national annual average salary ranges from $21,890 to $47,410.

Average National Bacon: $32,490

*Salary information last updated 2022

Boilerplate Annual Salary by State

State Avg. Almanac Salary
Alabama $34,239
Alaska $xl,958
Arizona $36,062
Arkansas $33,825
California $41,161
Colorado $36,805
Connecticut $39,361
Delaware $38,876
Florida $35,474
Georgia $35,844
Hawaii $37,944
Idaho $34,530
Illinois $38,767
Indiana $35,386
Iowa $34,974
Kansas $35,773
Kentucky $34,319
Louisiana $36,129
Maine $36,357
Maryland $37,413
Massachusetts $41,398
Michigan $37,289
Minnesota $38,759
Mississippi $32,387
Missouri $35,773
Montana $34,854
Nebraska $34,408
Nevada $37,849
New Hampshire $38,432
New Jersey $41,562
New Mexico $33,992
New York $44,036
Northward Carolina $35,651
North Dakota $33,999
Ohio $36,212
Oklahoma $34,512
Oregon $38,039
Pennsylvania $39,160
Rhode Isle $38,541
S Carolina $34,350
S Dakota $31,895
Tennessee $33,726
Texas $36,150
Utah $34,518
Vermont $35,921
Virginia $36,485
Washington $39,937
West Virginia $32,143
Wisconsin $36,081
Wyoming $33,016

Stride-past-Footstep Guide to Becoming a Vet Tech

Footstep one Graduate From Loftier School or Get Your GED

high school student graduating

Before anything else, you will demand to become your high school diploma or GED equivalent.

It allows you to have scientific discipline and health courses necessary to study a vet tech programme.

For instance, biology and chemistry.

Pro Tip: Learning a foreign language is handy when interacting with foreign clients.

Stride 2 Earn Your Associate's Degree

One advantage of having an associate's degree is that it lands you a job equally soon equally you lot graduate.

So when choosing a school, brand sure it's an American Veterinarian Medical Association (AVMA) accredited one get-go.

You lot tin go to community colleges as they oft accept first-class vet tech training programs.

And typically, training lasts up to two years.

This is enough to get you into the entry-level position.

Step 3 Consider Getting a Specialization

Having a vet tech specialization means better job prospects.

Here are some specializations you can consider taking:

  • Dentistry
  • Equine nursing
  • Clinical practice
  • Anesthesia and analgesia
  • Emergency and critical care

Step 4 Hone Your Soft Skills

Aside from the hard skills, you must also develop your soft skills.

As a vet tech, you must have:

  • Practiced advice skills
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Empathy

These ensure you can collaborate well with people, especially with your patient'south owners.

Stride 5 Get Your Certifications and Licenses

Every vet tech needs to either exist:

  • Certified
  • Licensed
  • Registered

The requirements vary per country, simply almost vet techs have to pass an exam, which has the post-obit sections:

  • Written
  • Oral
  • Demonstrative

Passing this volition prove to the land that yous have the bent for animal intendance.

Stride 6 Complete the On-The-Chore Training

Nearly programs require yous to intern with a licensed vet to get kickoff-hand feel.

This usually ways a shorter preparation flow for you.

While in some cases, you lot volition get the preparation afterwards y'all've constitute employment.

Nonetheless, during that fourth dimension, yous must immerse yourself and consummate the grooming satisfactorily.

Stride 7 Call up About Career Advocacy Opportunities

The more feel you lot gain, the more than opportunities you will run across.

For instance, getting a promotion to oversee veterinary administration and inferior technicians.

Career opportunities also ascend from:

  • Continuing instruction
  • Participating in conventions and events

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Pedagogy Needed to Become a Vet Tech

To get started on your vet tech journey, you first accept to enroll in an AVMA-accredited school.

Doing so ways that you volition get the quality educational activity and extensive preparation necessary to exist a vet tech.

Here are some of those accredited schools in the U.S. you tin can cheque out:

  • Auburn University
  • University of Arizona
  • University of California
  • Colorado State University
  • University of Florida
  • University of Georgia
  • Purdue University
  • Cornell University
  • Texas Tech University
  • Washington State Academy

For a full listing of accredited schools, visit AVMA'southward website.

Once you've called a school, then yous can continue to your studies and hold an associate's caste.

Pro Tip: Belongings an associate's degree creates a continuing education opportunity in veterinary studies.

The form program lasts for about two years.

And afterward successful completion, you will be officially recognized as a vet tech.

You're at present able to apply for a job and practice entry-level duties.

Here's a video from a seasoned vet tech to give yous some insights on areas you should know about.

Video Virtually The Career


Certification & Licensing

Depending on the state where yous currently live, y'all may exist a:

  • Licensed Veterinary Technician, which is awarded by the country's veterinary medical lath
  • Certified Veterinary Technician, which you obtain through a professional person or individual program
  • Registered Veterinary Technician, which is given past government agencies

If you live anywhere only Alaska, California, or Wisconsin, you'll demand to:

  • Complete a country-canonical program
  • Laissez passer the exam

State tests are usually waived if you've passed the Veterinarian Technician National Exam.

Information technology's a 200-question exam that will measure your competency at the entry level.

This exam covers topics such every bit:

  • Fauna care and nursing
  • Dentistry procedures
  • Lab procedures

And if you're planning to engage in research, you'll also need certification from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Scientific discipline.

They take three certification levels.

  • Assistant Laboratory Technician
  • Laboratory Creature Technician
  • Laboratory Beast Technologist

Average Training Plan Elapsing: 2-three Years


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Job Outlook and Growth for Vet Techs

Co-ordinate to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for vet techs is expected to grow up to 15% from 2020 to 2030.

This rate is much higher compared to other occupations on boilerplate.

Moreover, this number ways that there's going to be high demand for vet techs for years to come.

This stems from how people consider animal care as part of their expenses.

This positive growth potential has fabricated vet tech an ideal career choice.

Employment Growth Projection: xv%

That's a college than average projected growth of 17,100: Involvement Over Fourth dimension


Should Yous Become a Vet Tech?

Overall Satisfaction

Overall Satisfaction: High

If you love animals, then this is a career you should very much consider.

To start, y'all must retrieve of the following, particularly when choosing a suitable specialization:

  • Different types of vet tech jobs
  • Types of animals you volition piece of work with

Average Salary

Boilerplate Salary: Medium

On average, a vet tech will make $31,800 a year.

Your bacon will range from $21,890 to $47,410.

This is roughly $17.forty per hr, though this amount tin vary depending on where you work.

The post-obit factors will too affect your bacon:

  • Where you lot alive
  • The amount of experience you have
  • Your certifications and licenses
  • Vet tech specializations, if any

Job Growth Outlook

Job Growth Outlook: Loftier

With the projected growth charge per unit of 15% by 2030, vet techs won't have to worry most not getting jobs.

They're now in demand, leading brute care facilities to recruit them actively.

Think of information technology this way:

The more vet techs there are, the more animals get taken intendance of.

Education Duration

Education Duration: 2-three Years

Schooling for vet tech programs is relatively shorter than others.

Information technology lasts for ii to three years wherein you lot have to secure an acquaintance's caste past then.

And if yous would like to earn a specialization or get further in your pedagogy, it will have longer.

Personal Skills Needed

Personal Skills Needed

The number one criteria for being a vet tech is love and care for the animals' health and welfare.

Other important personal skills are:

  • Particular-oriented, where you need to check if everything is done correctly
  • Can piece of work under force per unit area, where y'all can keep a cool caput in this demanding and stressful job
  • Results-driven, where y'all strive to get the results you need
  • Good communication skills, where you can get along with the people you work with, especially pet owners
  • Strong resilience, where you tin work and think fast in the face of emergencies
  • Team-oriented, where you can piece of work cohesively with your colleagues to achieve a goal

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How many years will it take to become a vet tech?

You only need an associate's degree, which takes about 2 years to complete.

Q. How much practice vet techs make?

On boilerplate, a vet tech will make $31,800 annually.

Fourscore pct of them can earn anywhere from $21,890 to $47,410.

This is roughly $17.40 per hour.

However, this can still vary depending on:

  • Where they live and work
  • Years of experience

Q. What can yous do with a vet tech degree?

Having a degree opens up a lot of opportunities for y'all, most especially when you lot pass the licensure exam.

Yous are able to work in a lot of environments.

For instance:

  • Veterinary office, a common vet tech workplace
  • Emergency animal hospital, where you lot can help animals in need of critical medical attending
  • Enquiry laboratory, where you can use animals for inquiry
  • Animal shelter, where you mostly help sick or injured animals
  • Zoo, where you help veterinarians with emergency and routine care

Many technicians also use their degree as a starting indicate to another career, like:

  • Veterinary
  • Veterinarian technologist
  • Veterinarian specialist
  • College professor

Q. What does a vet tech practise every twenty-four hours?

A vet tech usually performs the post-obit duties:

  • Sentinel patients for beliefs changes
  • Prepare patients for surgery or exams
  • Give patients starting time aid or nursing intendance
  • Collect lab samples and exam them
  • Take x-rays and develop them
  • Requite treatments, shots, and medicine
  • Collect and maintain patient records


USA How to Go a Vet Tech by State


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