Veterinary technician jobs are expected to grow tenfold by the year 2015. This projected job outlook includes both private and public sectors. Techs in this career field work with veterinarians assisting them in their private practices. In the public setting, veterinary technicians can work in veterinary clinics or animal hospitals, biomedical research facilities and in animal and humane shelters to name a few of the many career possibilities for this profession.
Formal training for veterinary technicians involves either a 2 year or 4 year degree. After completion of the degree, all technicians are required to become state certified before they seek full-time veterinary technician jobs. During the time prior to receiving their state certifications, techs may choose to work either part-time or participate in internship and/or externship programs.
The duties involved in many veterinary technician jobs may vary according to the specific area where they work. But for the most part all duties involve routine office, clinical and laboratory procedures. The overall function of the technician is to provide assistance to the veterinarian that promotes the health and well-being of all animals that are entrusted to their care. This includes all types of domestic and non-domestic animals large and small as well as a wide variety of exotic pets and wildlife.
The veterinarian has many scheduled appointments during the course of every day. The veterinarian technician’s job is to prepare everything that is necessary to make the office run smoothly. This involves all the non-clinical and non-surgical aspects of veterinary medicine such as taking tissue and blood samples, performing x-rays and processing paperwork for medical records.
Pet and livestock owners as well as zoos and animal shelters require the services of a very skilled veterinarians and technicians. Veterinary technicians serve as a liaison between the owners and the veterinarian. They work with the patients and their owners to develop a concise report of the nature of the medical problem that require the services of the veterinarian. Technicians have to be very professional animal lovers to work with a variety of animals, they must possess the knowledge of all medical equipment with the ability to perform dental prophylaxis and all related laboratory procedures that include urinalysis and blood work. In addition they have to be able to assist the veterinarian with animals that require vaccines or very old, sick, unwanted animals or ones that are beyond medical intervention and may require euthanization.
While most veterinary technician jobs include working with animals in a medical or clinical setting, there are some who work in research laboratories. They still assist the licensed veterinarian, but for the most part there is little interaction with live animals. Instead their work is more specialized and concentrated towards preventive medicine and scientific research.
The purpose of veterinarian medicine is to provide both routine and emergency care for domestic and non-domestic animals. The primary job of the technician is to assist in the diagnostic, medical and surgical procedures. The average salary for entry level veterinary technician jobs is between $30,000 and $35, 000 annually.