What Are Veterinary Technician Assistants? Get the Facts
The field of veterinary medicine encompasses dozens of professions. When most people think of veterinary medicine, they envision veterinarians. Veterinarians obviously work in this field, but there are other workers who provide their skills and expertise, such as veterinary technician assistants. Veterinary technician assistants work alongside veterinarians, as well as veterinary technicians while providing medical services to animals.
What Is a Veterinary Technician Assistant?
A veterinary technician assistant is a paraveterinary worker who assists veterinary technicians. There are veterinary assistants who assist veterinarians, and there are veterinary technician assistants who assist veterinary technicians.
Most veterinary technician assistants work at veterinary clinics. Veterinary clinics or “practices” are traditional brick-and-mortar establishments where owners take their pets and animals for medical treatment. There are tens of thousands of veterinary clinics in the United States. While staffing varies, many of them have veterinarians, veterinary technicians and veterinary technician assistants on their payroll.
Common Duties and Responsibilities of Veterinary Technician Assistants
As paraveterinary workers, veterinary technician assistants have a wide range of duties and responsibilities. They help veterinary technicians diagnose and treat animals.
Veterinary technicians, of course, are licensed professionals who specialize in animal-related radiology, surgery, dental work, anesthesia and phlebotomy. Some veterinary technicians may perform these tasks alone, whereas others will work alongside a veterinary technician assistant. Veterinary technician assistants live up to their namesake by offering assistance to the veterinary technicians with whom they work.
Some of the tasks that veterinary technician assistants may help veterinary technicians perform include the following:
- Collect blood or tissue samples
- Prepare animals for surgery
- Sterilize equipment
- Positioning radiology equipment
- Cleaning and dressing wounds
- Offering assistance during surgical procedures
- Caring for animals in recovery
- Recording health markers and vital signs of animals
- Performing physical examinations of animals
How to Become a Veterinary Technician Assistant
Veterinary technician assistants aren’t the same as veterinary technicians. To become a veterinary technician, you’ll need to earn an associate’s degree in Veterinary Technology, meaning you can expect to spend about two years in college. Associate’s degree programs last for two years, and Veterinary Technology associate’s degree programs are no exception.
There are also veterinary technologists. Veterinary technologists require four years of schooling. You’ll typically need to earn a bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Technology to work as a veterinary technologist. Veterinary technologists have similar duties as their technician counterparts; technologists simply spend more time in school.
Fortunately, veterinary technician assistants require less schooling. You don’t need any degree, in fact, to work as a veterinary technician assistant. Veterinary technician assistants have similar requirements as veterinary assistants. You’ll typically need a high school diploma or equivalent, but you don’t need a degree or any other formal schooling.
While there aren’t any degree programs available for veterinary technician assistants, some schools offer a certification program. You can enroll in one of these programs to become a certified veterinary technician assistant. Certification programs cover the general curriculum for veterinary technician assistants. It will allow you to learn more about this profession and how to excel at it. You don’t have to complete a certification program to work as a veterinary technician assistant, but doing so can increase your chances of professional success.
When you’re ready to work as a veterinary technician assistant, you’ll need to search for job openings at nearby veterinary clinics. You can either visit clinics in person to see if they are looking to hire new veterinary technician assistants, or you can search for openings online. Many veterinary clinics will post openings for veterinary technician assistants and other jobs online so that candidates can find them more easily.
Benefits of Working as a Veterinary Technician Assistant
Working as a veterinary technician assistant will allow you to learn more about the veterinary technician profession. Why is this important? Most veterinary technician assistants have long-term goals of advancing to a higher-level professional in the veterinary medicine industry. After working as a veterinary technician assistant for a few years, for example, you may want to become a veterinary technician or even a veterinary technologist.
As previously mentioned, you don’t need to complete any degree programs to work as a veterinary technician assistant. Veterinary technician assistants have similar requirements as veterinary assistants. You can often find employment as a veterinary technician with a high school diploma or equivalent. And if you’re looking to stand out from other candidates, you can complete a certification program.
There are no startup or investment costs associated with working as a veterinary technician assistant. Veterinary technician assistants aren’t business owners, nor are they independent contractors. They are classified as employees. If you secure a job as a veterinary technician assistant, you’ll typically work as an employee for a veterinary clinic. With the exception of a certification program — which is completely optional — you won’t have to spend any money to become or work as a veterinary technician assistant.
