The Veterinary Technology Blog

Despite the rigorous training and the clear demand, the profession is losing people at an alarming rate. The average career length before a technician leaves the field is just five to seven years. The reasons are complicated, but they often trace back to the same root causes: feeling undervalued, underutilized, and underprepared for the job's emotional and mental demands.

As the nurses of the animal medicine world, veterinary technicians are an essential part of the animal healthcare team. By taking on administrative, customer-facing, and routine clinical tasks, vet techs extend the capacity of a veterinarian to focus on diagnosis, surgery, and treatment planning. While many vet techs enjoy fulfilling careers working as generalists, some find that there is a specific arm of animal medicine in which they’re particularly interested and skilled. Vet techs who wish to follow their passion into a specialization will find that they can level up...

Along with being enrolled in an accredited veterinary technology program, it is equally important for veterinary assistants and technicians to have adequate hands-on experience with animals. Many internship and externship programs let students spend some time in specialized departments such as radiology, hematology, oncology, cardiology, and surgery.

Although the number of euthanized dogs has declined since 2011, due in part to an increase in pet adoption as well as an increase in the number of stray animals successfully returned to their owners, close to 335,000 dogs are still euthanized each year in US shelters.

Learn about the daily responsibilities of the zoo veterinary technician, and about how to prepare to manage and help care for exotic, rare, and sometime dangerous animals.

Yet, ambitious veterinary technicians seeking professional growth must consider the next steps in their career path. Advancing beyond entry-level positions opens up opportunities for specialization, leadership roles, and higher compensation.

The veterinary industry faces a critical shortage of qualified professionals at all levels. With the demand for veterinary services rising, the need for qualified vet staff has never been greater. The current staffing shortages are causing long wait times for pet owners and increased stress levels among those working in veterinary clinics.

Explore similarities and differences between veterinary assistants and veterinary technicians to determine if either of these careers is right for you. View our side-by-side comparison chart before making a final decision.

You know you want to work with animals, but you’re not sure what field to enter. Our guide to animal care careers lets you learn about the educational requirements and salary potential for each of seven fields, as well as gives you links so that you can investigate careers further on your own.

Who’s to say a vet tech internship can’t be educational, rewarding, and cool all at once? These internships provide some interesting twists on the traditional. Many are based in zoos or animal rehabilitation facilities, and offer an opportunity to provide supervised, hands-on animal care to a diverse variety of species. Some cater specifically to large farm animals or marine mammals.

Considering how deeply bonded we are to our pets in this country, it’s surprising that the first wellness program for pets wasn’t launched until more recently, in 2002, when the National Research Council of the National Academies sponsored PetFit at Purdue University.

Veterinary technicians possess a wealth of knowledge and skill, yet they are frequently underutilized within their practices. As the demand for efficient and high-quality animal healthcare escalates, it's crucial to reassess and address the potential underutilization of veterinary technicians in the industry.

Although the time needed to become a veterinary technician varies according to factors such as full-time or part-time attendance, on-campus or online studies, and degree sought, aspiring vet techs should plan on approximately two to five years from when they graduate from high school until they receive their credentials.

Marissa Martino of Boulder, CO began working with dogs 10 years ago, and she hasn’t looked back since. She was enjoying a successful career as a designer for Martha Stewart but yearning for a change, she decided to attend San Francisco’s Academy of Dog Trainers.

If an emerging veterinary professional determines that animal nursing is their pathway, they have to decide whether to become a veterinary technician or a veterinary technologist. This article will discuss how the two roles are the same, the ways they are different, and the reasons why a future veterinary nurse would choose one over the other.