If you are considering becoming a veterinary technician, you may want to start off being a veterinary assistant. Beginning your career as an assistant will give you a great look into working as a technician and make sure that it is a good career path for you before investing in the educational training necessary to become a full technician.
Veterinary Assistant and Veterinary Technicians Compared
Technicians and assistants are not the same. Technicians go to school for 2 to 4 years and pass the VTNE the veterinary technician national exam to become certified. Veterinary Assistants do not have formal training and education, nor do they have certificates and licenses. They receive their training on the job. There are training programs to become a vet assistant, though it is not a requirement.
Veterinary Assistant Training Programs
There are many different programs for veterinary assistant. These programs can be either online or onsite. These programs can take as little as a few months to complete. But if the veterinarian is willing to train on site there is no need to get formal training through a veterinary assistant program.
Veterinary Assistant Duties
The main duty of a veterinary assistant is to assist the vet technician and to give basic care to animals. Assistants are not involved in examinations or lab work. Their main duties are to help care for the animals, such as cleaning the kennels, exercising and feeding the animals. Assistants also can schedule appointments, answer phones and other clerical duties. Assistants also enter in information onto the animals charts. Assistants often get training to assist in preparing animals for surgery or in dental procedures.
Veterinary assistants are unlike vet techs in that techs work alongside the veterinarians. Technicians work under the direction of the veterinarian to perform examinations, do lab work, help administer medication, prepare for operations and many other duties.
Veterinary assistants do not have the same training as technicians and cannot perform the same tasks. If the veterinarian is willing, they may teach the assistant more skills which they can use. Assistants can work in many different places such as animal hospitals and, in rehabilitation centers and at a veterinarian office.
Veterinary Assistant Salary: What To Expect
There is a large difference in the amount of money that can be made as a veterinary assistant and a veterinary technician. Veterinary assistants earn around $10.50 an hour or $17,600 annually; whereas veterinary technicians earn $38,000 annually.
While going through school to become a vet tech, a good place to start gaining experience is by getting a job as a veterinary assistant. While you are going through school you can get an inside look at being a veterinary tech and a veterinarian. You may even get on the job training and be able to start working alongside other technicians and begin learning the duties and obtaining the skills necessary to become a veterinary technician. Being an assistant you may also get funding to go through school and get your license as a veterinary technician.
Becoming a veterinary assistant is a great stepping stone to becoming a veterinary technician. You can begin to get experience quicker and learn the skills that you would use as a veterinary technician.