What a veterinary technician really does
You are the vet's hands and eyes: you run anesthesia, the lab, the treatment board and the drug log, and you notice first when a patient is going downhill.
FieldHealth
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Medium preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for veterinary technicians, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Running anesthesia and monitoring vitals during spays, neuters and dental cleanings
- Doing in house lab work: blood counts, chemistry panels, urinalysis and fecal tests
- Giving medications, fluids and treatments to hospitalized patients on a timed treatment sheet
- Restraining patients for exams, blood draws and radiographs
- Logging every controlled drug dose and counting the safe at the end of the shift
- Calling owners with post surgery updates and going over discharge instructions
- Cleaning and sterilizing instruments and resetting the surgery suite between cases
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Anesthesia is the heart of the job, and you are the one watching the monitor while the vet operates. Task 1, administer anesthesia and monitor responses: importance 96, Core, the highest rated task (O*NET Tasks)
- You are on your feet nearly the whole shift and often on the floor with patients. Spend Time Standing: 43% continually, 40% more than half the time (O*NET Work Context)
- Bites and scratches are part of the work, not rare accidents. Exposed to Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites, or Stings: 54% every day (O*NET Work Context)
- Paperwork precision matters as much as hands on skill. A controlled drug log that does not balance is a serious problem. Task 3, maintain controlled drug inventory and log books: importance 93, Core; Importance of Being Exact or Accurate: 68% extremely important (O*NET)
- You make many decisions but within limits set by the veterinarian. Freedom to Make Decisions: 18% a lot of freedom, 44% some, 38% limited or very little (O*NET Work Context)
How people get into it
Most credentialed technicians finish a two year accredited veterinary technology associate program and pass the national technician exam to become credentialed (titles like CVT, RVT or LVT vary by state). O*NET respondents report a high school diploma (41%), associate degree (26%) or post secondary certificate (15%), which reflects that some assistants learn on the job. O*NET lists one to two years of on the job training.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: This trial cannot show the physical skills that fill most of a tech's day: restraining a scared or aggressive animal, placing IV catheters, intubating, drawing blood, taking radiographs, cleaning teeth, and lifting large dogs. It also cannot show the noise, the smells, or the pace of being on your feet all shift. You act as a technician student on externship, with a credentialed technician and a veterinarian supervising. It also does not show assisting with euthanasia or supporting grieving owners, which O*NET lists as a Core task (task 24).
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
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Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 29-2056.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.