Have you always thought about how great it would be to take your love of animals and make a career out of it? Do you dream of working with animals every day in a setting that will give you the tools necessary to help them be healthy and happy?
While you could become a veterinarian like so many others, you also have the option of becoming a vet tech by attending one of the top schools like those listed on best-vettechschools.com. But what does a vet tech do and what does the position entail? Keep reading to learn about some of the job’s main responsibilities.
Assisting the Veterinarian
Put simply, a vet tech’s main job is to support the veterinarian at a clinic or hospital. By taking care of all of the technical tasks that are required to check the health status of an animal, a vet tech allows the veterinarian to have more freedom to really focus on his or her job, which is to figure out whether or not an animal is healthy and what can be done to help an animal who is not healthy. Because of this, it is easy to think of a vet tech as the equivalent of a human nurse.
A Variety of Tasks
The great thing about being a vet tech is the fact that you get to work with a variety of different animals every day, and no two workdays are ever the same. After all, every patient is unique, and you will be able to interact with different patients and different pet parents every day.
Some of the basic tasks that you would be expected to complete daily include giving medications, drawing blood, and checking an animal’s weight, temperature, and other vital signs. You may also do more advanced things like place catheters or manage anesthesia. And some vet techs are also required to assist during surgeries.
What you are required to do at your job will also depend upon the facility in which you work. So, you might, for example, also help keep accurate medical records, as well as administer shots, observe a patient for changes in their behavior, and prepare an animal for surgery. You might also provide first aid or other nursing care, test lab samples, take and develop x-rays, and more.
Some of the Environments You Can Work In
In addition to working in a private veterinary practice as a vet tech, you also have the option of working at a larger veterinary facility. If veterinary internal medicine appeals to you, there are many places that are willing to hire qualified vet techs to assist with preventative medicine and wellness checks, as well as treatments. However, if you want to get into critical care, you could also find work at emergency medical facilities, 24-hour vet clinics, and more, so that you can help care for injured and very sick animals.
Now that you know more about what a vet tech does, you could decide if this would be the right path for you to take. You may find that this is the ideal role that lets you live your passion and feel fulfilled.
