Let's hear it for (and from) Vet Techs!

[urbpan]

A new lj friend asked me what it was like to be a vet tech.  An understandable mistake, since I post about working in an animal hospital.  But I've been working alongside vet techs for almost a year now, and I've got some opinions on what it's like.

Being a vet tech looks to me like doing nearly all the work while the vet gets nearly all the credit. 

They have to know ten thousand technical skills, of which the most important is reading the vet's mind.  Seriously.  These women (I have yet to meet a male vet tech--unless g_weir was one) have an uncanny ability to know what the vet wants, often before the vet does.  They also are asked to work on several vital and complicated tasks at the same time, and then the vet yells at them to do something else, so they do that too.

It goes without saying that they don't get paid nearly enough for what they do.  But they must love it, because we keep fielding vet tech students doing rotations.

But I know that there are a few vet techs reading this, as well.  I'd love to hear from you:  What's it like being a vet tech?

Comments

[bellelvsbeast.livejournal.com]

Well I wouldn't call myself a vet tech per se, but I DID moonlight as one for almost a year...hahaha...;)
I would say you hit the nail on the head...much of the reason why I left is I felt under appreciated by the vet I was working for, then she had the audacity to make me do kennel work because she wanted to save money and not hire a full time kennel person. It was a tad insulting, not that I think people doing kennel work are below me or I'm too good for it, but if you are hired to do a certain job, then you should be doing that job. Not something entirely different which takes away from the original job...
And she did used to yell at me CONSTANTLY. No other person has made me cry so much...:P
Good times...oh yes and the money sucked. RIDICULOUSLY. I get paid SO MUCH MORE NOW and well I still do a lot of work but it's not as hard on the mind (remembering meds, procedures, how to use equipment, etc.)...I have most of the stuff I need to know written down now...it's nice...

[stonelizard.livejournal.com]

You pretty much hit it on the head - also add being underpaid, passionate about the work, and general lifesavers:)
I lasted a year as a vet tech before I realised that it was not going to get better, I was not going to get anymore respect (despite being overqualified, fast learning and a sensible head) and the wages were not going to improve (if I stuck it out another year they were going to give me a $1 rise. No thanks!)

We had a couple of male vet techs. Very useful when the big dogs needed lugging around. Both were studying to do other things. One a teacher, the other a graphic designer, which says it all. I think women are more inclined to stay at a tough job because they love the work despite the pay/hours/problems while men quickly move on looking for better things.

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

From a lot of the procedures I've seen, it seems that a lot of the 'yelling' is done in a non-personal, situational context, and both sides often take it that way. However, I know this is CERTAINLY not the case all of the time, unfortunately. And I think the main difference between techs and vets is the diagnostic/treatment knowledge, which a lot of vet techs do acquire when they're on the job long enough.

[doberkim.livejournal.com]

as an ex-vet tech and now as a vet (i'd like to think im not rude to my techs simply because i was one first!), yeah - its a dead end field. you will only advance so far, and you will always be underappreciated (though that is almost every job, IMO) and always underpaid unless you are certified and working at a very fast paced emergency clinic or at a big specialty hospital. anywhere else, in private practice, youre pretty much screwed.

i have worked with male techs - most are not straight.

[alisgray.livejournal.com]

not straight would be my observation of the two male vet techs I have know also.

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

At our local pet place the gender distribution is about 50/50 for both vets and techs. Of the techs, there is one grouchy woman who appears to be in her 50's, 2 very pleasant men who look to be in their 30's, and the rest all in their 20's. All of the reception/billing clerks are female and under 40. I've never seen the vets speak rudely to anyone.

When my daughter was 6, she wanted to be a zoo vet. Now she is 23 and works at a 4-star hotel as an overnight front desk manager who has handled mucho entertainment and political celebrityness. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

[iheartoothecae.livejournal.com]

While I'm not technically a tech, since I'm neither certified nor have enough on the job experience, your conclusions are pretty accurate. Techs -- especially the ones who are degreed -- are ridiculously underpaid. Which is why I'm working as an assistant to get experience to go to vet school instead of tech school. If I'm going to work long hours in an emotionally and physically stressful environment, I want to be compensated accordingly.

The clinic I'm at now treats its techs/assistants/nurses/whathaveyou very well. Everyone gets in a mood now and then, but for the most part, we all try to remain respectful and appreciative of one another. In my past jobs, this has definitely not always been the case.

We have one male tech now. There used to be three, but one moved on to another clinic (emergency medicine), and the other is now teaching, which is his preferred career.

[g-weir.livejournal.com]

I was a vet tech. It's not unlike nursing, in that years and years of college and many more of internship and of course exam boards and other qualifying factors separate the vet tech from the veterinarian.

It's almost an unimaginable gulf of knowledge and experience. So vets have paid their dues to run things- it's not a excuse to be rude, of course, only chefs get that- but vets are probably allowed some entitlement after all that they have accomplished. The good ones make sparing use of it

I was compensated well enough for what I did when I was doing it, but I will say that 'loving your job' is often an invitation to get exploited. People love animals and it's always easy to find folks lining up to work with them.

--G

[pukana-la.livejournal.com]

Your description is accurate. I'm a tech at a large referral/er hospital in Tampa. The techs act as the vet's eyes, ears, hands. The doctors diagnose, do surgery, and prescribe meds, but the rest is up to the techs! I draw blood, take x-rays, place catheters (including central lines), do lab work, monitor anesthesia, perform basic physical exams, calculate drug doses, administer drugs, communicate with clients, AND answer phones, walk dogs, clean litter pans, mop up vomit. There are about 100 other things I am responsible for doing.

As far as being a vet tech goes, I get paid fairly (over 15 dollars an hour, with plenty of room to still get more). I have decent benefits including 3 weeks unileave per year. I get top notch vet care for my pets at a steep discount. But, compared to friends in other fields, I don't do all that well. My hours suck and the work is emotionally and physically draining. And the lack of respect from the public is astounding. People tend to be suspicious of the field of medicine in general, and they are especially leery of vets. So many people think nothing of being rude to technicians.

I love animals and I love science and medicine, but after 14 years of doing this, I'm pretty much over it. I'm jumping ship to go into the field of dietetics and sports medicine. It is a long term goal, as it will take me a while to finish my degree going to school part time, but at least it is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Oh, and in regards to gender--most of our techs are female. We have 2 male techs right now and a new one is getting ready to start soon. Many male techs are not straight, as others have noted. as far as doctors are concerned, it is probably about 50/50 male/female, but this is rapidly changing. My hospital accepts interns every year and the new vets coming out are mostly female. We have 12 interns this year and only 3 are male. Some nights at my hospital the entire staff of 15 or so employees is female.

[frith]

Our vet does not yell at staff. Both her assistants are male animal health techs and are not gay. Nearly all the keepers hired since the mid 1980's are animal health techs and roughly half of them are guys. None of them are gay as far as I know, not that I care. The number of male animal health techs hired as keepers is disproportionate relative to the number of male animal health techs graduating. Roughly 1 to 3 male per class of thirty graduates. All eleven of our student help this year are female.

Salary. Keepers and the vet's assistants make around $20 an hour. Animal health techs working in clinics and pet shops make about half that. Students make minimum wage plus a dollar for tech college students plus another two dollars if you are camel ride employees plus another 25 cents per year of experience.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this, as the person who contacted me is interested in working in Canada, as well. (You work in Canada, correct?)

[frith]

Correct, French Canada. But your mileage kilometerage may vary.

in tech school, about halfway through

[eponabast.livejournal.com]

I currently work at what is often a fast-paced emergency clinic as well as a very busy small-animal practice, and have to agree you've hit the nail on the head.

I guess I'm one of those ones who's in it for the animals, not the $$. From what I know (and your other readers/commenters have confirmed) is that small-animal techs don't make much $$ in a standard practice.

One of the veterinarians who teaches at my school used to work in a holistic practice, and knows a lot about reiki and acupuncture. That's the type of practice I'll be looking for when I'm out of school.

I know it's not the most popular subject, but I'm also interested in working in the research, not in a laboratory, but out in the field collecting data on wildlife. Don't know a lot about it, but I'm hoping to do part of my internship with a local wildlife rehab facility to get to know that type of practice better.

[bdot.livejournal.com]

so, what exactly *do* you do at the zoo?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

My title is Hospital Keeper/Pest Control Technician.

[bdot.livejournal.com]

sounds like an interesting job title!

lol

[(Anonymous)]

how funny could ever be. I love that it's so funny and fun to read. LOL which means Laugh Out Loud