What Are the Requirements to Becoming a Vet Tech?

Duties of Veterinary Technicians

• Veterinary technicians do many different tasks during a typical day, including animal restraint, blood draws, sampling urine, preparing for surgery and giving post-operative care. A veterinary technician will always work under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian.

Requirements

• In order to become a veterinary technicians, you need to complete a specified training course at a technical school or college. This is usually a 2-year course resulting in an associate degree of Applied Science.

Clinical Rotations

• Every school has different requirements regarding the hours of clinical rotations you must complete. Check with your local technical school in order to learn more specifics of the offered. For example, Madison Area Technical College, in Madison, Wisconsin, requires at least 320 supervised hours in a clinical setting.

Certification

• When you have your coursework and clinical rotations successfully completed, you are required to take a state certification examination. Again, each state varies as to what examination they use. Check with local schools and programs for certification guidelines.

Career Opportunities

• Veterinary technicians have many different opportunities upon completion of coursework and training. Fields of opportunity include:

  -Biomedical research
  -Veterinary sales
  -Wildlife and zoo facilities
  -Humane societies
  -Pet supply stores

Salary

• You can expect to earn between $20,000 to $40,000 depending on what type of business you work for and where it is located.