Do you stop to pet every dog you pass along the sidewalk? Have you rescued a cat that was stuck in a tree? Will you help a turtle cross the road safely? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’d probably enjoy a career that allows you to work with animals every day. As a Veterinary Technician, you’d get to work with lots of different animals, helping them get and stay healthy. If you’re an animal lover, you will love a veterinary career.

What Does a Veterinary Technician Do?

A Veterinary Technician is not the same as a veterinarian. Think of a veterinarian as the doctor of animals and the Veterinary Technician as the nurse. Your job is to deliver frontline care to sick and injured animals and help others stay healthy. Your duties could include:

• Prepare animals for surgery
• Assist veterinarians during surgery
• Administer first aid and clean wounds
• Give vaccinations
• Perform dental procedures like teeth cleanings
• Provide pet owners with information on how to care for animals

Where Does a Veterinary Technician Work?

Just what you’d do as Veterinary Technician depends on where you work. You could work at an animal hospital, or maybe even a local zoo. Here are some other places you might work:

• Veterinarian practices
• Private animal clinics
• Animal shelters
• Boarding facilities

Your schedule can vary from the typical nine-to-five. If there is an emergency case or surgery that you will need to assist with, you may need to work early in the morning or stay late into the evening. You may also be required to work weekends.

The location of your work also plays a role in the animals you will tend to. If you work at an animal hospital in a rural area, you can expect to interact with farm animals. If you work at a clinic in a major city, you may see more dogs, cats, rabbits, and other domesticated animals.

What Qualities Does a Veterinary Technician Need?

You need to love animals—all animals—if you want to be a veterinary technician. Since you’ll play a role in their healthcare, you’ll need to have an interest in science and medicine. Here are a few other skills you’ll need:

• Communication: It’s important to listen closely to what owners tell you, and equally important to communicate information back to them.
• Calmness: Emergency cases can come at any time, so you’ll need to be able to keep a cool head and think quickly on your feet. You also don’t want your pet patients to get a bad vibe from you and feel more nervous than they already are.
• Compassion: Of course you care about those animals you love. But you’ll also need to show compassion for their owners. Especially with ill or injured pets, their owners may feel stressed and scared. It’s up to you to make them feel better.

So how can you become a veterinary technician? At YTI Career Institute, we offer a Veterinary Technician program in York, PA that will train you in animal anatomy and physiology, nutrition, nursing, handling, and much more. You’ll receive hands-on instruction both in our industry-modeled labs and at area farms, where you’ll get to work with live animals. Don’t wait—fill out the form to request more information today.