What Does a Vet Tech Do? Top Duties, Salary, Skills, and More

Are you struggling to give adequate time and attention to all your veterinary patients?

Do you feel like you and your in-house staff are drowning in the sheer volume of tasks to perform every day?

Then a vet tech might be the perfect solution.

But what is a vet tech? What are the essential vet tech duties, including daily responsibilities, required skills, and salary expectations? And, most importantly, how can they help your business grow?

This article will delve into what a veterinary technician is, what their duties are, and how they benefit your practice. We’ll also look at what you can expect to pay them and more so you can decide if hiring one is the ideal solution for your practice.

What is a veterinary technician?

A vet technician performs different tasks to treat and provide care for animals. These include preparing vaccines, taking samples, and performing tests to help diagnose and treat pets’ diseases and illnesses.

Employment of veterinary technicians is predicted to grow by 20% from 2021 to 2031 — much faster than average for all occupations.

There are about 15,500 openings for veterinary technicians each year in the U.S. alone. This indicates that the need for these technicians is increasing by the year.

Requirements and education

Veterinary technicians need to have a strong background in mathematics and biological sciences.

They also need a degree or equivalent accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Upon completion of the program, they need to pass the National Veterinary Technician Exam to become eligible for a license.

Some veterinary technicians may also be required to learn additional skills through formal or informal training, such as how to use specific software programs or computer systems.

Common vet tech duties

Here are some common responsibilities that vet technicians perform.

Let’s take a closer look.

Help with patient examinations

Vet technicians help licensed veterinarians with pets’ physical exams. They help to restrain animals during exams, prepare tools and supplies, and provide the veterinarian with anything else they may need to perform these examinations.

Assist with surgeries and tests

Vet technicians also help veterinarians with surgical procedures and medical tests.

They’re often required to prepare animals for surgery, run laboratory tests, take and process x-rays, clean and sterilize equipment, monitor vital signs, give anesthesia to animals, and more.

Tests and surgeries differ depending on the type of pet and its size.

Administer medications and treatments

Vet technicians are often required to provide pet owners with medications, treatments, and vaccines based on the veterinarian’s instructions. They need to give clear instructions to ensure that pet owners administer their pets’ medications correctly.

Collect and record patient histories

When new patients arrive, vet technicians need to record their basic information, such as their weight, breed, and age. They also need to obtain and update patient records as pets receive new treatments.

Educate animal owners on aftercare

After a pet’s treatment or surgical procedure, a vet tech needs to educate the owner on how the aftercare treatments need to be administered. This helps keep the pet’s injury or illness from getting worse or resurfacing.

Assist with biomedical research

Vet technicians will sometimes need to perform market and biomedical research to stay up to date with the latest medications, treatments, and more. This helps the veterinary practice to remain competitive and provide the best possible solutions to its patients.

Order equipment and supplies

Vet technicians are also often required to order supplies and equipment. To make the process easier and more efficient, they can determine when supplies tend to run out every month and make sure they order new supplies in advance.

Additional services

Some veterinary technicians may also be required to perform clerical duties, such as responding to client emails, answering phone calls, and assisting with bookings.

A veterinary virtual assistant can perform many of these services at a fraction of the cost of an in-person veterinary technician.

They can communicate with clients, order stock, create patient records, and much more. Hire a veterinary virtual assistant from Hello Rache today.

Learn the differences between a veterinary technician and a veterinary virtual assistant.

Where do veterinary technicians work?

Veterinary technicians can work in many different environments.

Animal hospitals and private veterinary clinics are their most common workplaces. However, they can also work in laboratories, zoos, farms, pet shelters, and even universities.

Their schedules may differ from workplace to workplace. While many of them work during business hours, they are often required to come in during emergency situations and to provide critical animal care.

Benefits of hiring a vet tech

Here are the top four advantages of hiring a veterinary technician for your practice.

1. Better customer service

90% of customers say they spend more with businesses that personalize the customer service experience.

Pet owners tend to be extremely passionate about their pets — in fact, in many ways, their pets are like children to them. This is why exceptional customer service and support are an absolute must for all veterinary practices.

A veterinary technician will help your practice provide great customer care by answering customer questions, helping them with aftercare, providing them support whenever they need it, and more.

As a result, clients will see that your practice truly cares about their pets and will continue to come back. They may even refer you to friends or family who have pets of their own.

2. Lighter workload

Vet technicians can take over many daily tasks, such as answering customer queries, making travel arrangements, and performing market research.

This will lighten the workload for both you and your in-house team so that you have more time to focus on the more important tasks that’ll help your business grow.

This means you’ll have more time to spend with your patients — which will also contribute to an excellent customer experience.

3. Higher levels of productivity

Removing many of the clinical tasks means your in-house team will have more time to focus on their own work. As a result, they’ll be more productive and better able to complete their work on time.

This will make your business processes run more smoothly, creating a far better, less stressful work environment and a positive company culture.

4. Save money

If you hire a virtual veterinary assistant, you’ll save a lot of money while removing much of the weight from your shoulders.

You won’t have to spend countless nights working overtime and trying to finalize business tasks. Instead, your virtual assistant will be able to perform all of these tasks remotely.