Veterinary Technician Assistant

Veterinary Technician Assistants or simply Veterinary Assistants are non-credentialed, and non-licensed personnel who provide the necessary assistance to Veterinary Doctors and Veterinary Technicians, as well. They help out Veterinary Technicians and give aid in providing proper care to animals. Usually, Veterinary Assistants are experienced workers in the field of animal care. They need not have any formal education in veterinary care, though. On-the-job trainings will suffice as a requirement.

Duties of a Veterinary Technician Assistant

Duties performed by Veterinary Assistants are often different from Veterinary Technicians. If Veterinary Technicians are responsible administering medications to animals, Veterinary Assistants are the ones who perform front office works, assisting Veterinary Technicians in preparing tools for animal surgeries and procedures, and scheduling appointments. Aside from these, there are other duties of a Veterinary Assistant.

• Feeds the animals and maintain cleanliness in their cages
• Cleans and prepares laboratory equipments
• Files documents
• Overall in-charge of client payments and billing
• Writing and pulling charts

Veterinary Assistant gets a lot of hands on experience with animals, so it will be a huge advantage for them to be an animal lover. A Veterinary Assistant combines the task of fundamental animal care and administrative work. Vet Assistants should be flexible enough in doing these jobs. Nevertheless, Veterinary assistants gain a lot from working with Veterinary Technician. This may be a good influence to pursue a career as a licensed Veterinary Technician.

Veterinary Technician Assistant Field

If you want to pursue a career that deals with animals, a Veterinary Assistant job is a good career start. Veterinary Assistants do not need a medical degree and special training as mandatory requirements, although some schools offer courses that include training on keeping environment clean, practicing personal hygiene and safety as well as restraining animals. Nonetheless, the interest to provide care to animals and the willingness to become skilled at these matters remain to be important factors to consider.

When you get hired as a Veterinary Assistant, the first thing you need to do is to be properly aware of your duties. A Veterinary Assistant needs to familiarize himself with the standard operating procedures of the clinic or facility. A Veterinary Doctor or licensed Veterinary Technician will teach Veterinary Assistants how to handle animal patients, particularly with how to give proper treatment. Veterinary Assistants are also expected to do clerical errands, educating clients and doing other help to veterinary doctors.

Job and Salary Outlook

The career outlook for Veterinary Assistants is as good as Veterinary Technician profession. The increasing number of jobs for Veterinary Assistants proves that this type of professional is highly in demand. 75, 000 jobs have been recorded in 2006, and 80,000 in 2008. The field is anticipated to grow through 2016.

A Veterinary Assistant is paid an average of $9 to $10 per hour. A Vet Assistant can usually expect an income of about $27,000 per year or more. Meanwhile, Veterinary Assistant can also help other animal shelters voluntarily. Though helping in these institutions will not necessarily earn income, one can gain skills and experiences that can help them improve skills.