How Hard Is It to Be a Vet Tech?
The common answer is that it is not easy to be a veterinary technician. You have to finish a degree program from an accredited school to even attend the national exam. A few people seem to find schooling hard and may find it difficult to complete either a 2 or 4 year program to become a veterinary specialist. Lots of people also aren't good test takers and may find the national exam to be harder than expected. But, when I pose the question, "How hard is it to be a veterinary technician?", I don't mean in the since of finishing school or taking an exam. I am pertaining to the actual job itself. How hard is the actual job of a vet tech?
There's no doubt that the general answer to the question is that each individual veterinary technician will have a different take on how hard the job is. Each vet tech will also have their strengths and weaknesses in different areas of the position. As an example, maybe one vet technician is more comfortable being in surgery and another is better being in the examine room with clients. Hence the question is somewhat hard to answer and may vary a lot from individual to individual.
An area that I think all veterinary technicians would acknowledge would be that the job is very physical. If you don't like sweating or being dirty during the day, then you may find it extremely hard as a career. Restraining and lifting animals all day can be hugely tiring. It's hard to always expect to go home with clean scrubs (just see the article on anal gland expression). There are numerous days when a vet tech will go home and only need to shower and fall in their bed. There's also very little sitting associated with the job, a vet technician is continually standing or moving to different areas of the hospital.
There's also the very real possibility of physical harm. Being scratched, bitten, or in exposure to infectious agents will almost allways be possible. Not every animal which comes through the hospital doors will want to be cooperative. Animals fighting tooth and nail to get away from the vet techs grasp are precisely the situations when the position will seem extremely hard. Sweating while restraining a creature is not uncommon and can happen all day long. Not to say that a vet tech are forever sweaty, or always be restraining bad animals, however it's worth noting that those are aspect of the job. Many individuals may not be able to handle the physical duties of the job and come to the realization that being a vet tech just isn't satisfactory.
So in summary, being a veterinary tech, you may go home tired, sweaty, scratched, bitten, and bruised at the end of the day. Which sounds horrible. Unfortunately it is true! I think it is essential in those situations to keep in mind the reason why you wanted to become a vet tech in the first place, to assist the animals! And not all days will be hard, many will go perfectly smooth. But, if you happen to taking into consideration becoming a veterinary technician, just remember that the actual job can be hard!
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The common answer is that it is not easy to be a veterinary technician. You have to finish a degree program from an accredited school to even attend the national exam. A few people seem to find schooling hard and may find it difficult to complete either a 2 or 4 year program to become a veterinary specialist. Lots of people also aren't good test takers and may find the national exam to be harder than expected. But, when I pose the question, "How hard is it to be a veterinary technician?", I don't mean in the since of finishing school or taking an exam. I am pertaining to the actual job itself. How hard is the actual job of a vet tech?
There's no doubt that the general answer to the question is that each individual veterinary technician will have a different take on how hard the job is. Each vet tech will also have their strengths and weaknesses in different areas of the position. As an example, maybe one vet technician is more comfortable being in surgery and another is better being in the examine room with clients. Hence the question is somewhat hard to answer and may vary a lot from individual to individual.
An area that I think all veterinary technicians would acknowledge would be that the job is very physical. If you don't like sweating or being dirty during the day, then you may find it extremely hard as a career. Restraining and lifting animals all day can be hugely tiring. It's hard to always expect to go home with clean scrubs (just see the article on anal gland expression). There are numerous days when a vet tech will go home and only need to shower and fall in their bed. There's also very little sitting associated with the job, a vet technician is continually standing or moving to different areas of the hospital.
There's also the very real possibility of physical harm. Being scratched, bitten, or in exposure to infectious agents will almost allways be possible. Not every animal which comes through the hospital doors will want to be cooperative. Animals fighting tooth and nail to get away from the vet techs grasp are precisely the situations when the position will seem extremely hard. Sweating while restraining a creature is not uncommon and can happen all day long. Not to say that a vet tech are forever sweaty, or always be restraining bad animals, however it's worth noting that those are aspect of the job. Many individuals may not be able to handle the physical duties of the job and come to the realization that being a vet tech just isn't satisfactory.
So in summary, being a veterinary tech, you may go home tired, sweaty, scratched, bitten, and bruised at the end of the day. Which sounds horrible. Unfortunately it is true! I think it is essential in those situations to keep in mind the reason why you wanted to become a vet tech in the first place, to assist the animals! And not all days will be hard, many will go perfectly smooth. But, if you happen to taking into consideration becoming a veterinary technician, just remember that the actual job can be hard!