How to Become a Vet Tech: Easy Steps

Passionate about animals? You could turn it into a rewarding career—becoming a vet tech might be the perfect path for you. Foremost, vet techs work directly with animals. Then, it’s a job that combines science, care, and dedication into a career filled with opportunities and rewards. Whether you’re comforting a scared puppy with sad eyes, assisting in a life-saving surgery, or educating owners on their pets, your work as a vet tech has a profound impact.

In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know about becoming a vet tech—from the skills you’ll need and the steps to where you can find help with admission. Prepare for the journey. And let’s start.

What Is a Veterinary Technician And What Does a Vet Tech Do?

A veterinary technician, commonly called a vet tech, is a highly trained professional who supports veterinarians in providing animal care. Their work involves medical tasks, patient care, and communication, all of which aim to ensure the health and well-being of animals.

Vet techs are often compared to nurses in human medicine. Just as nurses support doctors, vet techs assist veterinarians in everything from routine exams to complex surgeries. Let’s compare the key responsibilities of a veterinary technician with those of a vet doctor.

However, the work of a vet tech isn’t limited to clinical settings—many vet techs also work in research, wildlife rehabilitation, and specialty fields.

How to become a veterinary technician? It may seem arduous (and yes, it is), but it’s totally worth it. Here’s a short plan of what you need to do:

1. Earn a high school diploma.
2. Complete an AVMA-accredited program (2-3 years), and gain hands-on experience.
3. Pass the VTNE exam and meet state licensing requirements.

Voila. You can start your career in clinics, hospitals, or zoos, and consider specializing in areas like anesthesia or emergency care for growth—anything you like.

Besides, becoming a veterinary technician is rewarding but isn’t typically considered highly lucrative compared to other healthcare professions. However, apart from well-paid income, there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of helping a sick or injured animal recover. You’ll smile when seeing wagging tails, grateful owners, and animals thriving because of your care. If you’re considering writing about this fulfilling career, consulting a medical school essay writer can help articulate your passion and dedication effectively. This career requires patience and resilience, but the rewards are worth it.

How Long Does It Take to Become a Vet Tech?

The time it takes to become a vet tech depends on your chosen educational path and state requirements. Generally, the journey can take between 2 to 4 years, depending on your level of commitment and whether you pursue additional certifications or specializations.

• Associate Degree in Veterinary Technology:
  Most vet techs complete a two-year associate degree program accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). These programs include coursework in animal anatomy, pharmacology, and surgical procedures, along with hands-on clinical training.
• Accelerated or Part-Time Options:
  If you need flexibility, some schools offer part-time or online programs. These options might extend the timeline slightly but can make balancing education with work or family responsibilities easier.
• Specializations or Advanced Training:
  If you decide to specialize in fields like anesthesia, dentistry, or wildlife rehabilitation, you’ll need to invest additional time in education, clinical experience, and certification. Specializations can take an extra 1–2 years, depending on the requirements.

While the timeline varies, the journey to becoming a vet tech is manageable and well worth the effort. See more detailed info in the following section.

How to Become a Vet Tech: 8 Simple Steps

Becoming a vet tech is a straightforward process when broken into steps. Here’s a clear roadmap to guide you.

Step 1: Earn Your High School Diploma or Equivalent

Your journey begins with a high school diploma or GED. During high school, focus on subjects like biology, chemistry, and math. These courses provide a profound understanding of the scientific concepts you’ll encounter in veterinary technology programs.

If your school offers electives like animal science or opportunities to volunteer with local shelters, grab them. These experiences will give you a lot of practice along with valuable insights into working with animals. Practice is crucial, as soon as fieldwork differs from the description in the textbooks. Moreover, this practice will give a nice background motivation to mention in your personal statement papers.

Step 2: Decide Between Vet Technician and Vet Technologist

Before committing to a program, it’s essential to understand the difference between a vet technician and a vet technologist.

Your choice will depend on your career goals, the time you can dedicate to education, and your desired work environment.

Step 3: Enroll in an AVMA-Accredited Vet Tech Program

An AVMA-accredited vet tech program ensures you receive a high-quality education that meets industry standards. These programs typically include a mix of classroom learning and hands-on training in areas such as:

• Animal anatomy and physiology
• Pharmacology and toxicology
• Diagnostic imaging and laboratory procedures
• Surgical preparation and anesthesia monitoring

Many programs also include externships, allowing you to gain practical experience in real-world veterinary settings.

Step 4: Complete an Internship or Clinical Experience

Hands-on experience is a cornerstone of your education. Internships or clinical rotations allow you to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to real-life scenarios. Under the guidance of licensed veterinarians or veterinary technicians, you’ll develop critical skills, build confidence, and form connections in the veterinary community.

Step 5: Pass the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE)

The VTNE is a comprehensive exam that tests your knowledge and skills in veterinary technology. Offered by the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB), this exam is a crucial step in becoming credentialed.

To prepare, consider using: study guides and practice exams, online resources, including flashcards and tutorials, and peer study groups for shared learning—use everything you can find to ease your learning. Without certification you’ll be able to grow in your career, as soon as passing the VTNE demonstrates your readiness to work as a professional vet tech.

Step 6: Obtain Certifications and State Licenses

After passing the VTNE, you’ll need to meet your state’s credentialing requirements. Depending on where you live, this might include:

• Additional exams or coursework
• Background checks
• Continuing education credits

Once you’re credentialed, you’ll hold a title such as Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT), Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), or Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT), depending on which vet tech programs you took.

Step 7: Start Your Job Search

Congratulations! You’ve finished your college study and are ready to find your first position. What jobs can you get with a vet tech degree? 

Primarily, look for a veterinary technician, however, you can apply for some specialized positions. For example, emergency and critical care vet tech, surgical veterinary technician, veterinary laboratory technician, pharmaceutical or biotech industry.

If you want to work with wildlife, you can be a vet tech in zoos or aquariums or a wildlife rehabilitation vet tech, if any in the location where you live. Furthermore, an animal shelter or rescue vet tech, a vet tech instructor, or a vet tech in animal behavior or training could be a nice alternative if you want a socially responsible career.

Each of these roles offers a unique opportunity to work with animals in different settings, allowing you to choose the one that best fits your skills and interests. 

Step 8: Pursue Specializations or Further Education

Finally, you’re at the end of your route to becoming a vet tech. However, perfection is unreal without determination. As you gain experience, you might decide to specialize in a specific area, such as:

• Emergency and critical care.
• Equine medicine.
• Marine animal health.
• Animal behavior.

Specializations often require additional certifications but can lead to higher salaries and more advanced roles. Read more about other professions that might of interest to you: how to become a psychologist and steps to becoming a nurse.

Important Skills for Vet Techs

Success as a vet tech requires more than technical knowledge. You need to develop both hard and soft skills.

Hard Skills are technical competencies that are learned through education, training, and hands-on experience in the veterinary field. These skills are directly applicable to the clinical duties of a vet tech.

Soft skills are often personality traits and interpersonal abilities that make you an effective and compassionate veterinary technician.

Veterinary technicians need a combination of both types of skills to succeed in their careers, as soft skills help with patient care and communication, while hard skills are necessary for carrying out medical and technical tasks.

Online Vet Tech Programs

For those seeking flexibility, online vet tech programs offer an excellent alternative to traditional in-person education. Here are the top options.

AVMA-Accredited Online Vet Tech Programs

Fortunately, for aspiring veterinary technicians who need flexibility in their education, several accredited online vet tech programs are available. The Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA), a division of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), has compiled veterinary technician associate degree examples.

Purdue University

Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Program: Veterinary Technology Program

Expected Time to Completion: 36 months

Key Features: 27 didactic courses, 18 clinical mentorship experiences, diagnostic imaging, pharmacology, anesthesia, small animal nursing, large animal care.

Penn Foster

Location: Online

Program: Veterinary Technician Program

Expected Time to Completion: 12 months

Key Features: Partnerships with VCA, Banfield, BluePearl, includes courses in medical nursing, clinical pathology, radiography, medical math, and parasitology.

Dallas College

Location: Lancaster

Program: Veterinary Technology Distance Education Program

Expected Time to Completion: about 24 months.

Key Features: They offer both traditional and distance education components, accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and partnered with the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). This program provides flexible scheduling to accommodate students' needs, allowing them to take courses in the fall, spring, or summer semesters and to adjust their course load as necessary.

St. Petersburg College

Location: St. Petersburg, Florida

Program: Vet Tech Program

Expected Time to Completion: 36 months

Key Features: Clinical experience, $11 million veterinary technology facility, 93% job placement rate for graduates.

Regardless of the program you choose, you can always ease your path to your career goals with essay writer services. Many high-end writers from there can utterly enhance your academic papers.

Northern Virginia Community College

Location: Loudoun

Program: Veterinary Technology

Expected Time to Completion: 2 years.

Key Features: The program prepares students for specialized disciplines such as primary care, anesthesia and analgesia, surgery, dentistry, emergency and critical care, animal behavior, equine veterinary nursing, internal medicine, oncology, and rehabilitation. Through this comprehensive curriculum, graduates will be ready to pursue careers in a wide range of veterinary specialties.

Vet Tech Salary Overview

The median annual veterinary technician salary as of 01 November, 2024, is about $40,093, with top earners making over $54,519. Entry-level salaries start at around $27,968 annually, while top earners get over $54,519 annually.

Obviously, factors like specialization, location, and experience can increase earnings, so we recommend considering them from the start. However, with demand for vet techs expected to grow by 19% over the next decade, anyway, now is a great time to enter this field.

Final Thoughts

Becoming a vet tech is more than just a job—it’s a calling for those who are passionate about animals. Whether you’re assisting in a life-saving surgery, comforting a worried pet owner, or ensuring a stray animal gets a second chance, your work makes a difference every single day.

By following these steps, earning your credentials, and continually learning, you can build a rewarding career in veterinary technology. Have a good luck!

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