Pet Owners: Are Having Certified/Licensed/Registered Veterinary Technicians on Staff Important to You?
Tuesday September 11, 2007
The issue of regulating veterinary technicians has been discussed and debated in veterinary circles for some time. As pet owners, how do YOU feel about the certifications of the staff that cares for your pet? Is it important to you, or none of your business? Cast your vote in the poll and add your comments on this topic in the "comments" link below.
Comments
I am all for Vet Tech certification, and with mandatory recert training. I have been given incorrect information from vet techs on more than one occasion.
I have had had both on the job trained and Vet Techs work on my animals. I value the Vet Techs knowledge and training. I am not in favor of on the job training. The hours of study and the knowledge they bring with them are very valuable.
Without some form of certification, I can never know exactly what skills and knowledge a person has, and therefore don’t know if they are properly trained to perform the services my pet needs–monitoring anesthesia, recognizing emergencies, administering medications, and so on.
There are lots of people out there who call themselves “veterinary technicians” who actually have not been credentialed as such. This, of course, reduces the significance of the title (if anyone could walk into a hospital and get a job as a “nurse,” then we would think less of the nursing profession as a whole because lots of nurses would not meet the standards that we have come to expect).
Credentials can be earned in a number of ways in different states. Some require an AAS degree and national and state board exams (like TX); others may have a grandfathering option which allows those with a certain amount of OTJ experience to challenge the board exam(s); and there are alternate routes available in a few states (such as CA).
Bottom line: pet owners deserve to know (and should demand) that credentialed individuals are providing those services that require training and knowledge to perform.