Frequently Asked Questions

Click on the green box beside each question to find out the answer!

	What is the difference between a Veterinarian, Veterinary Technologist,Veterinary Technician, and Veterinary Assistant?
	Are the correspondence courses I see on TV the same as those on college campuses?
	What is the difference between RVT, LVT, and CVT?
	Can I find employment with my veterinary technology degree?
	How can you handle putting animals to sleep?
	What happens if I don't get accepted into the Vet Tech Program?
	What do you do with all your animals?

What is the difference between a Veterinarian, Veterinary Technologist, Veterinary Technician, and Veterinary Assistant?
Persons with varying degrees of educational experience staff the Veterinary Hospital. Tasks performed in the hospital to provide animal care should be assigned to persons with appropriate education/training to ensure a positive outcome for the patient. There may be times when an employee may be asked to work at a level below their expertise, but in keeping with the philosophy of quality animal care, the opposite should not take place.

The Veterinarian is solely responsible for diagnosing, developing a prognosis, prescribing medication and performing surgery. They are ultimately responsible for all patient care and outcomes. Most Veterinarians apply for veterinary medical school admission while obtaining a bachelor degree in a compatible field. If accepted into a veterinary medical school the course of study usually takes another four years, making that a grand total of eight years of schooling. Every state requires a veterinarian to take and pass a licensing exam. Successful candidates are given a license to practice veterinary medicine.

The Veterinary Technician/Technologist is educated to be the veterinarian’s nurse, laboratory technician, radiography technician, anesthetist, surgical nurse and client educator. Many veterinary technicians/technologists are placed in a supervisory role in veterinary practices, research institutions and in other areas of employment. A Veterinary Technician is a graduate from a two year, American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) accredited program from a community college, college or university. A Veterinary Technologist has graduated from a four year AVMA accredited bachelor degree program. Almost every state requires a veterinary technician/technologist to take and pass a credentialing exam. Passing this exam ensures the public that the veterinary technician has entry level knowledge of the duties they are asked to perform in the veterinary clinic or hospital. Click on the Credentialing button for further information about becoming credentialed.

A Veterinary Technician/Technologist Specialist has met the same requirements as above plus spends about 75% of their time doing a specific task and has passed a specialist certification exam administered by a Specialist Academy. Currently there are three academies offering specialty certification. To learn more about specialty certification go to the NAVTA web stie and click on Career Building.

The Veterinary Assistant may have training through a high school, a college certificate program, or through a distance learning program over the Internet. Most however are trained on the job by the veterinarian or the veterinary technician. Their role is to assist the veterinarian or the veterinary technician in their daily tasks as well as in some basic set-up of equipment and cleaning of key areas in the clinic like the surgery suite. Some may be asked to do kennel cleaning and janitorial work as well. There is no credentialing exam for the veterinary assistant.

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Are the correspondence courses I've seen on TV the same as those on college campuses?
No! None of those meet AVMA standards for accreditation. Their graduates are not allowed to sit for credentialing exams in the majority of the states because they are veterinary assistant and not veterinary technology programs.

What is the difference between RVT, LVT, and CVT
Each state regulates veterinary technicians differently. Some are registered, some licensed, and some certified. Most states use the National Veterinary Technician Exam and regardless of which title is bestowed after passing the exam, you can have the score transferred to another state if that states uses the same exam. In most cases, after paying the state’s fee, you are then considered certified, licensed or registered in that state. Some states require a practical exam in addition to the written national exam. You would then have to fulfill that requirement too before becoming fully credentialed in that state.

Regulations for taking exams are found on the American Association of Veterinary State Boards web site.

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Can I find employment with my veterinary technology degree?
YES! Currently there is a strong demand for graduates from veterinary technology programs. In a 1999 survey done by the AVMA there were approximately 8 job openings for every one graduate. This trend is expected to continue for a long time! Veterinary technicians can find employment in veterinary practices, biomedical research, zoo/wildlife medicine, industry, military, livestock health management, pharmaceutical sales, etc. To find out more about careers in Veterinary Technology click on the CAREERS button at the top of this page.

How can you handle putting animals to sleep?
This is a difficult thing but in reality it is usually a kindness for the animal. Euthanasia is usually considered when the animal is very ill or has a severe injury. Under these circumstance the best thing to do for the animal is to end its suffering. This is usually accomplished with an overdose of anesthetic drug via an IV injection. The animal initially falls asleep as if for surgery but the overdose causes their heart to stop beating. This is an extremely quick procedure and is totally painless except for the initial needle stick.

What happens if I don't get accepted into the Vet Tech Program?
If you don't get accepted into the program we strongly urge you to visit with either Dr. Colville or Dr. Berryhill and discuss ways to improve your chances for the next selection process. If you are a Freshman and don't get in, there are more options than if you are a Junior or Senior. In any case, you can apply as often as you like. However, you may have to take some courses over to improve your GPA or re-evaluate other areas of your application.

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What do you do with the animals housed in the Program?
All of our animals are used to train the students in the nursing techniques necessary to help the veterinarian. These techniques include giving injections, drawing blood, bandaging, taking radiographs and spaying or neutering. We do NOT do any experimental surgeries, research projects or vivisection on our animals. They are treated as well as, if not better, than most family pets. We all love animals here and would never do anything to cause unnecessary pain or anguish to our animals.

Our Beagles are born here and we usually keep them for 2-3 years. After that we adopt them out to good homes. They seem to adjust to private life very well and we have very selective adoption standards. To inquire about the Beagles, please stop by Robinson Hall or call 231-6369.

The cats are kept only for a short time before they are adopted out. Each cat is given to us through a variety of sources. We test them for infectious diseases, and if healthy we vaccinate, spay or neuter, and use them for a short period of time in our program before finding them homes. If interested in adopting one our cats stop by Robinson Hall or call 231-6369.

The birds and rodents live out their lives here unless a student falls in love with them and would like to adopt them.

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