How to become a Veterinary Technician
Do you have a love of animals? Has it been a life-long dream to work with man's best friend? If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, a career as a veterinary technician may be the solution.
There are a few options to choose from for this type education. First, most institutions require that you have either a high-school diploma, or, a G.E.D., (general education diploma). Once you acquire either of these diplomas, you may apply to any technical institute that offers 'Veterinary Technician' as one of their courses. Most offer some type of financing and will allow a student to make monthly installments. Often, a student can continue a full-time work schedule and attend classes during the evenings, or on weekends.
If having to attend a classroom full of other students isn't right for you, there are some "on-line" educators that will offer programs for you to complete at your leisure. This type of learning generally has some sort of "time-frame" attached to it, but will allow you to complete your courses, provided you pay for the extensions. That is generally a small fee. The time-frame offered in these programs is ample, and unless an emergency arises that prevents you from completing your courses, an extension will, generally, not be needed. I should mention here, that some major universities offer "long-distance" learning through correspondence courses, although the price is substantially more expensive, it is another option.
It takes anywhere from one, to two years, more or less, to complete the courses required to become a veterinary technician. The courses in the veterinary technician program are usually divided into categories. Depending on what school you choose, it will probably begin with a general overview of what you will be studying, your duties in the workplace, and later in the course, how to complete an "extern-ship" at a veterinary clinic or hospital. Some of what you will be learning as you embark into this fascinating territory, is, veterinary medical terminology, clinical anatomy and physiology for veterinary technicians, instrumentation used in a veterinary setting, just to name a few. Toward the end of your program, you will, most likely, be required to complete an "extern-ship" in a veterinary clinic or hospital. Most veterinarians will be happy to welcome you aboard. You will gain experience through your extern-ship, by working directly with the veterinarian and/or the veterinarian's staff and gain a working knowledge of the veterinary technician's environment.
If you have a desire to work with a specific animal, for example, if you like to work with horses, some programs offer additional options, such as a specialty in equine studies. Whatever you choose, going to work every day should be a pleasurable experience and becoming a veterinary technician can be a very rewarding career.
