marine as vet tech?

[MAN OF STEEL]

right now i am amachine gunner in the marine corps.
i am moving units to the school of infantry, infantry training batallion. i am going to be a machine guns instructor for machine
gunners coming strainght from boot camp and i am going to have a bunch of extra time on my hands. i was thinking about getting a
second job as a vet tech or something. what is it really like working in a vet clinic? is it cool and a good way to spend my extra time making money and learning stuff, or is it not as good as it seems? personally, it sounds like a great idea, but i would like to get advice from people that work or have worked in vet clinics? i am looking for the pro's and con's.
thank you...

[eyespy]

A marine will probably have an easier time dealing with the doctor egos of the vets than most folks do, so there's one thing in your favor!!

It depends very much on the clinic and the types of caseloads they handle as to what a vet tech's experience is. I worked for VHUP (Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania) which is one of the busiest vet hospitals in the world. Even the vet techs were specialists there. I worked as a surgical tech for the reptile and avian surgery department, and further specialized in working at the various Humane Society surgery clinics that Penn used to staff.

So all I did was surgical assist, and it takes a strong stomach for that. It's many hours on your feet and physically challenging to keep your hands steady after many hours of adrenaline-filled work. Again your training may be a plus there. I could perform a number of semi-invasive procedures under the direction of my vet bosses, like placing stomach tubes, starting IVs, draining abscesses, debriding wounds, and even stitching surgical wounds.

In smaller clinics I've heard of vet techs who basically weighed the animals, showed patients to and from exam rooms, fed, watered and exercised the patients who had to be boarded there and not much else.

It's best to try and talk to techs working at each facility to get a better idea of what duties techs are allowed to do.

[MAN OF STEEL]

man you had an awesome job! sounds really cool! thanksfor the info. beingonmy feet or that strongstomach crap dont bother me at all, i have seen some pretty nasty stuff,so i think ill be ok.
thank you for your help!