Vet Techs?

[SerpentLust]

I'm still thinking of my whole continuing education thing and I thought of something...can Veterinary Technicians work on their own? Offering basic medical checkups and such? I know they can't do surgeries or anything on their own. But it was just a thought that occured to me...

Jenn

[BurmBaroness]

In the US I don't believe they are allowed to do those things. Everything a vet tech does is under the directions of the vet. The vet tech acn give injections, start iv's, give meds, etc. but all must be prescribed and dosages calculated by the vet. I don't see how any of that would be able to be done on one's own.

[Big Mike]

My girlfriend was looking into taking the Vet Tech. program but opted out when she leaned that a lot of the work was cleaning poop and euthanizing animals.

[eyespy]

After 8 years of working as a veterinary surgical tech I finally qualified for my wildlife rehabber's permits and now I can do some stuff on my own in my home-based rescue, feeding tubes, sutures, blood draws,etc. without direct veterinary supervision. I have consulting vets come in weekly or more often for the stuff I can't handle on my own and to do general health checks, fecals, surgery, etc.

It takes a long time to convince the state and federal governments that you can provide basic care, though, and it would have been quicker, although not cheaper, to just go to vet school. ;)

[vanderkm]

Veterinary technicians in Canada are covered by legislation that is specific for each province, but they cannot engage in anything that might be considered the 'practice of veterinary medicine' which would include making diagnoses, doing examinations for diagnosis, providing treatment or performing surgery without the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. The scope of a tech's role in veterinary practices depends to a great extent on the vets that they work for - and as Mike says, too often they are limited to kennel care and janitorial services - but some vets appreciate the skills that a trained tech brings to the job and will supervise them to handle many of the more complex and fun tasks. Good luck if that is a route you choose to pursue.

mary v.

[SerpentLust]

I was actually thinking like doing Fecals and the home remedies and such. But I mean, most of us know how to do at least the home remedies on herps WITHOUT any qualifications...I was just wondering if I would be charged or something if I was to offer "basic medical care" aka home remedies and fecals...

Jenn

[vanderkm]

Can only speak for the situation in Alberta, but definately a high risk if you offered any service that could be included as 'practice of veterinary medicine' you would be liable to be charged and in my opinion if you were a registered AHT and were offering those services you would be in breach of your professional obligations and would be subject to losing your license.

To the best of my knowledge you can legally perform any of these practices on your personal animals, but when you presume to offer expertise to others in the absence of credible training and without accountability for the services you are offering, you would be putting yourself in a very difficult legal and ethical situation. I believe this applies whether you charge for the service or not. That is even one of the factors that makes veterinarians reluctant to offer care to species for which they do not feel adequately qualified. One disgrunteled client could end a career and be financially devastating.

I would advise that you check this out thoroughly with the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association and their association of Laboratory Technicians before making any plans,

mary v.

[chas*e]

All you need is a microscope and time to learn. The microscope work involved, fecals and bloodwork, takes a bit of study to learn whats what, but it is fun exploring that world.....About charging, well ...I wouldn't advertise because the Medical/Vet community tends to frown on people charging in their field of expertise, without diplomas...lol...besides a wrong diagnosis can cause problems as you would guess. I do my own fecals/bloodwork with my own collection( for financial reasons )and find it really interesting but there is so much to learn ....if you think there is a lot of Latin names in snakes species you should see the microscopic world..lol

[eyespy]

I can only do fecals and stuff on animals that have been surrendered into my care, not on somebody else's pets. Otherwise I would be charged with practicing medicine without a license, whether or not I collected money from that owner.