What a veterinary technician does in a workday
Name: Annette Brown
Location: Rochester, Mich.
Job title: Veterinary technician
Previous jobs: I worked in finance/accounting for 17 years. I was always a math lover, and that seemed the natural path to take. I became discouraged with the politics involved in the large corporation in which I worked. The company was not good at promoting women, and I became disheartened. I also grew bored and restless.
What led me to my current role: Discouraged with the corporate world, I decided to pursue something else. As I’ve always loved animals (most every childhood picture of me has a dog and/or cat in my lap or nearby), I decided to become a veterinary technician. I went back to school and got my license and haven’t looked back. I’ve worked in the same clinic for 25 years. We are a busy practice with seven doctors, eight licensed technicians, 10 technician assistants and seven receptionists.
How I spend the majority of my workday: Licensed technicians perform a variety of duties. If assigned to a specific doctor, we, much like nurses, determine what the client/pet appointment is for, get a history on the patient, and determine what vaccines are needed or what is happening with the pet if it is sick. We then perform any tests the doctor requires. We dispense any medications required and write prescriptions for the doctor. We prepare the invoices as well.
Technicians also perform in the surgery area — calculating and drawing up drugs, applying IV catheters, drawing blood, prepping the patient, administering and monitoring anesthesia, helping the patient recover. We also do teeth cleaning for dentals.
Technicians monitor and medicate hospitalized patients according to doctors’ instructions.
My workday
3:30 a.m.: I wake up (I’m a natural early riser and do not need an alarm clock), start the coffee, feed my two dogs and give medicine to the one with heart disease. I then brush my teeth, drink coffee and read the news and my emails.
4 a.m.: Exercise. I do this every day. It keeps me relatively sane. I have a workout room in the basement with several exercise machines, free weights and space for floor exercises.
5 a.m.: Shower, get dressed (wearing a uniform is wonderful), make a vegetable/fruit juice and breakfast food (usually oatmeal, whole-grain pancakes, or apples and peanut butter). I eat that and give the dogs a morning chicken treat. I also watch a bit of garbage TV and look at Facebook or Instagram.
7 a.m.: Arrive at work and begin to take in surgery patients. All patients for surgery come in the morning and are given physicals. I draw blood if needed, place an IV catheter and calculate the anesthetic drugs and pain medications. With surgeries, I induce anesthesia, intubate the pet, hook up to gas anesthesia, place monitors and prepare the surgery site. As the doctor operates, I monitor anesthesia, then recover the patient when surgery is completed. I then prepare the surgery invoice, create discharge instructions and input the surgical report.
11:30 a.m.: Lunch. Our clinic is very good at making sure we get a lunch hour. The exception is when a surgical procedure runs long. I have a salad that I prepare at home every day.
12:30 p.m.: I’m a float technician for the afternoon. The float technician handles all the duties that the technicians working with a doctor do not. This includes tech appointments (usually nail trims, expressing anal glands, blood draws that go to an outside lab, blood pressure checks, etc.), surgery patient discharges, phone calls from clients, prescription refills that clients call in and other miscellaneous duties. This can be very hectic at times if many things are happening at once.
4 p.m.: Back home, where I feed/medicate the dogs and have my dinner. I usually go for a big meal: beans, legumes, veggies and lots of whole-grain bread, because I love bread. I’ll take the larger dog for a nice walk (the little one thinks walks are stupid), then I’ll get the next day’s salad prepared and relax a bit. I usually go upstairs to “watch TV” — a.k.a. fall asleep around 8 p.m. Then up the next day to start again.
My job can be very hectic, fast-paced and physically demanding — a far cry from sitting at a desk all day. I have never regretted making my career change.
