What is the difference between a Veterinary
Technician and a Veterinary Assistant?
There IS a difference between a Veterinary Technician and a
Veterinary Assistant. Both professions’ goal is providing proper
medical care to animal patients.
The difference lies in the training and certification. In the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Veterinary Technicians have
graduated from an accredited 2-and 4-year Veterinary Technology
program offered at select colleges. They have also taken a
comprehensive exam, and recognized by the Massachusetts
Veterinary Medical Association as Certified Veterinary Technicians
(CVT). Veterinary Technicians and Veterinary Assistants have a
similar job description, but Veterinary Technicians are allowed to do
more complex/invasive tasks such as venipuncture (blood draws), IV
catheter placement, and administer parenteral injections.
Veterinary Assistants, on the other hand, assist Veterinary
Technicians as well as the Veterinarian in multiple tasks. Just a few
of those tasks are being responsible for restraining animals, setting
up for procedures such as IV placement and surgery; and
administering oral medications for animal patients. Currently
Massachusetts does not have a formal certification process for
Veterinary Assistants; however Texas currently does, and it is that
program that I follow here to allow students the opportunity to have a
true certification in veterinary assisting. This is further explained in
the next section, “CVA Program”.
Students in this shop graduate with training as a veterinary assistant;
they have the option to gain the certification as a Certified Veterinary
Assistant (CVA) as well.