Happy Veterinary Technician Week To The Unsung Heroes Of Veterinary Medicine!

Veterinary technicians (depending on the state, they are titled: Licensed Veterinary Techicians, Certified Veterinary Technicians, or Registered Veterinary Technicians) are the Registered Nurses of veterinary medicine.  Like the veterinarians they serve, these talented and dedicated veterinary health care professionals are multi-species and multi-disciplinary oriented in the services they provide.  In my practice, our veterinary technicians see cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, small mammals, and reptiles.  On a given day, they are involved in drawing blood, placing IV’s, administering and monitoring anesthesia, scrubbing in to assist in surgery, scaling and polishing teeth, taking x-rays…the list can go on forever, but one can clearly get the point.  Vet techs do a lot, and they do it while getting bitten, scratched, pooped on, and urinated on!

Veterinary technician as a profession is not currently a very lucrative profession so, while it is a means to make a living, these talented and hardworking health professionals that have the aptitude to work in any branch of medicine, choose veterinary medicine as a labor of love and a calling more than any other factor that drives their career decisions.  Being driven by passion primarily in a profession that brings with it compassion fatigue, risk of injury, stress, and is physically labor intensive; makes those that choose it very special and unique individuals.  Some of the finest people I have had the privilege to know are veterinary technicians, starting first and foremost with my wife, Melissa Welton, CVT.

I am very pleased that our industry takes this week to celebrate veterinary technicians, these unsung heroes of veterinary medicine that make it possible for veterinarians to practice the best possible level of medicine, while helping us to stay on task, keep us organized, help us triage cases, and support us in countless other ways.  If you have the chance to, please take a moment to thank a veterinary technician for all they do for the furry innocents of the world!

Dr. Roger Welton is a practicing veterinarian and well regarded media personality throughout a number of subjects and platforms.  In addition to being passionate about integrative veterinary medicine for which he is a nationally renowned expert, Dr. Welton was also an accomplished college lacrosse player and remains to this day very involved in the sport.  He is president of Maybeck Animal Hospital , runs the successful veterinary/animal health  blogs Web-DVM and Dr. Roger’s Holistic Veterinary Care, and fulfills his passion for lacrosse through his lacrosse and sport blog, The Creator’s Game.