Veterinarian vs. Veterinarian Technician: Whats the Difference?
9 February 2010
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The field of veterinary is broadly dominated by three main positions that is present at every practice, they are; Veterinarian, Veterinarian Technician or Technologist and Veterinarian Assistant. While all three roles relate to the provision of qualitative medical care, they vary according to scope, responsibility and salary. Following is a brief overview of the various positions:
Veterinarian: A veterinarian is of course the backbone of every practice. The veterinarian is the primary service provider who is in charge of everything from medical procedures to performing tests, surgeries and the like. In terms of comparison, the veterinarian position is the highest in the chain of command. The veterinarian is responsible for supervision of the other positions and is eligible for the highest salary grade earning anywhere around $70,000 – $100,000 (approx.) per year on average. Primary duties include; Medical care, critical care, surgery and performing routine procedures, prescribing and administering medication etc.
Veterinarian Technician/Technologist: If the veterinarian is the first in command in a veterinary practice, then a veterinarian technician can be considered the second in command. The veterinarian technician is licensed and capable of performing almost all tasks that a veterinarian can with a few meaningful exceptions. The veterinarian tech’s primary role lies as a support to the veterinarian assisting her/him in their responsibilities. The average salary scale for a vet tech ranges around $27,000 – $38,000 (approx.) per year. Primary responsibilities include: Assisting the veterinarian in their duties including but not confined to performing medical procedures both supervised and unsupervised, testing and finding conclusions on samples taken from patients etc. It is worthy of note that most vet techs eventually cross over to become fully fledged veterinarians.
Veterinarian Assistant: A veterinarian assistant is the individual responsible to ensure smooth running of the practice. This primarily involves anything from aiding the veterinarian and vet techs in their activities, to preparing samples for testing, cleaning and sterilizing the medical equipment, keeping the premises of the practice clean and presentable, performing some medical tasks under the supervision of the vet techs or veterinarian etc. The salary range of a vet assistant is somewhat similar to that of a vet tech, earning an average $23,000 – $35,000. The primary line of distinction between a vet tech and a vet assistant is that vet assistants are required to be supervised while performing some more advanced tasks while a vet tech may not require such supervision.
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