Lab tech or vet assistant?

[psuforever390]

Hi guys, I recently graduated from undergrad and I am currently seeking employment before applying to vet school. I am deciding between getting a job as a lab animal technician/research assistant or a vet assistant. I thought that maybe because I paid for my degree, I should at least put it to good use. I'm also interested in working with lab animals and I gained a good amount of experience working with them from undergrad. At the same time, I know that I am lacking in my veterinary clinical experience. I have a little over 100 hours shadowing at vet clinics, 200 hours working as a kennel tech at a big practice and 160 hrs shadowing at an equine medical center. The only real hands on clinical experience I gained were restraining animals, walking and feeding dogs, giving oral medications, and administering insulin shots. I was wondering if vet schools look down upon lack of clinical experience? When I was interviewed for a vet assistant job the other day, they asked me if I had experience with putting on a catheter or drawing blood from an animal.. Is that something you should be able to do before vet school? 😕

I also recently had interviews for lab animal tech positions at charles river and NIH and they sounded like great opportunities. They also mentioned that I would have some opportunities to interact with a veterinarian when I am assisting in necropsies. But most of the job will be animal experience. These positions also pay higher than a vet assistant haha. I am leaning towards getting a job at a lab but is this a good idea if I need to gain more vet experience? Also for those who also took time between undergrad and vet school, what jobs did you have? Any input and advice is appreciated!

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[Jess Monster]

I was wondering if vet schools look down upon lack of clinical experience? When I was interviewed for a vet assistant job the other day, they asked me if I had experience with putting on a catheter or drawing blood from an animal.. Is that something you should be able to do before vet school? 😕

Vet schools like to see experience, period. The point of this experience is career exploration and not specifically to build a professional skill set (some people will do that but it's not an expectation). You don't need 1000's of hours in <insert some specific career path> to understand what veterinarians in that field do. You will learn all of the basic clinical skills and more in vet school.

These positions also pay higher than a vet assistant haha.!

You have clinical experience. You might not have thousands of hours of it, but you have it. Go for the job that will make your life easier financially.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Why not take the lab animal tech job and shadow during your free time (you'll have a decent amount of it)?

Also, even with lab animals there are different types of jobs. I'm guessing with Charles river it's mostly mice with some rats thrown in and it's mostly husbandry/colony management? Will you be able to work with more species at NIH? Some lab animal positions particularly with the larger mammals and primates actually have people doing veterinary work (sedating, blood draws, IV caths, more substantial treatments). And many of them do not require a vet tech degree, but would prefer if you were certified (or will get certified) for lab animal. And they work directly under veterinary supervision and it is vet experience.

Vet experience vs animal experience does matter, and quality of experience does matter as well, but not in the way you think it does. It's not about the amount of tech skills you gain that vet schools care about. It's more about how deep and broad an understanding of the profession you get. Being able to intelligently speak about that through your experience is what matters. Bonus points if it's different from the run of the mill tech/assistant perspective of a small animal GP that everyone seems to have. But if all you're doing is cleaning mice cages everyday and gassing them to death here and there... and you don't ever work with the veterinarian, I'm not sure if that's going to be the best experience you could have. If you could couple that with a good amount of quality shadowing gigs (maybe even with the lab animal vet too since you already have clearance), it might be the best of both worlds in terms of getting paid and building experience.

It is nice if you can get tech skills prior since you don't get too many opportunities during vet schools to get good at it through the formal curriculum. But you can actively look for those learning opportunities yourself during school.

 

[Despoina]

Make sure to differentiate between animal technician and a veterinary technician in the research field. There are some places where its a mixture of both but there are also some institutions that have a clear definition of the two. An animal technician is mostly in charge of husbandry in the facility. The veterinary technician is the one who has more veterinary interactions in terms of room rounds, health checks, administering medicine, surgery, etc. Charles River is mostly rodents but it is a good foundation to have if you're interested in lab animal - getting to learn the strains, breeding management, quarantine procedures, etc. From there, you can work towards getting a ALAT certification if you want and that will open up opportunities. Just like Minnerbelle said, you can shadow small animals during your free time but its nearly impossible to shadow at research locations due to restrictions such as clearance.