What do *YOU* do at your clinic?

[ReadyBeVet]

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I worked with a VMD a few summers ago and basically shadowed all summer. At the time I was between my 2nd and 3rd year of college. I cleaned, bathed animals, restrained animals during exams, filled prescriptions, observed surgery, and called clients/made appointments.

I just started working for another DVM that works with exotics & companion animals. I'm done with college and just finishing some remaining pre-reqs. I find that I am doing so much more with this vet. I'm doing clerical work, but also taking x-rays, giving barium series, preparing & giving vaccines and other injectibles, drawing blood, doing fecal samples, TPR before, during, and after surgery, prepping animals for surgery, etc. I'm very excited about all of it and the hands on training that I'm receiving. I'm not sure if it is because I'm an older, more responsible adult or just that this Veterinarian is really understanding and trying to give me as much experience as possible. All I know is that I LOVE it!

So, in your experiences- what have/haven't you been able to do? What do you think the positive/negative implications of this are?
I know that in some states it varies. I'm in Pennsylvania where you don't have to be a registered technician.

 

[r00]

here in FL you dont need to be a registered tech either... so I can pretty much do anything that he wants...

The place where I shadowed the doctor is really hands on and doesnt have any techs on staff so he would let me give vaccines to my own animals, and draw blood on animals that were in boarding... other than that it was only restraining animals, preparing vaccines, and watching surgeries, etc...

At my job now the doctor is still pretty hands on but expects me to be able to do most of the stuff that goes on there... I give injections, draw blood, run blood work, scrub animals for surgery, hold things during surgery, and the list goes on... After "suture class" he said he might allow me to do some basic surgeries under his supervision like declaws and neuters - which I think is wicked awesome

 

[BR549]

I do pretty much everything mentioned earlier, except scrub for surgeries, draw blood and give injections. I want to learn how to suture soooo bad! I think I'm gonna get me some chickens from the grocery store and have the Dr. teach me. Note: I spent nearly a year in the kennels before I got to do tech. work.

 

[CanadianGolden]

After "suture class" he said he might allow me to do some basic surgeries under his supervision like declaws and neuters - which I think is wicked awesome

I didn't think this was legal.

 

[aspiringDVM]

I didn't think this was legal.

Performing surgery (with the exception of food animal castration) seems to be universally prohibited for non-veterinarians (or vet students in some states). This just seems like a bad, bad, BAD idea to me, although there is a small part of my mind that agrees that it would be "wicked awesome 😀."

 

[themightyfuzz]

Let's see...

I rarely did kennel work as there was dedicated kennel staff, but if I had a spare moment or if both the kennel staff were sick, etc, I would help clean cages, check in/out clients, walk dogs, etc.

Usually I helped restrain animals, clip nails, scrub animals in for surgery, help do surgery prep (ie setting up the surgery packs, etc), filling prescriptions, help do x-rays, pull intubation tubes post surgery, preparing vaccines, staining slides, setting up fecals, running lots of bloodwork, etc.

I didn't get to do any of the fun things like pulling blood or putting in catheters, but I'm sure that will be soon enough. 🙂

 

[1CellNtheSea]

Performing surgery (with the exception of food animal castration) seems to be universally prohibited for non-veterinarians (or vet students in some states). This just seems like a bad, bad, BAD idea to me, although there is a small part of my mind that agrees that it would be "wicked awesome 😀."

I did the same thing. Declawed a few digits and neutered. It was all under the intense supervision of the vet doing the surgery and it was MY cat, not a client's. I don't think this should ever be allowed on a client's pet without them approving. It's probably not 100% lawful (I have no clue of the laws about it, it probably varies a lot across states) but it wasn't just me doing my own surgery. She showed me what to do of course and just let me do a tad (or a testicle 😉) bit of stuff. If anything were to go wrong she was right there to fix things. I also had been working there for a quite a few years so they knew me well and trusted me a lot, if that makes it seem better. They also knew I was trying to get into vet school and desperate for experience.

This is a super-touchy sensitive topic but I think more people have done these kinds of things than you think. That doesn't make it right of course, but.... I don't know where I'm going with this. 😕

I see both sides of it.

 

[sumstorm]

on farms, caponizing and castrating are routinely performed without vet supervision, and not at all hidden.

heck, the vet we had where i grew up just rolled his eyes if asked to caponize a cockerel.

 

[twelvetigers]

Let's see, this last week, I:

Took everything off the shelves up front - dusted all the bottles and boxes, and put everything back in an eye-appealing manner.

Cleaned out a section of six drawers in the back, doing things like winding coils of random wire, re-spooling old ribbon and thread, picking little wall nails out from the cracks in the drawers, and vacuuming up the hair in each drawer before putting everything back neatly (and throwing away the absolute junk, only to have some of it fished back out of the trashcan when I went to the bathroom).

I took a wet paper towel and wiped down every leaf of the ficus tree and pathos vine, as they were very dusty. It took several hours for each plant.

I cleaned off the fecal counter by taking everything off and wiping it all down - I cleaned each bottle of ointment, spray, and medicine individually and put it neatly into a tray for convenient access.

I scrubbed out the mop bucket that has a layer of sticky gray grime in it. I used q-tips to get in the corners on the wringer and took a few hours.

I cleaned the outside of the large windows up front, since no one else wants to do that.

That's me... receptionist, technician, kennel help, and janitor too. If business is slow, it's more like 90% janitorial. Jealous?

 

[rugbychick16]

Yeah and I've sliced the nuts out of a calf while branding, but food animals are different in this subject I think...
I wouldn't do the cat neuter/declaw unless it was your own animal or someone you knew that had given written approval. Even with the vet right there supervising, its still "technically" isn't legal.

Due to the law in my home state requring vet techs to be LVT/RVT and have a diploma from a vet tech program, I rarely did much more than restrain and clean. I'm almost finished with my first year of vet school and have still only drawn blood from any animal a handful of times total. So don't feel bad if you dont get to do much while you work/shadow. It doesn't make studying for finals any easier...

 

[thereservoirdog]

There's no sane pet owner on earth that's going to let an unlicensed tech do a surgery, I think the vet was joking with you. And if he's serious, I'd like to meet him.

 

[AUhopeful]

I shadowed for a SA vet for six months and then was offered a position. So for about a year and a half (no longer work there) I did everything from kennel work to "tech"/front desk stuff. I remember one day our office manager was out sick and it was the other techs day off so I did front work as well as everything else that day (mind you this was in a small town). It was awesome!!!

We also had a lot of clients bring in their barn cats with litters to be spayed and neutered so I did help neuter them. I will never forget the day when the doctor asked me..."I'll teach you how to neuter, watch me and I'll do the left one and you do the right; the next cat is yours". How cool was that?!! 😀

I also drew blood, administered vaccines, restrained animals, took radiographs, prepped for surgery, ran blood work, gave baths/amateur grooming😉, prepared prescriptions, took histories on clients, set up fecals, assisted in surgery, had all of the front desk duties except preparing deposits and most importantly cleaned up poop!! The list can go on and on. I owe the utmost respect to this practice (one of my ELORS) for giving me such a great opportunity.

The equine vet I have been volunteering for the past year lets me....
scrub up and assist him surgery, ride along on all day farm calls (my absolute favorite) and take care of weekend duties at the clinic (muck stalls, change bandages, give meds, etc.) I love running the lift to take the horse from the padded stall to operating table and back! He also allows me to assist in lameness exams. I am so lucky to be able to have this experience (my other ELOR).

 

[flyhi]

I took a wet paper towel and wiped down every leaf of the ficus tree and pathos vine, as they were very dusty. It took several hours for each plant.

Did you by chance use the leaf shiner spray on them? I know ficus (ficii, ficuses, ficus', ficae, ficum?....Latin is failing me) are extremely fickle trees, but the leaf shine makes all plants look so purdy.....

Seriously, you are amazing and if OSU (no, not THE OSU) doesn't see your dedication, loyalty and commitment to the profession by admitting you this upcoming cycle, they are seriously missing the boat. But, i know they will 👍👍

 

[incendium04]

My job is pretty fantastic in my opinion 😀 My duties, depending on the day of the week, include being a surgery technician (everything but the sx 😉), head tech, and overnight tech. At my hospital, only one tech works the graveyard shift with a single doctor so you basically do everything... answer phones, client intake, triage, IV catheters, injections, venipuncture, x-rays, bandages, dental prophy (typically not at 2am though...), etc. I feel very lucky to work in a place that relies on technicians so much. 🙂 Although, to be fair, we have no kennel workers or dedicated cleaning staff. All the technicians and client service personnel do the cleaning equally. Many an overnight was spent cleaning instead of doing an exciting surgery 😛

 

[SaintSamson]

I agree with Flyhi about you, twelvetigers!
Mainly because I'm in that position as well! lol
I have gone to a friend's dairy goat farm several times to visit and help, and have done goat castrations, but there's nothing surgical about that, lol.

My job is to cleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan. I clean surgical equipment, kennels, mats, dentistry equipment, put away food orders, make packets for dental and puppy/kittens, do dishes, organize stuff, restock everything, clean the surgical suite, clean clean clean. Pretty awesome, huh?
Occasionally I'll get to help hold or restrain an animal, but it's usually for nail trims or anal glands. Once in a blue moon I'll hold for a blood draw or hold for surgery prep, but that's it.
I do love my job, however, and hopefully as time goes on I'll get to help with more stuff.

 

[twelvetigers]

I give vaccinations and assist with surgeries too, there just isn't a whole lot of business lately. Like, one or two surgeries in the morning (S/N, dentals) and one or two appointments in the afternoon (annual vax). All the remaining time I'm expected to keep busy cleaning, but once the counters are wiped and the sinks are scrubbed, I have to get creative. It's actually pretty annoying, and I've been accused of NOT cleaning, which I find ironic given the list above - and I wasn't hired to be a janitor.

Juuuust venting. 🙄

I washed a LOT of glassware at my previous lab jobs, so I think I've done it all, nt to mention doing it at home. Lol.

Thanks for the well-wishes, guys. I hope OSU decides I'm worth it, too!

 

[VeganChick]

I clean too! And stock and do laundry, laundry and more laundry. Walk dogs and pick up poo. Do some animal restraining as well.

VA is a state where Techs have to be licensed in order to do injections, catheters, etc. Unfortunately (not for me, for clients), my clinic is the only one I know that adheres to this. One of my fellow Assistants got a second job in another clinic - his whole animal experience being the same job as I have only he has been with us for less than 6 months - and on his first day, he was giving vaccines. That stuff really makes me mad. I feel (IMHO as this is probably not the case across the board) that it is kind of a way to decrease labor costs (assistants cheaper than licensed techs).

Ok, done with my rant. I'm probably just jealous that I don't get to do much more than throw away the animal guts while cleaning up the surgery suite

 

[chagheill]

I didn't think this was legal.

It's perfectly legal if your state / province doesn't have a law concerning LVT / RVT's. In many, cat neuters and declaws only need to be performed under the supervision of a vet, not by a vet him or herself.

 

[TurtleLover]

and on his first day, he was giving vaccines. That stuff really makes me mad.

Ok, done with my rant. I'm probably just jealous that I don't get to do much more than throw away the animal guts while cleaning up the surgery suite

Don't be jealous of that....once you're a vet, you'll be giving thousands upon thousands of injections for the rest of your life! LOL. Plus like someone said earlier, that kind of experience is not going to help you with studying for your final exams 😀

 

[StayingHopeful]

I worked with a VMD a few summers ago and basically shadowed all summer. At the time I was between my 2nd and 3rd year of college. I cleaned, bathed animals, restrained animals during exams, filled prescriptions, observed surgery, and called clients/made appointments.

I just started working for another DVM that works with exotics & companion animals. I'm done with college and just finishing some remaining pre-reqs. I find that I am doing so much more with this vet.

I had a similar thing where I worked for a SA vet and then an exotics vet and I got to do so much more with the exotics vet. I don't know if that is typical, but it was nice to be able to do more. There was faster turnover of vet techs/assistants at the exotics place, so the pecking order wasn't so strict - maybe that was it? At the SA place, if there was a cage to be cleaned, it was like everyone else magically forgot how to clean it and it had to be me every time. At the exotics place, it was often me, but everyone helped. The exotics clinic was also slightly smaller with a much smaller case load, so there was more time to teach me to do those things.

 

[r00]

At this point I am about 100% sure he was just joking... there is no way he would risk his license letting someone like me do a surgery... he probably just said it to get me all excited about the job...

 

[JulieB361]

These days at my current job I clean, clean, clean, and clean some more. I feel your pain twelvetigers! I work for a small animal vet that has almost no turnover of techs and I am the lowest in the pecking order. However I worked at a great clinic for two years while I was in college where I got to do everything from setting catheters to running bloodwork. I also cleaned my fair share of cages and answered phones. At my current job I've been gradually asking to do more and more (especially because I already know how to do most of it from my old job!) When we're busy I get to draw blood, assist in appointments, and fill prescriptions but we're just never really that busy.

It doesn't matter that much because I'm leaving really soon to spend the summer with my boyfriend and then go to vet school.😀

 

[ReadyBeVet]

The exotics clinic was also slightly smaller with a much smaller case load, so there was more time to teach me to do those things.

I think this is the same case for me, too. It is a newer clinic that is just establishing a new client base. We have time sometimes mid-day for me to watch and learn. I have a little notebook that I am always jotting things down in.

 

[bunnity]

Unfortunately I'm not volunteering regularly at either of the places where I got experience - trying to make as much money as possible at the people hospital is keeping me busy, but here's what I used to do:

At the shelter:
-For S/N (they did 20-30 a day): shave, scrub, set up gas mask, start gas, assist if the vet needed anything during surgery, afterwards gave penicillin, vax, and microchip
-Assisted with a couple other surgeries (sutures, exploratory bladder - awesome, declaw, dental)
-Gassing down rabbits for S/N (we did not do injectable anesthesia on them because it is really easy to damage the sciatic nerve, so I would hold them down while they were gassed for about 5 minutes until they were deep enough)
-Cleaning ears
-Holding animals in clinic
-Preparing vax and prescriptions for clinic clients
-Holding cats for blood draws - I did a couple blood draws but never got very good at it
-Scrubbed a ton of packs, folded drapes, cleaned cages, walked dogs here and there

At the wildlife center:
-Did admissions / histories
-Helped with exams and later did them myself after the rehabber had gone home
-Did evening meds / rounds
-Tube fed baby bunnies and possums
-Fed about a million baby birds (some of them ate every 15 min)
-Cleaned poop (a lot)
-Made food for residents - everything from cutting up rats into pieces to making special food in the blender
-Helped drain an abscess - very cool
-Did a couple euths, one by myself (see below). The one by myself I called the rehabber and they made the decision but had me do it.
-Basically I was the "lead intern" one day a week over one summer; there would be about 4 hours when the rehabber had already gone home and the other interns and I would have to deal with whatever happened and whatever came in the door.

There was a lot more poop cleaning, overall, than it looks like from the list🙂

 

[Poochlover11]

When I was volunteering at a clinic I checked in patients, weighed patients, restrained, helped with a fecal, castrated and dehorned a bull, held utensils during surgery, and cleaned off the table after each patient came through. I learned a lot through being able to do all that hands on stuff-but it wasn't paid. However, I feel like the experiences were priceless.

 

[robeezy08]

Let's see, this last week, I:

Took everything off the shelves up front - dusted all the bottles and boxes, and put everything back in an eye-appealing manner.

Cleaned out a section of six drawers in the back, doing things like winding coils of random wire, re-spooling old ribbon and thread, picking little wall nails out from the cracks in the drawers, and vacuuming up the hair in each drawer before putting everything back neatly (and throwing away the absolute junk, only to have some of it fished back out of the trashcan when I went to the bathroom).

I took a wet paper towel and wiped down every leaf of the ficus tree and pathos vine, as they were very dusty. It took several hours for each plant.

I cleaned off the fecal counter by taking everything off and wiping it all down - I cleaned each bottle of ointment, spray, and medicine individually and put it neatly into a tray for convenient access.

I scrubbed out the mop bucket that has a layer of sticky gray grime in it. I used q-tips to get in the corners on the wringer and took a few hours.

I cleaned the outside of the large windows up front, since no one else wants to do that.

That's me... receptionist, technician, kennel help, and janitor too. If business is slow, it's more like 90% janitorial. Jealous?

LOL sorry to laugh, but your sarcasm cracks me up!

 

[robeezy08]

Gonna toss in my two cents again for lab animal work!
We occasionally adopt animals out and guess who gets to do the neuter/spay?? Techs do, esp those interested in vet med! We had a few rabbits adopted out last year and under vet supervision, got to spay/neuter them. awesome.

 

[LVT2DVM]

I clean too! And stock and do laundry, laundry and more laundry. Walk dogs and pick up poo. Do some animal restraining as well.

VA is a state where Techs have to be licensed in order to do injections, catheters, etc. Unfortunately (not for me, for clients), my clinic is the only one I know that adheres to this. One of my fellow Assistants got a second job in another clinic - his whole animal experience being the same job as I have only he has been with us for less than 6 months - and on his first day, he was giving vaccines. That stuff really makes me mad. I feel (IMHO as this is probably not the case across the board) that it is kind of a way to decrease labor costs (assistants cheaper than licensed techs).

Ok, done with my rant. I'm probably just jealous that I don't get to do much more than throw away the animal guts while cleaning up the surgery suite

Hey, VeganChick. Did you know Im originally from VA and still work there on occasion as a relief tech. Technically in VA, assistants are allowed to give injections including vaccines and any other meds as long as they are not controlled substances. This is a common mistake bc they didnt use to be able to. Basically the only thing that separates the technical
boundary between LVTs and assts. (in VA) are placing IV caths, administering controlled substances (this includes orally---yes, that means your NOT supposed to be giving phenobarb or torbutrol--many people dont know this one), skin suturing, subgingival scaling and tooth extractions. That is it. Many of the clinics I work at in VA let assistants draw blood, give vaccines, read X (well, basically anything you put on a microscope), intubate and monitor anesthesia, and take radiographs. The board decided these things are permissible as long as the vet has reasonable assurance the person is properly trained and responsible to perform them. They dont even have to be under direct supervision (ie vet in the room) as long as the vet is in the building and that is a gray area since they also decided "some" things can be done if the vet gives orders over the phone or fax (ie weekend treatments and emergencies). It basically just depends on where you work and the doc in charges philosophy on the matter.
I definately do not agree with this decision whatsoever, but I have to admit since the board proclaimed their decision, Ive had the opportunity to work with some outstanding assistants that outshine a many a seasoned LVT and of course seen my fair share of scary people that have no business being anywhere near a patient. If you been working there for awhile and you feel you are trustworthly perhaps your boss might let you take some baby steps and take on some additional duties. I find typically unless they dont utilize their lvts either, its usally the techs that are not allowing the assistants to do more that it is the docs. I dont find assistants doing technical things threatening (some techs do). Im confident in my education and abilities. The assistants are perfectly capable to draw blood, and such, and most are aware of their limitations and dont cross lines that could be dangerous to patients. With that said on another note....I know how to perform a neuter and declaw and could probably do one in an emergency if need be.But I wouldnt, even if asked, because I realize its what I DONT know that makes performing surgery without training extremely dangerous. Rant over.

 

[aspiringDVM]

I definately do not agree with this decision whatsoever, but I have to admit since the board proclaimed their decision, Ive had the opportunity to work with some outstanding assistants that outshine a many a seasoned LVT and of course seen my fair share of scary people that have no business being anywhere near a patient. If you been working there for awhile and you feel you are trustworthly perhaps your boss might let you take some baby steps and take on some additional duties. I find typically unless they dont utilize their lvts either, its usally the techs that are not allowing the assistants to do more that it is the docs. I dont find assistants doing technical things threatening (some techs do). Im confident in my education and abilities. The assistants are perfectly capable to draw blood, and such, and most are aware of their limitations and dont cross lines that could be dangerous to patients. With that said on another note....I know how to perform a neuter and declaw and could probably do one in an emergency if need be.But I wouldnt, even if asked, because I realize its what I DONT know that makes performing surgery without training extremely dangerous. Rant over.

Very well said, and BTW, congrats about Georgia!

 

[chris03333]

It's perfectly legal if your state / province doesn't have a law concerning LVT / RVT's. In many, cat neuters and declaws only need to be performed under the supervision of a vet, not by a vet him or herself.

I cannot speak of any province, but there is no state in the United States that it is legal for a non vet to perform cat neuters or declaws (I am 100% certain on that)...Now as for you declawing/neutering your own cat that is legal in some states.

 

[LadyHitokiri]

At the shelter I'm interning at I do fecals and urinalysis, flush wounds, do lime dips, do blood tests, draw blood, perform physical exams, administer vaccines and oral medications, restrain animals, and perform general care on the shelter animals. I don't get to assist with surgery because mostly the local Vet Students are doing the surgery, so they are practicing and I can't interfere! XD We do have one shelter vet, but I rarely see her.

 

[Angie09]

A vet student can, in many (most? Not sure about local regs) states, do just about everything a licensed vet can do, under that vet's supervision. In the states I'm familiar with, there are no criteria for how far into the veterinary program you are, or anything like that. If you are a first-day, first-year vet student, you can do entire surgeries from start to finish as long as a vet is supervising you (good idea? Probably not and I'd never take my pets to a vet who had such lax standards. But legal.) But yeah, pre-vets are not permitted to perform surgery; although (in some states, at least) you can assist -- and what constitutes "assistance" is very poorly defined so there's a lot of room for interpretation.

 

[eventualeventer]

Current job (equine, lg referral hospital in VA):

Most of my job:
- monitoring patients/taking vitals (in horses, it's more than just TPR -- e.g., for the neonates, we check eyes, mm, CRT, umbilicus, joints, lungs, heart, gut sounds, and temp, as well)
- giving PO meds and IV meds via catheter
- setting up, hanging fluids
- taking and running blood as needed (but not from the jugular! facial sinus, cephalic, or saphenous only, so that the jugulars can be used for catheters)
- sweeping and refilling hay and water as needed, and picking stalls when it's slow
- for the foals, lots of cleaning diarrhea off butts and flipping recumbent babies (I love working with foals but it's a little like playing full-tackle football for your whole shift!)
Occasionally, as needed:
- IM and SQ injections
- give eye meds
- remove IV and urinary catheters
- redo sutures on existing IV catheters
Not allowed:
- no setting IV catheters
- no giving drugs IV off the needle
- no placing urinary catheters
- no bandaging (including reusable standing wraps, which all horse owners should know how to do, let alone vet assistants)

The nursing staff does not go in the OR or do anesthesia; our job is strictly to take care of inpatients (which can be more than enough some weeks!).

At my old job in private practice, I did less of each of a wider variety of tasks. During my time there, I did every non-vet task, from answering phones and doing billing to scrubbing stalls to monitoring field anesthesia. I never set IV or urinary catheters, but after I had been there for a long time some of the vets let me bandage simple wounds and sedate horses off the needle. On the road, I did a lot of holding horses, jogging or longeing them for lameness exams, vaccinating horses at large barns, holding the plate for radiographs, and setting up for procedures. Even within that practice, the vets varied in how much they used assistants. When I rode with one vet in particular, I was often working almost the whole time, as I knew what he needed and he trusted me to get it for him. I'd get drugs drawn up, set up and put away equipment, and even write up a summary of the diagnosis and treatment plan for the client (which he would double check, of course) when needed.

ETA: At my old job, I also did a lot of clipping and prepping for joint injections and such. I also got to flush a HUGE sterile abscess/seroma where some of the muscle had necrosed due to trauma -- good stuff! Additionally, I often advanced the endoscope for upper airway endoscopy, which is a lot more hand-cramping and a lot less fun than it sounds.

 

[chris03333]

A vet student can, in many (most? Not sure about local regs) states, do just about everything a licensed vet can do, under that vet's supervision. In the states I'm familiar with, there are no criteria for how far into the veterinary program you are, or anything like that. If you are a first-day, first-year vet student, you can do entire surgeries from start to finish as long as a vet is supervising you (good idea? Probably not and I'd never take my pets to a vet who had such lax standards. But legal.) But yeah, pre-vets are not permitted to perform surgery; although (in some states, at least) you can assist -- and what constitutes "assistance" is very poorly defined so there's a lot of room for interpretation.

In California a vet student can only perform the functions of a vet assistant until after 2nd year (this is in regards to work outside of school, at the school they can do anything a vet can do under a vets supervision, then after 2nd year, outside of the school work can be done as an RVT. Fourth year students can do the same as a vet under a vet supervision.

 

[StillDreaming]

I work in a large animal hospital and my job includes:

-placing catheters
-receiving emergencies (colics, lacerations, foals, and the list goes on)
-setting up, running, and monitoring fluids
-fecal and blood samples
-giving IV, IM, SQ, by mouth, and eye medications
-cleaning stalls, sweeping, laundry, etc
-restraining animals
-monitoring animals vitals (TPR, MM, CRT, lung sounds, etc)
-prepping animal for surgery (mostly scrubbing the cut site, assisting with the initial anestitizing of the animal, i don't set up the actual OR)
-grazing horses
-flipping foals

and some other stuff. For the most part, they let the techs do A LOT! I'm really lucky that i have this job and have gotten some GREat experience.

 

[DVMorBust]

Never been an actual employee in a vet clinic.

I have had experience giving injections, drawing coggins, restraining, doing hoof tests, and assisting with AI, surgery, x-rays, teeth floating, and hock injections. (mostly horses, some cows, at some point or another in the past).

My 'real job(s)' are as (a) research assistant(s). (...I think my grammar just died.)

 

[gone2dogs]

I have two volunteer jobs:

At a low cost spay/neuter clinic I:
give vaccines
prep for surgery
monitor animals
intubate/extubate
draw blood
give IV and sub-q fluids
give pre-anesthetics
scale teeth
clean lots of stuff
occasionally assist in a non S/N surgery for a shelter animal
medicate shelter animals/feed feeding tube animals

At a regular multi doctor practice I:
restrain animals
draw up vaccines
prepare fecals
clean stuff
count pills
stock shelves
shadow the vets

So while I am getting a better picture of what life is like for a "regular" vet at the second place mentioned, I love volunteering at the S/N clinic because they are really training me to do lots of the tech stuff (in my state, you do not need to be a LVT to do this stuff, or at least that has been my understanding! Otherwise, I may be breaking laws😱).

In the grand scheme of things I don't actually scoop that much poop... at the S/N clinic they are happily of the school of thought that they have paid kennel staff to do that and I should get to be doing more interesting stuff. The regular clinic also has lots of kennel staff doing most of the cleaning and poop scooping... sometimes I feel guilty that I don't clean more kennels though. I guess I cold change that, but I am trying to pack in the most valuable experience in the least amount of time!

 

[StillDreaming]

My 'real job(s)' are as (a) research assistant(s). (...I think my grammar just died.)

haha I laughed out loud at this... it's probably the best sentence i've seen in a while 😀

 

[DollyyLlama]

I took a wet paper towel and wiped down every leaf of the ficus tree and pathos vine, as they were very dusty. It took several hours for each plant.

I scrubbed out the mop bucket that has a layer of sticky gray grime in it. I used q-tips to get in the corners on the wringer and took a few hours.

ohh I feel ya.. I've done some incredibly tedious cleaning projects in my time too.. some of them appeal to me obsessive side (purging x-rays, filing stuff- i go into some sort of hypnotic state), sometimes it's gratifying (cleaning off a few years' worth of fossilized lint from every surface in the laundry room, but mostly it's just a drag. I definitely prefer busy days over slow days because I don't have to self-motivate to scrub corners (and I don't have enough responsibility to be stressed).

When I was still deciding about whether to apply to vet school, I got really frustrated by the menial tasks because they weren't giving me any insight. I was so jealous of people who got training at their jobs. Once I started getting the ball rolling on applying, though, I felt like I had a goal and a path going forward. My days as an assistant were numbered, then, and I could be much more cheerful.

All the remaining time I'm expected to keep busy cleaning, but once the counters are wiped and the sinks are scrubbed, I have to get creative. It's actually pretty annoying, and I've been accused of NOT cleaning, which I find ironic given the list above - and I wasn't hired to be a janitor.

Ugh, I've been there too, but not at my current clinic. It was at this other clinic that had these strict cleaning protocols that felt like cultish rituals, and if you didn't sterilize every monitoring machine and power cord after a dental, there was this weird social pressure hinting that you didn't care about animals. I really did make an effort to keep busy and actively seek out cleaning, but they had it in their minds that I was lazy and I couldn't convince them otherwise.

 

[aspiringDVM]

It was at this other clinic that had these strict cleaning protocols that felt like cultish rituals, and if you didn't sterilize every monitoring machine and power cord after a dental, there was this weird social pressure hinting that you didn't care about animals.

LOL, this sounds like a clinic I worked at. I completely understand the need to be very, very clean for surgery, but seriously, does it really matter if you wipe down the surgery table pads in order from smallest to largest?

 

[VeganSoprano]

Lots of stuff. I work at a 24 hour combined general/emergency/specialty practice, primarily as an ICU/emergency tech. I'm not licensed but in DC you don't have to be.

Everyday stuff for me includes triaging urgent care patients, providing all necessary nursing care to my assigned patients, running point-of-care diagnostics such as PCVs, iStats, and BGs, placing IV catheters, venipuncture, giving SQ, IV, and IM injections, radiography, cystocenteses, anesthesia monitoring, intubation, anal gland expressions, nail trims, and restraint.

Super cool stuff that I get to do less frequently includes placing central lines, male and female dog urinary catheters, CPCR, placing NG tubes and nasal oxygen cannulae, peritoneal dialysis, and arterial blood draws.

And there's a lot of cleaning to be done too. It's been fairly slow lately so I've been obsessively cleaning the little corners that always seem to be forgotten. I've also rotated every bit of inventory in the hospital and scrubbed most of the walls.

I love, love, love my job and consider myself so lucky to be getting such fantastic experience.