If you are the type of person that won’t be found behind a desk, if you are very hands on, you possess the ability to provide lots of love while caring for animals, house the compassion within to help pet owners through any difficult issues as you help out their important furry family member, you may just be the perfect candidate to become a veterinary technician.
Once you decide on your college and area of study, you will be spending quite a bit of time in the classroom or online getting your general classes, science classes, and applied classes. You will also be required to have internships in order to complete the required hours and get some quality “on the job” experience while still in college.
You may be required to have more than one internship. Some schools we contacted required you to have two internships, one internship would take place during your second semester and the second internship happens during the fourth semester. One internship would require your help and learned knowledge of small animals and large animals for the second internship requirement. As the demand keeps rising for the position of veterinary technician, so will the demand for the vet tech interns. Companies who hire college students to fill internship positions could be looking with the intention of having the interns they choose possibly grow with the company into more long-term, permanent positions.
As we looked into the research for this question, we have found some really interesting internships out there as well. If you are doing your classroom work through an online college, you could travel with your internship! We happened across an internship that needed someone to go out of the country to Dublin, Ireland. We also saw internships at Marine Mammal Centers, Wildlife Rehabilitation centers, and even noticed at the time, that the San Diego Zoo happened to be in need of a summer intern. The median salary for the veterinary technician internship position is $28,000 range, and yes, it does vary quite a bit depending on your state and employer.
During your veterinary technician internships, the college you choose may have vets that work with your college to provide you with your required internships. You may have a set study direction with this program, for instance, Pain Management, Anesthesia, or Emergency Medicine. In other cases like online colleges, your internship may be with an independent vet, where your areas of study will not be as one directional and what you learn that day comes with normal vet traffic. Internships are not only great because of all the wonderful knowledge you receive that you just can not get in books, you can also find out through internships, information for yourself, for example, knowing if you will like the job as a full-time career… then you can decide to continue or not with the direction you have chosen for your education.