vet tech responsibilities

A Day In The Life of a Vet Tech



Are you curious about what its really like to be a vet tech? This 2008 vet tech survey should clear things up for anyone wondering how veterinary technicians spend most of their time.

These numbers are based on 1,725 responses from people who were currently working as vet techs at the time they filled out the questionnaire. The survey question was: ‘What percentage of your work time is spent in each of the following functions?’



Here’s how the techs responded:

  • Animal nursing:   17.2%
  • Anesthesia:   14%
  • Client communication:   12.3%
  • Laboratory:   10.4%
  • Teaching:   10.2%
  • Surgical assisting:   9.3%
  • Supervision of staff:   9%
  • Radiology:   7.8%
  • Inventory/ordering:   5.4%
  • Selling products:   3.1%
  • Meeting sales reps:   1.4%

Now obviously, the time you spending doing each of these tasks is going to vary based on your personal situation. If you’re in a managerial or supervisory role, you’ll be doing a lot more staff supervision than animal nursing. Likewise, if you’re fresh out of vet tech school, you probably won’t be doing any supervision, but your animal nursing time may increase substantially.



Overall this breakdown should give you a general idea of what vet techs spend most of their time doing. As you can see, it’s a very hands on profession – most of your time is spent working with the animals, and when you’re not doing that, you’re probably speaking with clients or helping colleagues. For those of you interesting in becoming a vet tech because you want a challenging, hands-on career, these numbers should be very encouraging!

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