Training Collar Blog

There are more and more veterinary offices opening across the USA every day. As such, there is a greater need today for veterinary assistants to help in these offices, as well as animal shelters, zoos and breeders. This has developed an additional need for veterinary assistant schools, where people who are interested in helping in the veterinary field working with animals but do not want to or are not able to pursue a full veterinary degree or veterinary tech degree are still able to be a vital part of the veterinary family.

Schooling

Veterinary assistant school does not require any pre-requisite besides a high school diploma. However it is recommended that applicants for veterinary assistant school have taken as many math and science courses as possible during their high school career. This is much less than veterinary school requirements, for which the applicants must have an undergraduate degree and pass graduate school exams. However, a diploma as a veterinary school assistant can be the first step in moving toward a veterinary school degree.

Even if students haven’t taken many math and science courses in high school, they will get all the training they need during the course of their time in veterinary assistant school. The diploma for veterinary assistant only takes one year to achieve if going full time. In addition, the degree can be obtained online, which is convenient for students who want to be able to continue working full time and not have to take out student loans.

Career

After passing veterinary assistant school and obtaining the diploma, there are many career options that a veterinary assistant can pursue, depending on the environment in which they would like to work. If their interest is in small animals, they can work in the typical veterinary office, where they will help with medical records, help hold pets still during exams, assist during surgery, help deliver animals, help in emergency care and more.

If their interest is in large animals, assisting large animal vets on farms is a great option, where they will assist with births, breeding, paperwork and procedures, much like a small animal veterinary assistant. If rescuing animals is more their interest, then assisting in animal shelters with lost, abandoned and injured animals is where they will want to serve. In addition to these more typical options for veterinary assistants, there are some more exotic veterinary assistant jobs, such as working in a zoo, working with marine animals, and working on wildlife preserves.