Being a veterinary assistant or technician can be a great job, but it isn’t for everyone. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to handle animals, people, and co-workers in an appropriate and professional manner, to express a caring nature, and to know when it’s important to stand firm on certain matters. Here are five traits possessed by a successful veterinarian’s counterpart.
Curiosity saved the cat.
One responsibility of a vet tech or assistant is to speak with clients before the veterinarian comes into the room to find out exactly what’s going on with the patient. It’s important to have a natural curiosity to help lead you in asking the right kinds of questions. How long has there been a problem? What other problems or odd behavior have the animals’ owners noticed? Has the animal been acting differently or have they gotten into something? It helps to learn which questions to ask if you actually want to find that cause of a problem as well as a possible solution, and if you want to be familiar with all the different ailments that can turn up.
Additionally, when animals just come in for a check-up, it’s important to draw out information the owner might not realize could mean something more serious than they thought. There’s so much to learn in the animal field, it’s almost impossible not to be curious.
Pay attention to detail.
Along those same lines, you have to be able to see things for yourself. Owners don’t always notice problems, which means its up to you to see them. The way animals walk, “talk,” and respond to you all tell you something about them. Since they can’t speak for themselves, you have to speak for them. Additionally, you have to be attentive to what your vet needs from you. To function as a cohesive team, it’s imperative that you know your vet better than she knows herself. The longer you work with one person, the more you begin to see their unconscious signals.
Eventually, the veterinarian won’t even have to ask you to turn the dog to the other side, or when to hold it more firmly, or when to go fetch something they forgot or just realized they need.
Master the art of persuasion.
While you’re acting as a sort of animal nurse, you’re also acting as a salesperson. Although you don’t need to get people to purchase things they don’t need, some clients don’t know their animals need them, or just don’t want to spend the money. However, many products, like dental hygiene treats, can actually save them money in the long run. As animals get older, it’s important for owners to understand that preliminary testing can keep their animal healthier longer. Some of these services have to be “sold” to be effective. You also have to be prepared to keep owners up-to-date on new services your office offers.
Additionally, sometimes people need to be talked into getting their animal the help they need. This means explaining why it’s essential they get help, and why they should get it from your clinic, even if other clinics might be less expensive.
Be steady as a rock.
Like the other traits, this is a twofold aspect. You have to be able to stand up to the animal, and let it know who’s in charge in this environment. Some household pets weigh over 100 pounds and aren’t well trained. You have to be ready to wrap yourself around it so your doctor can stick her hands in its mouth without losing a finger. Likewise, you have to be able to stand up to the owners, because some of them will try to bully you, as may co-workers who have more training or have been on-site longer than you. You have to be able to point things out to your vet that they haven’t noticed without feeling like you’re telling them how to do their job.
Most importantly, you have to be prepared to help your vet tell owners when their animal is beyond help, to hold animals while they die, and not to try to take home every animal looking for a home that walks in the door.
You must be able to stay calm under pressure.
The calmer you are, the more calm the animal you’re working with is going to be. Animals get stressed out being manhandled by strangers in a new environment. While it can be easy to control your tone of voice, animals respond to more than that. You have to actually be calm in the body, because animals respond to what you aren’t saying as well as what you are. They notice when your hands are shaking and when you aren’t feeling in control of the situation. Owners will need comfort sometimes, and that means speaking to them nicely, and not making the situation sound worse than it is.
It can be hard to hold onto that composure when you’re helping an animal that’s trying to bite your fingers, but that’s what a (good) vet tech does.
