Yep! You need to have a certificate to be a veterinary assistant in the U.S. I'm not talking about just cleaning cages and stuff. I'm talking about assisting with x-rays, helping move an animal, taking samples for lab analysis, giving medications, administering medications, clipping nails, that sort of thing.
Huh. ABC's program is only $3,000-$6,000, depending on how long it takes you to complete it.
Even if it's "only" $3,000, that's still $3,000 more than you need to spend on a veterinary assistant program.
Well, you do have to be legally certified to be a veterinary assistant in the U.S, do you not?
No, you do not.
I just looked it up on study.com, and it said that a professional license was required in all 50 states.
It's a waste of money. You can get plenty of experience for vet school (and be a vet assistant if you'd like) without any sort of certificate.
I would lean towards nope, but even if it made it a little easier it wouldn't be $5000 easier.
Something I didn't mention is that I have a Pell Grant waiting for me, which would cover most, if not all of my school expenses. Secondly, I looked it up on study.com, and it says you need to have professional license to be a veterinary assistant in the U.S.
To be clear, I don't want to be a vet. I just want to be an assistant.
I have looked into a vet tech program at a community college near me, and there are a few disadvantages of that program for me. One being the cost ($40,000 for two years at last check), two being the credit load (17 per quarter), and three being that I would need a lot of assistance with keeping up because I have a condition that affects my learning process.
Sounds like getting any experience with animals you can and working your way up to vet assistant and then tech is the best bet. If you do live in an area where RVTs are heavily favored, you can always deal with the educational requirements later.
No, it will not give you a leg up when job hunting whatsoever. Most vets I know chuckle or get angry when they see a 'formal' certificate from a veterinary assistant program because it's honestly a ridiculous way for these online schools to take your money, and worried pre-vets do these programs because they've been mislead. Not to mention that I've known ABC students who did their externship at a clinic I worked at and they needed as much training as a vet assistant with no previous experience, so that tells me it's not a quality program anyways. Online courses =/= real on the job training IMO, at least not always, especially in situations like this.
It has nothing to do with animal behavior in its true sense, which has always perplexed me. I just assume they picked the name for the gimmicky ABC they get with it.
I'm starting to agree. I wonder if they started out with just their training program, then added the grooming and veterinary assistant programs later on to draw more students. . . Anyhow, what's the name of the certification program you went through?
I don't blame her as we all need placebo from time to time (at least I do).
If one wants to take a pill anyways, and the $6,000 pills and the $20 ones are equally worthless and effective in alleviating the anxiety, I'd take the $20 ones.
She didn't get any benefit from the program she went through, and I asked her for the name of it. The program was so insignificant to her that she couldn't remember it's name, and that tells me she didn't think highly of it. Case closed. What's so funny about that?
A licensed veterinarian can sign off on you're becoming a vet TECH with no school at all. To be a vet assistant requires nothing. High school clinic workers that have been in the business for one day assisting the veterinarian are considered vet assistants. Techs obviously earn more. Vet tech school is a 2 year program and will help, I'm sure, but not necessary by any means.
