Retaining veterinary technicians

What are some ways that veterinary clinics and hospitals can retain technicians? In this dvm360 interview with Kristen Coppock Crossley, MA, lead editor for dvm360, Megan Chadwick, CVT, academic director for Penn Foster, discusses how education, resources, and clinic culture can help veterinary technicians maintain their careers and grow into new roles and responsibilities within a practice.

dvm360: What are some actions the industry can take to improve retention of technicians?

Megan Chadwick, CVT: Investing in veterinary technicians can start [with] supporting them through education. All team members are valuable. There are different roles. There are CSRs [customer service representatives]. There are veterinary assistants. While it's perfectly OK for people to stay in those positions, some of them want to grow and move up, so investing in them [and] having partnerships with programs like Penn Foster, where you can support all or part of their tuition…can [help them] become veterinary technicians. They [are] already…familiar with your clinic and have some knowledge, so there's a better rate of success. They probably already like working in the field, and they're somewhat knowledgeable. Changing culture within the clinic, utilizing veterinary technicians to the top of their credentials and licensing, making sure there are resources [such as for] mental health for the veterinary professionals, [and] even having them be able to have time off.

I know so many veterinary technicians [who] are working the long hours, and although they may have time off, they're so short-staffed that they almost feel guilty for taking time off, and that's tough. [Maybe] you're sick, or somebody in your family is sick, but then you also know you have a team of people [who] are counting on you. It's a mental burden to feel you have to make those hard decisions. So again, [it’s] trying to work on additional staffing, which is hard when there's a shortage.