Veterinary technicians are seen as 'magical' professionals

What does a veterinary technician bring to a practice? Meghan Wells, DVM, MPH, a veterinarian and instructor in the Veterinary Technology Program at Penn Foster College, spoke to dvm360 about how important these professionals are to doctors and the practice. Wells is a former veterinary technician who now mentors and teaches technician medicine, in addition to serving as a practitioner.

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The following is a transcript of this video:

Meghan Wells, DVM, MPH: Veterinary technicians are these magical creatures that are able to go from the bravery [of] handling a spicy cat to the gentleness needed to resuscitate, maybe, a newly delivered puppy or kitten. So they're smart enough to deliver this client information in a way the client can understand this intense, medical terminology, but they're basically magical; essential to a veterinary clinic. They are the backbone. I mean, realistically, veterinarians, we can do many things, but we do 4 things, primarily: diagnose, prescribe, surgeries and prognose. Veterinary technicians—credentialed veterinary technician—can do pretty much all the rest. So that that is a huge, overwhelming [number] of tasks that just makes them so incredible. So, that's just such a wide range that it leads them to be essential, really, to any clinic.