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Vet Tech Life

It’s Time to Redefine Myself – As a Mom and an RVT

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The time has come for me to return to my job as a registered veterinary technician (RVT). I have had one incredible year with my first child and can’t help but be completely grateful for this time with him and, if I’m being completely honest, the time with myself. 

Mastering New Goals

I am coming out of this maternity leave a completely different woman than I was just over 12 months ago. Is it just me or did any other mommas feel SUPERHUMAN after creating and giving birth to a child? The realization that I could get through anything my body or mind asked of me was the boost I needed to start pursuing more of my goals. 

I quickly dove into my first dream of becoming a vegetarian and not just eating like one on Meatless Mondays. Then I crushed my fitness goals with a combination workout of HIIT and weight lifting which was super motivating! 

The next dream would be the most challenging one yet and require me to test my faith as I had never tested it before. I honestly didn’t even recognize it as a dream until my friend “dragged” it out of me. We spent every Wednesday together with our babies who were born 10 days apart and one day we got talking about our careers and goals. My friend, being the go-getter she is, encouraged me to share any career aspirations I might have had. 

She managed to breathe life into this tiny spark of an idea I had lodged in the depths of my brain. I had never let myself sit with this idea or legitimize it in any way. However, once I had spoken of it out loud I could not put it to rest. It became absolutely imperative to start pursuing this goal. After all, my time on maternity leave was proving to me that I could do just about anything I set my mind to. 

It’s been less than 8 months since I committed to starting my own side hustle, as a Pawdoption Guide, and there’s no turning back! My mission is too important! I want to shout from the rooftops to #adoptdontshop and empower pet owners and future pet owners with knowledge and tools to cultivate amazing relationships with their pets. I will see to it that more people choose pet adoption because they feel supported and educated in their efforts to become pet owners. 

Getting Back in the Clinic

It’s no wonder I’m feeling a bit apprehensive in the last few days of my leave. What an amazing road I’ve had to get to where I am now. What an opportunity for reflection and self- development.

My anxieties seem to revolve around less time with my son (how that will impact myself and him) and how our family will handle the displaced housework and the morning/evening change in routine. Can I just say that it’s okay to FEEL! I am a rational person, I can reason out why I must return to the clinic but it doesn’t make it any less difficult. Just so you know, the best thing you can do when talking to a mom is just listen and let them feel their feelings. I know this transition is necessary and the time is right but it’s still stressful and I’m not going to pretend it’s going to be a cakewalk.

The role I am returning to as an RVT will also be a big transition. In order to have more stability and routine, I have taken on new responsibilities at the animal hospital. This decision was not made lightly. Previously my day to day revolved around surgery; admitting patients, prepping for, monitoring and aiding in the recovery of surgery. I will now be assisting veterinarians with appointment flow and spending much more time interacting with clients and their pets in the exam room. 

At first, when thinking about this, there were a lot of tears, I couldn’t control the emotion pouring out of me. How could I be an RVT and not do surgery? I had come to love surgery and that feeling I got from keeping our patients safe and comfortable. After I calmed down, I realized I had come to define myself by these skills. My self-worth was totally wrapped up in surgery. The ability to place catheters, monitor surgery, adjust anesthetic gas and fluid rates, even bond with the veterinarians in surgery – these things defined me as a tech. If I think less of myself without surgery, what would others think? Will I still be respected?

I had no clue that I was so attached to one aspect of my job. However, it took me very little time to decide that my family took priority and that I needed stability in my life right now. This is probably one of the most selfless choices I’ve ever made – giving up something I love for the people I love. But I’ve come to think of it like this; it is what you make of it! If I go into this new role kicking and screaming I have no doubt I’ll dislike it, but if I choose to give it my all, start honing new skills and become an expert in something completely different I could really grow. It’s time to redefine myself as an RVT. I am responsible for who I become and I am limited when I define myself by one thing. 

It’s almost impossible to prepare yourself for this transition. You just have to live it and feel it. Going back to work means less time with my son but it’s an opportunity for career growth. The growing pains are inevitable but it’s time. It’s time for my son to have more independence and it’s also time for me to relinquish some of my control and dependence on him. 

Moms everywhere are amazing for going through this crazy, emotional journey that is motherhood. We are warriors in all we do and all that we have done! I have never felt braver than I did following my son’s birth or now in my choice to go back to work. All I can say is that it’s time… 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bethany is a Registered Veterinary Technician from Kitchener, ON Canada. She proudly serves as an RVT at a small animal practice for 6+ years now. Rescue pets are near and dear to her heart; heck, she’s got 3 of her own! She launched her very own side hustle Pawdoption Guide while on maternity leave, in order to connect families with the RESCUE pet of their dreams! Please join the #adoptdontshop movement and find out more at www.pawdoptionguide.com.

They Just Want To Be Paid

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I’m unsure what workshop has instilled the notion of “perks” to keep employees happy but I have to respectfully disagree with it. I will admit, knowing there is going to be a free lunch after a rough day is nice but I can’t help think of better uses for that money. It seems as though there is always enough money for free treats or lunches but when it comes time to discuss raises or 401k matching the money magically disappears. 

I know running a business is not an easy task but I can tell you as a person who started at the bottom it is easy to feel discouraged regarding job security and respect when you are barely paid slightly above minimum wage. In the veterinary clinic, the veterinarians are ultimately the ones who make the decisions and the money to keep the practice open but without the support staff, we could never be as successful. We ask so much of our support staff daily but a lot of the time their pay does not reflect that. Technicians are burning out. They are seeing jobs at grocery stores and fast-food restaurants that are offering higher hourly wages and frankly less stress than their current jobs. A love of animals sometimes isn’t strong enough to keep them in the business. Some of them are getting stolen away by corporate practices that can offer higher wages. Some are just leaving the field altogether. 

Recently I created a survey for technicians and shared it with some other clinics to gather data. It was anonymous and had simple questions so I was able to gather this information without bias. The questions ranged from how long have you worked at your current practice, to hourly pay range, and the affordability of living on their own. Out of all of the responses, even with seniority and higher pay, not one technician could afford to live on their own. Most technicians’ pay ranged from $11 an hour to the highest and most senior at $17 an hour. Many technicians admitted to having side jobs, despite working 40 plus hours a week as a technician. All technicians felt severely underpaid for the type of work they are required to do. The majority, but not all, went to veterinary tech school and have acquired sometimes up to $40,000 in student loan debt. Let’s do some math to get the full picture. 

Say I am one of those technicians that are paid $11 an hour. With taxes and potential healthcare taken out, I am making roughly $1300 monthly if I am lucky to work a full 40 hours a week. With my student loans at about $300 per month on standard repayment, I have about $1000 dollars left over for rent, utilities, phone, weekly gas and food, and clothing – not including emergencies. In most cities- even rural areas- rent alone can cost between $550-800 for a studio apartment. If you want to save money and find a roommate most two-bedroom apartments can be as much as $1000-1400 depending on the city- not including utilities. If you do the math – every month that person is in debt. For a lot of the younger veterinary technicians, unless you are married or have help from family, you cannot afford to be on your own. Even when you look at the math on the technicians making slightly more, they still are barely scraping by if they want to enjoy their jobs and life. 

We complain about not having good help or people who are willing to work the hours we do but we forget how little these people are paid. The lives of many of our patients are in their hands and technicians deserve better. We cut costs with generic medications and discount services for our best clients but when it comes to our own staff we undercut their worth. As with any company, the workers may be replaceable but the people themselves truly are not. Maybe this means we increase everyone’s base hourly or maybe we start treating them like the crucial part of the hospital and start them on a salary? Either way, we need to pay them better and hopefully stop the burnout and loss of good employees. Remember, the business may rely on the veterinarian but without the support staff, we cannot truly function.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

TISI: Veterinary Technicians Are At War and No One Is Talking About It

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Within veterinary medicine, there is a battle being waged in the trenches. Veterinary Technicians are in a fight for their careers – for respect and for fair wages. Credentialed technicians are battling for recognition and higher median salaries, all while managing patient loads, clients, DVMs and their outside lives.

Lack of title protection over existing credentialed terminology has led to unscrupulous people using titles they didn’t earn or that have been revoked due to unethical behavior. National and state organizations that are supposed to be supporting and promoting credentialed technicians are losing members or not engaging their membership. Corporate hospitals are hiring non-credentialed employees at lower wages. Technicians are being forced to work two, and sometimes three different jobs just to survive. Compassion fatigue and burnout are rampant and technicians are leaving the field more quickly than ever before. Suicide rates on veterinary medicine continue to rise. People are miserable.

What’s the solution? I wish I had a magic answer for that but the truth is, I don’t know. I do have some suggestions as to where to start. We need fresh voices. The way we’ve always done things clearly isn’t working anymore. The people who have always been in leadership positions need to take a moment and look around, and consider allowing new leaders to emerge. Times have changed. Hospitals have changed. People’s priorities have shifted. Discussions need to happen and those fresh voices need to be heard.

We can acknowledge that times have changed and move forward accordingly, or we can stay where we are, destroying our profession from within.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

Valuable Lessons I Learned From My Terrible Working Interview

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There was a point not very long ago when I thought I was ready to move on from veterinary medicine – at least the part about working in a clinic. I was moving out of state, so it seemed like the right time to look for new opportunities.

As it turned out, moving across the country was change enough for me, and as I was hunting for jobs I found myself seeking comfort in my professional knowledge. I started to apply for veterinary technician positions, and with that, came interviews. I remember walking into my first working interview after months of being out of a clinic and thinking, “what if I actually can’t do this?”

During my first working interview, a dog with marijuana toxicity came into the clinic. The doctor did an examination and induced vomiting. She talked me through what she was doing, and even though I knew well enough how a toxicity case is handled, I fumbled around clumsily grabbing towels and nodding my head. When the vomiting subsided, I was asked to place a catheter. Something I had done hundreds of times with ease. I reached around in drawers for tape, catheters, scrub, a t-port… and found none of what I knew. They used a different brand of catheters and there was no Elastikon to be seen.

At that moment I remembered hearing something about hiring new technicians and new graduate veterinarians. For many, their skills are limited to where they are comfortable working. Many may have only worked in one place their entire career or hadn’t taken their first job yet. This ran through my mind over and over again as I painfully realized I had worked in only one hospital for the last five years. I started as an assistant and made my way to becoming a certified veterinary technician. I learned how to place catheters, how to draw blood, how to monitor anesthesia and how to triage emergencies in one place. I knew that I only learned one way to do all of those things.

“Don’t panic,” I said to myself.

I then remembered a good piece of advice from a veterinarian at a conference. They said the first way to make friends at a new hospital is to follow the way their technicians place catheters. So, I took hold of the opportunity and I asked the lead technician. He told me how they would prepare the tape, how the needle snapped back into the cap of the catheter to reduce the risk of poking yourself, and where to find a t-port.

It was an ugly affair.

The catheter glided smoothly into the vein, but after that, nothing went according to plan. I fumbled with this new tape that stuck better to itself than to my patient. Again and again, it would stick uselessly and I would try again. After about 10 minutes, patience was wearing thin in all three of us and I resorted to cutting 4-inch Elastikon into 1 inch and taped the only way I knew how.

The working interview was over at that moment.

What good possibly came of that mortifying experience? At the time, a large milkshake from In-N-Out was about all. I felt terrible that this hospital brought me in for an interview, and I blew it. What did that say about me as a technician? It took some time, but I can see the good and the bad, not only the ugly when I look back on it.

I may have not succeeded at taping a catheter the way that hospital did, but I asked before I tried. I didn’t huff and puff and say I didn’t have what I needed. I showed something more personal in that interview, which was the willingness to learn new things and the respect to try their way. I also learned how valuable it is to diversify your techniques. When I finally did end up in a great hospital here in California, the first task I set myself to was to learn a new way to place a catheter. I now have a wider list of tools and skills at my disposal that I comfortably know how to use.

There’s a certain kind of pressure that comes with having experience. When I was applying for jobs as someone with no experience, begging for someone to take a chance, there were no expectations. Interviewing as someone who knows their stuff – that’s a whole different ball game. My takeaway was not to let my mistakes in an interview make me feel incapable. I’d been in the same hospital for five years! The important thing is learning to adapt with some time and support, and trusting yourself to try new ways of doing things.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

TISI: I’m Tired of Bullying in Veterinary Medicine

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Mental health. Self-Care. Anxiety. Depression. Suicide.

These are all words that have come to the forefront of veterinary medicine in recent years. It is finally a topic that is being addressed in seminars, conferences and articles. It is a real problem.

I have heard many theories about why it is such a problem in our field. Intense/Type A personalities, chronic stress, high debt to income ratios, long hours, the desire to help everyone, mistreatment from clients, the loss of patients, coping with disease day after day… the list goes on. Many of us had some level of depression or anxiety before we went into vet med, so perhaps it is an even deeper issue of the types of people drawn to this field?

This last week, another factor has been on my mind. One that seems to be discussed less than the rest, but one that I suspect may be one of the biggest contributing factors. Maybe it is even an elephant in the room, and I’m not supposed to bring it up?

What is this factor? It isn’t what the world brings through the doors of our clinics. It is what WE bring through the doors of our clinics. It is work place bullying and emotional abuse, and I think it is a bigger problem than we want to admit.

This can occur in a number of forms, from a head tech bullying other support staff, to managers, owners and veterinarians bullying the other veterinarians or clinic staff. I am not talking about the occasional harsh remark or bad mood, I am referring to targeted-ongoing abuse.

This week, a technician I know and deeply respect was targeted, blamed and humiliated for a mistake that was absolutely the responsibility of the veterinarian she was working for. She was shamed and reprimanded by one veterinarian while the responsible veterinarian stood by and said nothing. Later, she was told that she would not be allowed to explain her side of the story and was demoted.

This cycle can become frighteningly similar to domestic abuse. The abuser gains a position of power and uses it to crush someone who doesn’t feel they can stand up to them. And the behavior continues. The victim is torn down enough that they feel they have little or no worth, and have nowhere to go, because who would want them? Some victims are in a healthier place and deal with or leave the situation quickly. Some stay until they can’t take it anymore and have to get out. But then, how to get out? How do you muster the strength to take a chance on finding a new position and moving on when you’ve been convinced you aren’t of value? What if you are dependent on the abuser for a good job reference? Some choose the ultimately tragic way to get out, having been effectively taught that their lives have no value.

In these situations, abuse from clients or the loss of a patient may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, but perhaps we would all have more reserves to handle these situations if we built each other up instead of tearing each other down.

I hope that many who read this will not have experienced these issues, but I suspect the vast majority of people in this profession will know exactly what I’m talking about.

Perhaps the bullies in our clinics learned this habit from being bullied themselves? Perhaps it is an expression of “imposter syndrome,” the fear that we aren’t really perfect and someone will find us out? 

Fellow veterinarians: We work in a small world. The words we say about each other not only erode the public’s trust in our entire profession, but they can quickly get back to the veterinarian being talked about. Let’s stop tearing each other down. And let’s stop allowing bullying in our clinics.

We need to be aware of what is happening within our own walls. We need to pay attention to our managers and people in lead positions. When staff complains about being picked on or bullied, it should raise a red flag. 

Clinic owners, please learn to be leaders, not just bosses. Don’t let your managers (or clients) tear down your associates and support staff. Don’t feel the need to prove how much more skill and knowledge your experience has given you than your younger associates have. Don’t tear them down to build yourselves up. Support and teach them. Build them into great veterinarians. 

Veterinarians, remember that our techs are the backbone of the clinic. They catch so many of our mistakes for us that we can’t afford to blame them for the one they might miss if it was ultimately our mistake. We need to be leaders, admit our own humanity and admit our own mistakes. We need to eradicate the cycles of abuse from our clinics. Maybe if we are intentional about what WE bring into our clinics, maybe we’ll have the emotional reserves to handle everything else that comes through the door?

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

Land of Opportunity: What I’ve Learned as a Vet Tech from Working with Americans

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Ten years ago I traveled to New York from Japan, by myself, to become a vet tech. I chose America because I believed anything was possible. At least that’s what Nike said. I met a vet tech online who taught me about becoming a tech. I decided to follow her path. She was the only person I knew at the time and my English was poor. Yes, I was scared, but I started my new life at 22 years old.


With all the difficulties that you can think of as an immigrant, especially the language barrier and cultural differences, I have survived and worked as a tech for seven years. People are always curious what is like to work in America. Was it worth it? What have I learned? Well, I’m going to tell you.

Say “NO”

This was a huge obstacle for me because of my Japanese background. People almost never say “no” in Japan. At my first job in New York, I worked with a tough Italian tech who taught me how to say “no.” Without any hesitation, she said “no” to unreasonable requests from doctors and managers. She always stood up for herself and made her needs clear. She knew what she wanted and how she wanted to be treated. She was my culture shock!
 One day a veterinarian snapped his fingers right in my face. I was not moving as quickly as he wanted me to. I didn’t react. After the incident my tech friend had observed, she told me that I needed to learn to stand up for myself. She and I are very different, but we still are very good friends. She helped me see that it’s OK to take a vacation, leave work when I can’t stay or call out sick when I am sick. I was not allowed to do any of that in Japan.  



Language is not as important as work ethic.


When I came to the United States I didn’t speak much English. My English became better when I got my first job. There were still a lot of times when I didn’t understand what people were saying. Of course, in this busy industry, some people got frustrated – especially during an emergency. Some people did make fun of my accent and, inconveniently, I still have to write down everything when people give me orders. But I always had to work harder to cover my language barrier and improve my techniques. I learned everything they taught me, remembered to be humble and became an easy person to work with. That was always valuable to any hospital I have worked for. That’s how I knew, at the end of the day, people will trust me and treat me with respect. 



There are tons of opportunities to grow.


Whenever my interests grew, there were always opportunities. Right after college, I was taught to be a dental technician. There are tons of resources to learn from and mentors to connect with. I reached out to multiple mentors and they were always happy to give me advice and insight. Last year I started a business to help the Japanese veterinary industry by delivering information on management and leadership. I learned these traits from the American veterinary industry. I have interviewed many influential people in this field including Dr. Andy Roark. I was blown away by the kindness and support I have received. People have always helped me when they see me work hard for something. Support is always available.  



Going back to my first question – was coming here alone worth it? Absolutely. Will I call my story an American dream story? Why not? I made my dreams come true and still love being a veterinary technician. I know I can grow and do more for this industry because this country does really allow people to succeed.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

Yukari Ogawa

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in Japan Yukari Ogawa moved to New York 10 years ago, by herself to pursue her dream as a veterinary technician. After obtaining her green card, she started her own company to help Japanese veterinary owners run their clinics more efficiently. While raising her 18 month old baby, she thrives to work as a tech in New York, help the Japanese veterinary industry and become the best version of herself.