Save money while meeting your career goals as a veterinary assistant so you can work with cats, dogs, and exotic animals.
As a veterinary assistant or vet technician, your daily duties involve patting noses and petting coats.
You also need to handle pet immunizations and patient intake forms.
All of this requires professional training to get hired as a veterinary assistant.
Find out how to save money with veterinary assistant training costs.
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- What is Veterinary Assistant Training?
- What is a Veterinary Assistant School?
- How Much Does Veterinary Assistant Training Cost?
- How Many Months / Years is Veterinary Assisting School?
- What is the Price of Veterinary Assistant Certification and Licensing?
- What is the Average Salary for a Veterinary Assistant?
- Is Becoming a Veterinary Assistant Worth It?
What is Veterinary Assistant Training?
Veterinary assistant training involves classwork and hands-on training.
Learn how to administer medicine to pets and assist with nursing care for veterinarians.
Veterinary assisting is an entry-level career for someone working toward veterinary status.
Your next level would be to be certified as a certification as a veterinary technician.
However, a veterinary assistant does not need certification to perform their duties.
You also will not have to be licensed to work as a veterinary assistant.
To become a veterinary assistant, you need to complete a certificate course.
This includes professional development courses at most continuing education departments in colleges.
A veterinary assistant trains for a year on average.
Compare this to the veterinary technician, which requires a two-year associate’s degree.
What is a Veterinary Assistant School?
Notice that no school is primarily just for veterinary assistants.
However, several schools, including 100 percent online schools, offer training for veterinary assistants.
You can attend school online or go to school in person.
Here are some of the best-rated schools for veterinary assisting training in the US:
- Ashworth College
- Auburn University and Preppy
- Blackstone Career Institute
- Cal State East Bay
- Carroll Community College
- Penn and Foster
- San Joaquin Valley College
- US Career Institute
- Walters State Community College
Choose to train online remotely or in person, which generally requires you already have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
A diploma program in veterinary assisting is also a good route for this training.
You generally learn everything you need for a certification exam, leading to being an official VA.
How Much Does Veterinary Assistant Training Cost?
If you take a course online for veterinary assistant training, prepare to pay $589 to $3,000 for the program.
This includes a voucher, in most instances, to redeem upon completing the course for a certification exam.
Use this voucher to gain certification as a veterinary assistant that will help you get your first paid job as a VA.
How Many Months / Years is Veterinary Assisting School?
You can complete an online program in veterinary assisting in four to 12 months.
However, for an associate’s degree in veterinary assisting, you must spend two years in school.
There are not that many associate’s degrees in veterinary assisting.
Most people will attend the certificate course to save time and gain certification faster.
A diploma course in veterinary assisting will also require a few months to a year to complete.
What is the Price of Veterinary Assistant Certification and Licensing?
To sit for a veterinary assisting certification board exam costs $100 at the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA).
Earn an approved veterinary assistant designation that indicates you are ready for a job.
In addition, most states have in-state licensing requirements that might apply to you as a veterinary assistant.
For example, in Pierce County, Washington, veterinary technician licensing costs $590.
A job as a veterinary technician is the next step for someone trained as a veterinary assistant.
You may be expected to go from working entry-level veterinary assisting jobs to being a licensed veterinary technician.
What is the Average Salary for a Veterinary Assistant?
A veterinary assistant in the US makes an average salary of $32,986 per year.
This salary is within a range of approximately $26,500 to $40,000.
The hourly wage for a veterinary assistant is anywhere from $8.89 to $22.60.
This is on the lower end of the salary scale for socio-demographic status.
There is a direct pathway from being a veterinary assistant and a veterinary technician.
You must train as a veterinary technician and gain licensing to earn more money.
However, you can also continue training to become a veterinarian with a doctoral degree.
Is Becoming a Veterinary Assistant Worth It?
You can make a career in veterinary practices out of an entry-level job as a veterinary assistant.
This career requires you to be ready to work with sick and injured animals and pets that are perfectly fine.
As a result, animal lovers make great veterinary assistants.
Veterinary assistants require minimal training with some expense to get a certificate or diploma.
However, you do not have to have a college degree to be a veterinary assistant.
Earn the skills needed to work with veterinarians and animals with a job as a veterinary assistant.
Start working in less than one year and make a good living.
Benefits of being a veterinary assistant include health insurance and pet or livestock services discounts.
If you have pets or animals at home, working as a veterinary assistant will also help you better understand their needs and care.
