Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant

What Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, veterinary/animal health technology/technician and veterinary assistant majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in veterinary/animal health technology/technician and veterinary assistant should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant Majors

veterinary/animal health technology/technician and veterinary assistant majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Abilities for Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant Majors

As you progress with your veterinary/animal health technology/technician and veterinary assistant degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant Major?

People with a veterinary/animal health technology/technician and veterinary assistant degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Veterinary Technologists and Technicians	20.0%	$34,420

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant

Some careers associated with veterinary/animal health technology/technician and veterinary assistant require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to veterinary/animal health technology/technician and veterinary assistant have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	6.7%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	7.6%
Some College Courses	1.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	39.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	7.8%
Master’s Degree	17.6%
Doctoral Degree	11.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	8.5%

Majors Related to Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to veterinary/animal health technology/technician and veterinary assistant.

Major	Number of Grads
Medical/Clinical Assistant	52,088
Pharmacy Technician/Assistant	6,707
Physical Therapy Assistant	5,993
Other Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services	4,121
Occupational Therapist Assistant	3,647
Emergency Care Attendant (EMT Ambulance)	3,195
Radiologist Assistant	1,446
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant	616
Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant	454
Anesthesiologist Assistant	382
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant	295
Pathology/Pathologist Assistant	187
Lactation Consultant	58

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.