Blog

Thinking back to when I first started in the field over 20 years ago, I remember making $6.00/ hr in my first veterinary assistant job. I absolutely didn't care how much I made, as I was there to soak all I could in, and learn from others. When my 1 year anniversary came, my manager sat me down and told me how wonderful I was, how I was always willing to stay late and come in early, do extra jobs, etc. She wanted to give me a $0.07 raise. This was my first dose of corporate medicine. I thought to myself..."How am I ever going to be able to finally make a living income? I barely have any benefits as well. This is not sustainable." I immediately started looking for a job. The next job I landed I was making $8.50. I thought I had made it big. I mean when you go from $6.07 to $8.50, that is a pretty good jump. I wasn't working corporate medicine anymore, but the quality of medicine wasn't the best either. I ethically didn't feel right working there, and when I voiced how I would like to learn and grow as a veterinary assistant, I was told I "was there to clean". On to the next practice. My journey through Emergency and Critical Care (with Specialty Medicine around me) made me so happy! It was such a great learning environment, and challenged me everyday. This was 2004 and I was very green so I started making $10/hr. I decided at that time that I wanted to go to Veterinary Technician School, and I completed school in 2007 and passed my VTNE. My boss gave me a raise to $14/hr right after I graduated. By the time I left in 2008 I was making $19/hr. What a crazy journey already! In just 8 years I started at $6.00/hr and now I was making $19/hr. That is pretty amazing. Here comes the difficult part. Many people reach where I was at $19/hr, and their bosses make the excuse that they can't afford to pay additional money to their staff, but as veterinary technicians we make hospitals a lot of money each year. One veterinarian at a practice may make $500,000-$1,000,000 of revenue if they are a great doctor and have great technicians supporting them. Then we need to factor in their salary. DVM salary right now has increased quite a bit due to the shortage of veterinarians. Currently practices are paying their DVMs around $100,000-$150,000/year. Now lets factor in our veterinary technicians. If we have one DVM, we can estimate that 1 DVM will have about 6 veterinary technician. According to the AVMA, each certified veterinary technician can generate a practice $220,000 in gross revenue per year. This means that the 6 veterinary technicians can generate $1,320,000 to their practice. If we factor in their salaries for the year of $19/hour and their full time status, that would be $237,120. This leaves the practice of a net of $1,082,880. This concludes that our veterinary technicians are generating more revenue than our 1 DVM, yet are not receiving the compensation or the recognition they should. Now I bring up this point not because I want to make this a competition or to say that one individual is more important than another in a practice than another. My point is that we are all EXTREMELY important. I was recently told by some high up corporate people that they need to treat DVMs differently because they are the ones who keep hospital doors open. Boy.... are they wrong. Yes, DVMs are needed to: Diagnose, Treat, and do Surgery. Everything else within the hospital can be delegated to support staff, and really should be in order to run synergistically. So what happens if we don't value our support staff the way we value our DVMs? Who will answer the phones? Who will talk to the clients? Who will do all the nursing care, and walk the dogs outside, and draw all the blood, and restrain all the patients? Who will monitor the patients under anesthesia, and clean the practice, and do the laundry, and keep up with filing charts? Who will call all the vendors, do inventory and ordering? Who will keep track of P&L? Let's face it we all need one another. So let's start valuing everyone more by increasing salary and benefits to our staff and bring us to 2021 from 2008! If you are currently looking for a job you will see ads for a certified veterinary technician somewhere from $14-$24/hour. Next to it you will see a dog walker position from $17-$25/hr. There has to be a change in order to keep our veterinary technicians, and it needs to happen quickly. Our salary for our credentialing, knowledge, and skill should reflect the revenue that we make for each practice every year just like each DVM's salary does. Based on the numbers above, each of those veterinary technicians could make $25-$65/hr and still be within the same range in revenue as the one DVM's revenue listed. There is a reason why support staff especially our credentialed veterinary technicians move from practice to practice, rather than staying with the same job. They are not VALUED. We lack title protection, we lack respect from people who don't understand our job role, and it is extremely hard to unionize like nurses have even though it may be one of the most beneficial things we could do for our industry. It is important that each of us, as veterinary technicians, to know how to advocate for our roles and show how we can make revenue for a practice, know our worth, and not settle for what we know is not right. Continue to grow as a veterinary technician and know the sky is the limit. In the last 20 years I can't tell you how many times people have asked me why I have not become a veterinarian. When I was younger, it was so frustrating. Now I know that people just don't know how amazing our roles are as veterinary technicians, and how many opportunities we really have, not just professionally but also personally. I have had the freedom to be a very active mom to two really independent girls. I was a surrogate for an amazing couple and gave them a family that they always dreamed of having. I have been able to support pet owners through a really great side business of grooming their pets who had terrible fear, anxiety, and stress and could not see a groomer. Lastly, I have been able to mentor thousands of wonderful students from all over the world to be the best veterinary technicians that they can be. Be proud of who you are, your growth, and the lives you have helped and saved. Be proud of the lives that you have relieved their suffering, and be proud of the support you have given to your team during the hard moments. I am a veterinary technician because I love caring for my patients, educating owners on a deeper level, and educating my team, including my DVM team. We are all in this together. I continue to challenge the thought that a veterinary technician can't make a living wage, as in 2021 I now make just as much as a DVM! Remember that you only fail when you stop trying! -Beth Armstrong, CVT, CFE, CCFP, CFT, CTP, FT Program Director/Owner VTNE Prep