How to Become a Veterinary Assistant in Hawaii

If you love cats and dogs and have dreamt about helping them in need since you were a child, a veterinarian technician may be a rewarding job for you.

Even though many people are thinking that animals should not be given so much attention, the number of those interested in animal welfare is increasing and surpassing them.

A veterinarian assistant has an exciting career working with both people and domestic or wild animals.

A good veterinary assistant must be reliable, hard-working, dedicated to his/her job and extremely passionate about the animals.

Job Description

The job that a veterinary assistant is performing in a veterinary clinic includes multiple duties.

Besides the fact that veterinarians rely on them to support their work, they also need to do administrative tasks like scheduling routine and emergency appointments, animal health care history, and cooperation with other animal care facilities.

They are not just calming the frightened animals, but also their owners, who might be even harder to handle.

Veterinary assistants work in clinical and research settings, and have minimal training requirements, but as veterinary medicine grows daily and the abundance of job offers in this field attracts a huge number of animal lovers passionate about animal welfare.

However, not so high salary might make people focused on helping the animals in need decide to take other kinds of education.

Becoming a Veterinary Assistant in Hawaii

The desire to work with and help animals is enough to become a successful veterinary assistant.

The USA states do not demand obligatory higher education, so a veterinary assistant can be a person with a high school degree.

However, to be more effective and increase your job prospects, you should take into consideration some of the campuses, programs and higher education colleges that offer training, practice, and schooling for compassionate and capable animal lovers.

Veterinary assistants need to know everything about animal care and those veterinary assistant courses include programs that cover all the requirements that you may need so that you can work in this field.

Experienced instructors teach and focus on medical terminology, how to identify different breeds, how to administer medication and much more.

If you are interested in becoming a certified veterinary assistant, there are veterinary assistant campuses and online programs in Hawaii:

• Windward Community College

• University of Hawaiʻi Maui College

• Hawaii Community College

Requirements

If you possess a high school diploma and want to work as a veterinary assistant, you can learn the occupation on the job, while helping veterinarians.

This is the case in many veterinary clinics throughout Hawaii.

However, you might find yourself in a situation when you do not know what to do and the animal life is in your hands, so that makes more people decide to enter campuses and online programs to become more self-confident, learn the skills and get the appropriate training.

Both experienced, full-time employed and inexperienced veterinary assistants can select from various options to become an approved Hawaii veterinary assistant.

The options offered by NAVTA are:

• Externship Option for people who do not have experience in a veterinary practice.
• Experiential Learner for veterinary assistants who are working 20 hours weekly.
• Veterinary Assistant Program for employed veterinary assistants that are working in a full-service veterinary practice.

Once you complete the chosen program and pass the AVA exam, your Hawaii AVA is required to be renewed every two years, by fulfilling 10 continuing education credits.

Getting a Job

Even though it is not difficult to find a job as a veterinary assistant, you should pay attention to the job requirements and whether you can perform them.

In some smaller private clinics, there might be a job for those who have no certification, but in larger ones with laboratories, knowledge is necessary to be able to complete daily activities.

So, your eligibility depends on your education and experience.

Good job opportunities are offered by numerous veterinary assistant employers in Hawaii:

• VCA (Veterinary Centers of America)
  • VCA University Animal Hospital
  • VCA Kaneohe Animal Hospital
  • VCA Kapolei Animal Hospital
  • VCA Waipahu Animal Hospital
  • VCA Family and Oahu Veterinary Specialty Center
• Animal Clinic of Honolulu
• Ali’i Veterinary Hospital

Salary

The amount of money that a veterinary assistant gets as his/her salary depends on many factors and the more trustworthy clinics with a greater number of appointments might give higher wages to its employees.

On average, their salary is modest and the average salary for a Hawaii veterinary assistant is approximately $30 000 per year.

Veterinary assistants in various parts of Hawaii have different annual salaries but the difference is not little and insignificant.

However, the demand for veterinary assistants in Honolulu, Keaau and Waipahu is increasing, since they have a constant need for more veterinary assistants.

The table below shows the salary of a veterinary assistant in the state of Delaware annually.

Regional Salary in Hawaii

Duties

Even though it looks that the work of a veterinary assistant is easy, this vocation can be physically and emotionally very challenging, but giving the pet the best possible treatment makes the veterinary assistant satisfied and fulfilled.

Under the supervision of a veterinarian, vet assistants perform a wide array of job duties, such as:

• Exercising and feeding hospitalized animals
• Preparing relevant equipment
• Cleaning and preparing rooms for surgery and examination
• Restraining animals for treatment
• Reception duties and record-keeping

The first obligation of a veterinary assistant is to deal with the patient, its owner, and their concerns.

When it comes to more serious work, veterinary assistants might perform some scientific research and deal with blood work.

Summary

A veterinary assistant should be a person who is fond of animals and eager to help them in need, but at the same time, patient enough to endure all the claims, concerns and questions of a frightened pet owner.

If you consider yourself a communicative, emphatic and reliable person, ready to be trained in animal care techniques and to stand all the above-mentioned requirements, then you should try veterinary assistant vocation which offers a myriad of opportunities for future employment.

Veterinary Assisting by State