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People who have spent all their lives concerned about animal welfare and doing things to make animals more secure and healthy should choose a career as a veterinary assistant as their future vocation.
Being a veterinary assistant means caring for all kinds of creatures and at the same time combine your love of animals with what you do for a living,
Deciding on a veterinary assistant job as your future career will offer you myriad options in the fast-growing veterinary medicine field.
Article Table of Contents
Job Description
The daily routine of a veterinary assistant depends on the number of clients that the hospital, clinic or other animal facility has and it can vary a great deal.
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Regarding the fact that veterinary medicine develops more and more, the necessity for educated and talented veterinary assistants rises.
Besides achieving required education, veterinary assistants need to continue their specialization in this field, by paying visits to regular meetings and continuing education programs to keep themselves acquainted with the latest technological and scientific improvements.
The easiest daily obligations of a veterinary assistant are appointment scheduling, management of the clinic, working cooperatively with other staff members and education of pet owners.
Other activities include assistance to the veterinarian, animal nursing and lab procedures, taking blood samples, giving injections, preparing equipment before and after surgery among many others, making their job significant and serious.
Becoming a Veterinary Assistant in Louisiana
If you are not interested in going to veterinary schools and universities but you are eager to become a veterinary assistant, you can, since there is not a lawful determination of the requirements necessary to become a veterinary assistant.
As you will be working with animals, you have to learn about animal care, need to possess great communication skills, be a good listener and empathize with the worried pet owners.
On the other hand, if you decide to achieve higher education, that would be your huge advantage.
Numerous veterinarians look for licensed assistants, who will be able to perform more complicated duties.
They need to know how to help during the surgery, provide animals with medicine and take blood samples, among many others.
Becoming a veterinary assistant in Louisiana is not too demanding since there is a chance of easily enrolling in some of the courses or attending online classes offered by NAVTA.
Some veterinary assistant campuses located in Louisiana are:
- Northshore Technical Community College
- Delgado Community College
- Louisiana State University – Eunice
Here, students can pass all the exams and become licensed veterinary assistants.
Getting a Job
A veterinary assistant is a valuable member of an animal healthcare team.
As you have become a licensed veterinary assistant, your chances of getting a satisfying job are better.
Once you apply, your eligibility depends on education and experience, as veterinarians are always thinking about hiring assistants who know what they need to do and can start working without previously being thought or supervised.
Louisiana offers several places where veterinary assistants can look for a job such as:
- VCA (Veterinary Centers of America)
- Vetco Wellness Centers and Vaccination Clinics inside PETCO
- Located in Denham Springs Petco
- Located in Harvey Petco
- Located in New Orleans Petco
- Located in Metairie Petco
- Banfield Pet Hospital
- Banfield Baton Rouge
- Banfield Lafayette
- Banfield Westbank
Requirements
A high school diploma or GED equivalency is enough for the beginning.
To get acquainted with the tasks and duties of a veterinary assistant, there are certificate programs widely available, providing you with the necessary knowledge and skills.
When it comes to certification requirements for a veterinary assistant, training programs which offer license or certification throughout the USA are among those 35 organized by the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA) as well as various online programs for people eager to achieve knowledge and qualifications:
Some of the NAVTA programs are:
- Animal Behavior College,
- Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology,
- East Valley Institute of Technology,
- and West-MEC Veterinary Assistant Program, to mention just a few.
After finishing the studies, years of practice can make you even better assistant.
Those applicants who possess documentation about the education achieved about veterinary studies get better chances to find employment and are better in finding a solution to the difficulties once they are hired.
Duties
The essential functions of a veterinary assistant are examinations and minor surgery on animals, without the supervision of a veterinarian, giving medication, working with technical machinery and lab equipment, with blood work and urinalysis.
Some less demanding duties are leaning cages and providing nursing care before and after surgery or other medical procedures, as well as maintain and sterilize surgical instruments and equipment.
They need to possess good emphatic and communication skills since they only work on scheduling appointments and talking to pet owners worried about the health condition of their pets.
All these duties demand the right training and knowledge.
Salary
Every worker thinks about his/her salary, and that is the reason why you need to think about the compensation you get from your vet assistant job.
The benefits regarding personal satisfaction are huge, but the salary is rather modest.
The average salary varies from $ 26 268 in Alexandria even up to $29 433 in New Orleans.
The development of the region where the city is located, the annual incomes of its citizens and the amount of work that the assistant is performing all significantly affect the average annual salary.
The table below shows the salary of a veterinary assistant in the state of Louisiana annually since it is not the same in all major cities.
Annual Salary Range:| Location | Avg. Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| Alexandria,LA | $26,268 |
| Baton Rouge,LA | $27,273 |
| Bossier City,LA | $27,258 |
| Houma,LA | $29,196 |
| Kenner,LA | $29,417 |
| La Place,LA | $29,106 |
| Lafayette,LA | $27,063 |
| Lake Charles,LA | $26,867 |
| Marrero,LA | $29,433 |
| Metairie,LA | $29,433 |
| Monroe,LA | $27,116 |
| New Iberia,LA | $26,905 |
| New Orleans,LA | $29,433 |
| Shreveport,LA | $27,258 |
Regional Salary in Louisiana
| Region | Employed | Avg. Annual Salary | Avg. Hourly Pay | Top 10% Annual Salary | Bottom 10% Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baton Rouge, LA | 140 | $31,690 | $15.24 | $37,790 | $21,900 |
| Houma-Thibodaux, LA | 30 | $30,750 | $14.79 | $45,350 | $21,040 |
| Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | 70 | $29,750 | $14.3 | $36,620 | $20,920 |
* Employment conditions in your area may vary.
Summary
Because a veterinary assistant is underestimated, since people believe that their job is not demanding at all, the public awareness of how important they are for our animals should be raised.
If you get a chance of watching just one working day of a veterinary assistant, to see all the difficulties that he/she has to face, you will find out that they are seriously involved in the medical care and curing process of wounded or ill animals.
Read the full guide: How to Become a Veterinary Assistant
Veterinary Assisting by State