I interviewed a Registred Veterinary Technician from the Riverwood Veterinary Clinic in Port Coquitlam named Jan. Below is her description and photo from the Riverwood Veterinary Clinic website. This is not my photo or my description about Jan. These were taken from the Riverwood Veterinary Clinic’s Website.

This was taken from the Riverwood Veterinary Clinic all copy rights belong to them.

The reason I chose to interview Jan was because I love animals and I am considering becoming a vet tech when I am older.  I arranged to meet with Jan at the vet clinic, the same clinic my family cats have gone to for checkups.  Before the interview, Jan gave me a tour of the clinic and I learned that they have one area dedicated to the care of cats.  This is to help keep the cats calm and less stressed while awaiting their vet visits.  Jan also showed me the x-ray room, the main operating room where dogs and larger animals are treated as well as the smaller operating room for cats and smaller animals.  I also saw the quarantine room where patients, who may have contagious illnesses, are kept separate from the other animals while at the clinic.  After the tour, we went to Jan’s office to start the interview.

From speaking with Jan, I learned that to become a vet tech, it is a very intense 2-year program. It is very theory heavy, and you need good physical and mental strength. I would like to try to get into the program at Douglas College in Coquitlam. While I was speaking with Jan she said she went to a university in Kamloops because that was the only place in BC that had the vet tech program when she was in school.

Before pursuing a career as a vet tech or a veterinarian, Jan recommended “Anyone looking at becoming a vet should first volunteer or work at a vet hospital”. Jan recommended this first to insure that you have a good idea of what the job is before committing to the program at college or university.

A vet tech is the animal equivalent to a registered nurse, anesthesiologist, x-ray tech, and vina punctureist (they put IV’s in humans). A vet tech takes care of all different types of animals including dogs, cats, horses, cattle, ferrets, etc. Since animals can’t tell us what hurts or how they feel, vet techs and veterinarians use various diagnostic tools and tests such as x-rays, ultrasounds, and lab work to determine what is making the animal sick.

 I asked Jan if she had the chance to change her career would she? Jan said she would not change her carrer and would stay in the same position as she is in right now.

After speaking with Jan, I plan to volunteer at a vet clinic in order to determine if this is the career I would like to pursue. If so, then I will consider going to  Douglas College for the vet tech program.