How Would National Credentialing Benefit Veterinary Technicians?

Rebecca Rose, CVT, president and founder of Catalyst Veterinary Practice Consultants, discusses the benefits of national credentialing for veterinary technicians.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“I’ve been a veterinary technician for thirty years and I feel that we are on this ever-climbing professional growth piece. I think that the veterinary community is really starting to grasp and understand who we are as a profession, as veterinary technicians and technologists.

Even though we’ve been around now for 35 years [at least NAVTA (National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America) has been around for that long] we have a lot of initiatives that are going on.

Some of the things that NAVTA is doing right now [is] talking about a national credentialing. Some of the things that could be beneficial about that [are the following.] We know that veterinary technicians stay in the field for a short time [according to] the demographic survey. [The length of time that they stay in the field has] grown a little bit, and I think what just came out is that now it’s like 7 to 9 years, but that’s not very long. The community, and just in general, Americans, are very transient, [and] so sometimes, a technician that has been in this state, and has been working here, and now wants to move because of family, or whatever the reason, [will find that] sometimes [his/her] credential does not transfer to that other state. That’s very frustrating; I hear that all the time. Through national credentialing, that [problem] might be solved.”