Insights and challenges from a veterinary technician specialist

Sponsored by Banfield Pet Hospital

Happy National Veterinary Technician Week to all of the amazing veterinary technicians out there! In recognition of this week, this week's episode takes a deeper dive into the world of speciality veterinary technicians (VTS), specifically the journey Sheena Davis, LVT, VTS (Dentistry),VCC, took to become a VTS in dentistry.

Throughout the episode, our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and Davis go through the highs and lows of becoming a VTS, some misconceptions surrounding her role, and how she went from a general veterinary technician to a dental specialist.

Below is a partial transcript

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: So you mentioned that this is really, you know, your passion, and you're enjoying it. Did it change a little bit when, as a veterinary technician, [you went] into veterinary technician specialty? Did you feel the need to, you know, pursue a specialty career? Or were you feeling fulfilled as a veterinary technician? Like, what was going through your mind, aside from saying, oh, yeah, I want to go for BTS and dentistry, but what, what were some other considerations that you took into account?

Sheena Davis, LVT, VTS (Dentistry),VCC: I was very, very fulfilled in my role, but I want to take on a challenge to say, you know, what, what more can I do? What more can I bring to the table to not only be an amazing advocate for my patients, but also to provide the best care I possibly can? Because again, I was telling myself, 'there has to be a better way,' not only for my personal pets, but for every pet that comes through that door, I think of everyone's animal as my own, so I want them to get top notch care.

So by doing that, I was really going in, mostly just for my own educational purposes and to bring something more to the table for my clinic and my patients. But once I did that, it opened a lot more doors for me than I even thought what's possible, such as, lecturing and education and teaching, and not only teaching veterinary technicians, but also educating veterinarians, because unfortunately, there aren't a lot of education programs out there in schools, especially in technician and veterinary programs in which they're really getting a deep education in dentistry. So having somewhat of that Batman and Robin dynamic in clinic is wonderful. I love that synergy where you can work together as a team to accomplish something.