Survey Results: Are veterinary technicians valued?

What's the true value of a veterinary technician? Immeasurable, in our book. But Firstline and Banfield wanted to hear from the profession, so we partnered to survey more than 2,000 veterinarians, technicians, and other team members. The results, which were covered exclusively on dvm360.com, will be fodder for a panel discussion hosted by Banfield in April. Here's a peek at some of the survey numbers.

Does your practice distinguish between credentialed and noncredentialed technicians?

66% of credentialed technicians think their medical skills and knowledge are fully utilized in the practice.

Rate a tech "professor"

Credentialed technicians are helping team members learn medical knowledge through mentoring (58%) and organized CE like team meetings (17%). But a quarter of team members said techs aren't teachers because the medical team is mostly separate from the client service team.

Survey respondents dish on techs as teachers

"They need to come out of their shells and show us they can shine. We try very hard to maintain our approachability so they aren't afraid to make changes."

"Technicians at our practice do not usually head the CE portion of the trainings. They may participate and, in so doing, may ask questions that help to educate several different positions on the staff."

"Due to being in the field for 18 years, I have more training and experience than the RVTs. They are learning from me."

"At past hospitals, there was a sharp division between front and back and CVTs were hesitant to share knowledge or attend CE as they perceived that once they shared, their jobs were at risk."