Northern Virginia Community College

I wanted to go to tech school after spending time with a veterinarian friend at the VA/MD Regional College of Vet. Med. At that time, I had com pleted my B.S. in Biology and was working at Va Tech in the Biology department. I was part of the general public that had no idea that a veterinary technician. existed. After learning about them from illy friend, I thought that I would really enjoy the field. I guess I thought that the veterinarian did everything his or herself with help from a bolder. I never thought about the role of a veterinary nurse. Once I learned what all the LVT did, I knew this was a job that I would love.

Why did you decide to go into this specialized area?

When I was looking for an internship to do, 1. discovered that Dr. Richard Bradley had started a surgical referral practice in Manassas where I lived. Dr. Bradley is a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and was head of small animal surgery at the vet school in Blacksburg while I was living there. Because he was from the vet school I thought I could learn a lot from him and asked to do my Internship with him. At that time, he was housed with a general veterinarian so I split my internship between the two practices. Once I graduated, Dr. Bradley offered me a job. I jumped at the chance since I had already learned an incredible amount of new things from him. He definitely increased my knowledge of anesthesia. Even though I had never worked in a general practice, I felt this surgery practice would be more fun and would give me a better chance to use the skills I learned in school.

Did you need any special education or experience in this specialized area of veterinary technology?

In a surgical practice the most important skills to have are a thorough knowledge of many types of anesthetics and how they interact with each other, a keen awareness of proper sterile technique and the sterile field, and a vast knowledge of many different types of surgical instruments.  You must be adapt at catheter placement and tracheal intubation. You must also be comfortable with placing very young, small, old or compromised patients tinder anesthesia. Every continuing education seminar I attend, I always listen to the anesthesia lectures for the veterinarians. In the years since I started in this practice, I have seen many wonderful advancements with anesthesia and especially with post-operative analgesics. These advancements continue all the time, therefore it is very important to keep up with the ever changing face of anesthesia.   The well being of the animal must always come first. Some of these animals have had very painful procedures done to them. It is our responsibility to make sure they are clean and dry, painfree and as comfortable as possible. Once we have gotten them safely through surgery, then our real role as nurses has just begun. They only have us to relay on and we must not let them down.

What do you see as the pros and cons of this specialized area of veterinary technology?

Being in a surgical practice is very different than general practice. All our bloodwork is sent out or done on the Vetscan. I haven't done a CBC since I was in school. I have also forgotten simple things like vaccination and worming schedules. When I got my new puppy, I had to ask the internal medicine practice when and with what to vaccinate him with. I have found that if you don't use certain information for years, then you loose it. We also don't sell any merchandise or flea or heartworm products. That is how the referring veterinarian pads their practice income. Since we rely on them for our cases (being referral only) we will not cut in on their profits.  Our patients are usually out of the hospital very quickly. The day after surgery in most cases. It is unusual for patients to be seen more than two or three times. If you want to follow a puppy or kitten throughout its life and become close with your clients, this is not the place for you.   On the other hand, we see the most interesting cases out there, The ones you heard about in school or during lectures, but never thought you would see. Once you've helped put a completely shattered leg back together, or listen to the change in sound of the heartbeat of a PDA puppy while the surgeon ties off the ductus, then you never want to go back. We do everything from all types of orthopedic procedures to neurosurgery to all types of soft tissue surgery.  It is very rewarding to see a paralyzed dog walk again after neurosurgery or listen to a lab breathing peacefully again after his laryngeal tieback surgery. I get tired of cruciate surgeries sometimes, but I never get tired of the wide range of other surgeries that we see.

Our busiest days are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday when we have both surgeons cutting so I will describe one of them.  The first shift of one LVT and one assistant comes in at 6:30 a.m. and premeds the first animal of the morning surgeon. Then we turn on the OR and start treatments. Because we have 24 hour coverage Monday night through Friday night, the animals have already been walked and their cages cleaned if necessary. The night assistant and the 6:30 a.m. LVT and assistant continue doing treatments until the 7:00 a.m. tech arrives. At that point, one of the LVTs breaks off to get the first animal down, prepped and in the OR. The LVTs do all catheter placement, intubations and inductions. The surgeon generally does nothing with the animal until he or she walks into the OR scrubbed for surgery, unless they want to feel a stifle or something while the animal is under anesthesia and relaxed. The treatments are being completed by the other LVT and/or assistant. From that point on, one surgeon is in the OR doing surgery, while the other surgeon is seeing appointments. Another LVT comes in at 8:00 or 8:30 a.m. and stays with the surgeon who is doing appointments. That LVT admits the patients, gets their pre-meds figured and drawn up and does any necessary blood work. While this is going on, the rest of the staff is knocking down and getting other patients ready for the surgeon who has morning surgeries. By 10:00 a.m, another LVT has come in and the surgeon who was seeing morning appointments is ready to have their patients go down for surgery. The morning surgeon is done by 1,00 p.m, and starts seeing afternoon appointments. The cases seen in the afternoon will go to surgery the next morning. The surgeons rotate their weeks so they do morning surgeries one week and afternoon surgeries the next week. One or two more LVTs have come in by 11:00 a.m.  As the afternoon progresses, the patients from the afternoon appointments are being brought in, getting settled, having their bloodwork done, any radiographs taken, and having their pre-meds being drawn for the next, morning. By 2:30 p.m. two of the morning staff have left with another one leaving at 3:00 p.m. The rest of the afternoon is spent finishing up surgeries, cleaning the instruments and the OR, seeing rechecks and getting the afternoon patients ready for their morning surgery.   Of course, while all this is happening all the animals have continual treatments which are carried on throughout the day. The regular staff stays until 7:00 p.m. with the first afterhours staff coming in at 6:00 p.m. and staying until midnight. The overnight person comes on at 11:30 p.m. and stays until 7:00 a.m. the next morning.  This sounds like a huge staff to support two surgeons, but when they are both seeing appointments and doing surgery, it takes a large skillful group to keep things flowing smoothly and to see to proper patient care. At our practice we have five full time LVTs, four part time LVTs and three assistants plus one part time instrument cleaner. Without such a talented, knowledgeable staff this practice would not be what it is today.

Always having a love for animals and the medical field, I was determined to become a Veterinarian. I had read all of James Herriot's novels and was sure I was ready to take on college so off I went off to obtain my Bachelor's in Biology. I struggled through my first year in college and decided maybe it wasn't my thing. The basic courses I took were not the animal courses I had been expecting and all of my dreams were soon crushed. I wanted to get right into the animal sciences and found myself listening to crazy chemistry lectures and trying to learn how viruses replicate. Not realizing how important this material really, was, I became frustrated and ready to give up on school altogether. After my first year of school, my family moved from Chicago to Virginia, My mom had done some school searching while looking for a community to move to and asked me if I had ever heard about a career as a Veterinary Technician. I didn't even know the career existed. After an interview with Dr Champney and being accepted into the program I began a series of classes that got me right into the Veterinary Sciences and excited to be back in school learning.

After working in private practice for 7 years, five of which I had been living in Tennessee, I moved back to the Virginia area and began calling around to see who was hiring. The National Institutes of Health needed a contract Veterinary Technician for the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Branch. Knowing nothing about laboratory medicine I decided to at least go in for an interview and see what it entailed. Knowing only negative stories about lab animal medicine, I told them right from the beginning I didn't know if this was the job for me and I didn't know if I would be able to handle working with animals that were going to be used for experiment purposes. The Veterinarians interviewing me were very understanding and the job turned out not at all to be what I was fearful of. I have now been with NIH for the past 4 years.

Did you need any special education or experience in this specialized area of veterinary technology?

Already having my Veterinary Technician License I started out as a contract employee with a competitive salary and benefits. After having 2 years of laboratory experience I began to apply for federal jobs and am now a Biological Laboratory Technician with the National Cancer Institute. Laboratory animal medicine has it's own program of certificates and titles and I was considered to have most of the skills and knowledge required for the LATIN title (the highest laboratory title). Most contract companies are now requiring their employees to take the exams and show the certificates. I am in the process of studying to take the exam for the Laboratory Animal Technologist certificate. My vet tech education definitely helped get me into the specialized field of lab animal medicine and get me to the point where I can continue to further my education and experience

What do you see as the pros and cons of this specialized area of veterinary technology?

The pros of lab animal medicine are that I have had the opportunity to learn about a whole different field of animals including, mice, frogs and primates. Most laboratory technician and technologist jobs allow me more technical responsibilities than I had in private, practice. There are many education and training opportunities available and areas to branch off into. I try to take 2-3 classes every year that are offered at the NIH. My job now allows me to learn anything from cell biology to molecular biology to putting in a trachea tube and ventilating mice for surgery! I work only 40 hours a week with no weekends and I get good pay and excellent benefits.

The cons of laboratory medicine are that the animals always leave by way of the back door. Some experiments do involve painful procedures because either pain is being studied or drugs to combat pain would interfere with the research. In these cases scientists are morally and legally obligated to ensure the procedures are necessary, but it can still be difficult to deal with. There are committees that monitor animal use and experiments that can halt research if animal welfare concerns are raised.

Can you describe a "typical" day's activities.

Working for the National Cancer Institute for 4 primary investigators sometimes requires me to measure tumor growth on animals or run a radiation study on cells or animals. It may entail gathering data such as weights of the animals and food and water intake. Each investigator has, a different specialized area and each requires different needs. One investigator may need help injecting different chemotherapeutic drugs and another may give me a protocol to follow and have me do everything from ordering supplies, figuring out dosages, injecting animals, gathering data and then obtain samples such as skin, blood, hair and/or urine or send tissue sections off to the histologist and then the pathologist to confirm results. I typically have 10- 12 protocols going at the same time and try to keep the balance between going crazy and being bored. I'm not sure if I'll continue in this career path for the rest of my life, but it has opened up the door to many other ideas and experiences.