A Message from the President

Erica Wolbramsky, DVM

President, Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association I have worked in the veterinary field for almost 25 years. So, when I was thinking about the impact of Veterinary Technician Specialists (VTS) on my career and the field, I figured I had a large pool from which to draw.

How utterly sad is it then that I had not knowingly met a VTS until I met Vickie Byard, CVT, VTS (Dentistry), in 2017 at a continuing education event at CARES in Langhorne. I say knowingly, because NAVTA developed a committee on VTS in 1994, and I can’t fathom having only known about VTS for 4 years. Either I am completely oblivious, or we are not doing enough to celebrate VTS. If Certified Veterinary Technicians (CVTs) are the unsung heroes of the field, Veterinary Technician Specialists are the elite, covert, special forces.

Maybe it is hard to find VTS because as a state we’re not supporting them. I struggled to find where Pennsylvania led the charge in VTS history. On October 9, 1999, the second AVECCT (American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Technicians) examination was held at the University of Pennsylvania, but that feels like throwing a crumb. I work in general practice (GP) where we rarely see CVTs, let alone a VTS. For better or worse, in Pennsylvania GP hospitals there is a very small distinction between what veterinary assistants (VAs) and CVTs can do. So, it makes sense that VTS are working in referral centers where their skills are best utilized. But I challenge you to go to the website of your local referral center and see if any of their CVTs are listed on the website, let alone their VTS. Why are we hiding these people?

Maybe it is hard to find VTS because of the lack of options? There are currently a dozen VT specialties including dentistry, anesthesia, internal medicine (subcategories of small animal, large animal, cardiology, oncology, and neurology), emergency and critical care, equine nursing, zoological medicine, surgery, behavior, clinical practice, nutrition, clinical pathology, and most recently, dermatology. However, this list doesn’t do justice to the CVTs who are specialized in fields for which there is not an official designation. I personally know two CVTs who specialize in ophthalmology, but there is yet to be a path for them. Maybe it is hard to find VTS because of the statistics? The pay for a VTS nationally is not much higher than a CVT without a specialization, and in many states that is not much different from a VA. Veterinary services has the third highest incidence rate of nonfatal injury and illness according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Nationally, female registered veterinary technicians (RVTs) have a 2.3 times higher incidence of death by suicide than the general US population, while male RVTs have a 5 times higher incidence, according to Witte et al (2019).

Maybe it is hard to find VTS because all of these things lead to burnout? In her keynote address at the last Keystone Veterinary Conference, Carrie Journey, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology), of Not One More Vet listed “Protective Factors for Tech Burnout: 1) Feeling of added value, 2) Control over schedule, 3) Opportunity for career mobility & self-improvement, 4) Respect from coworkers, 5) Feeling vets are aware of skills, and 6) Current compensation.” We certainly won’t get more VTS if we can’t prevent our CVTs from burning out, and the BLS estimates over 10,000 new VT jobs each year for the next decade.

I got angry writing this. In a field where we constantly talk about uplifting veterinarians, paying them better, respect for the profession, and protecting them from burnout, we are failing our most credentialed support staff. So, what can we do? We can go back to Dr. Jurney’s list: Encourage your VAs to become CVTs and your CVTs to become VTS. Help them pay for it. Pay your CVTs more than your assistants, and your VTS more than that. Give them physical and mental health care. Put your CVTs on the website and celebrate their accomplishments. Give your VTS the ability to use their skills to the fullest. But most important, don’t just listen to me, talk to them.

References:

Witte TK, Spitzer EG, Edwards N, Fowler KA, and Nett RJ, Suicides and deaths of undetermined intent among veterinary professionals from 2003 to 2014. JAVMA 2019;255(5):595-608.