After you graduate and pass the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE), you may become a Credentialed Veterinary Technician and a critical part of the veterinary medical team. You will be called upon to directly assist Doctors of Veterinary Medicine deliver medical services to sick and injured animals. Certified Veterinary Technicians, as governed in Colorado, are the hands and heart of the Veterinary Medical Team, and will perform all needed tasks except for diagnosis, prescription of drugs, and surgery. Many Certified Veterinary Technicians find work in small animal clinics, while others find work at practices that specialize in horses or other large animals. You may also find interesting and challenging work available with state and federal regulatory agencies, the military, public zoos, or in the private medical research.

In order to become a Certified Veterinary Technician, you must graduate from an AVMA-accredited program then sit for the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE), offered twice a year in Colorado. The Colorado Academy of Veterinary Technology has applied to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) for accreditation, and will strictly comply with all the standards set forth by the AVMA.

Rebecca Rose, CVT and instructor at CAVT, recently co-authored Veterinary Technician Careers. Her book discusses, in depth, career options in private practice (supervisor, specialty veterinary technician and hospital manager) and opportunities beyond private practice (self-employment, relief work, teaching, consulting, industry, animal welfare, research and government).

The US Labor Department projects veterinary technology will grow 41% between now and 2016. That is exciting for the profession. Veterinary Technicians graduating in the near future will be in high demand as veterinary medicine reaches new heights, partly due to the increase of the human-animal-bond.