10/16/2026
As we prepare to celebrate RVT Week during RVT Month, I sit and reflect on how far techs have come, even in just my relatively short time of 17 years as an RVT.
17 years seems like a long time, but when you come to find out that the first school for veterinary nurses was started in England in 1908, it really isn’t any time at all. The journey of vet techs started long before me, and will continue long after I retire my stethoscope, or maybe more accurately now, my workplace email account.
When I started, it felt like my role was primarily one of support. Yes, we were encouraged to use our education and acquired skills to the fullest, but so much of my work seemed to revolve around helping vets do theirs.
Skills that include placing IV catheters so that doctors can perform surgery. Taking radiographs so vets can see inside. Collecting blood so vets can assess organ function. Cleaning the teeth so vets can perform extractions. All these tasks we still perform today with great pride, and somewhere along the way, it felt like something was shifting.
I don’t know that the job itself changed. In many clinics, it likely hasn’t and that’s ok. Maybe the change came from within us and our understanding of what we could bring to veterinary medicine began to grow.
We are not simply a collection of technical skills. We are educated, continuously educated, pet health care professionals with knowledge, judgment, compassion, empathy, interests and passions of our own.
We are discovering a vast number of pathways our career can pioneer. From anesthesia to dentistry, behaviour, rehabilitation, nutrition, emergency medicine, exotics, client education, end of life care, management, and so, so much more, we are finding out what inspires us.
And the beautiful thing is that we don’t all have to be passionate about the same things to be a “good tech.”
Some of us thrive in surgery or enjoy a complicated medical case. Some love to speak to clients about how to enrich their pet’s lives based on their knowledge or personal experiences. Some have an incredible ability to connect with frightened animals or worried owners. Some are teachers, problem solvers or advocates. And some find their greatest satisfaction in the quiet, everyday moments of patient care.
All contributions matter.
Are we still supporting vets in the work they do? Absolutely. But I think we are increasingly recognizing that we are also directly contributing to the health and well-being of our patients and the people who care for them. That we might be meeting unmet needs we didn’t know were there. Through our passions and interests, we are increasing the quality of veterinary medicine in our community.
I think something I appreciate and recognize most is that none of us must do it all. In my opinion, a great team isn’t one where everyone is expected to do everything. It is one where we recognize and encourage our strengths, support each other’s weaknesses, celebrate each other’s victories, create a safe space for when we fall, and create opportunities for everyone to contribute in meaningful ways.
This RVT month, I want to celebrate not just what vet techs do, but also who they are. I want to celebrate the people that give so much life and meaning to vet med. I want to celebrate their goals and dreams. Those goals and dreams are expanding what vet med is and could be, something different than from my early days. Maybe even the reason why I am still here today. These people that make coming to work more than just a duty, overwhelmingly it is a pleasure.
I am proud of how far our profession has come. I am proud of the work we do. I am proud of this team. I am so excited to see where we are going to go.
To the RVTs that have paved the way and made a positive contribution to our vet med world, and to the stellar RVTs that I have the honor of working with now, Happy RVT Month. -M
