10/20/2026
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I would not have survived my first year of practice without my veterinary technicians.
The long days. The long nights. The cases that stretched far beyond anything a textbook could prepare you for. The moments when I was trying to be confident for an owner while quietly wondering whether I was making the right call.
A dog hit by a semi and my first-ever forelimb amputationāsitting beside me with a surgery book, reading the steps right alongside me.
My first code.
A 3 a.m. pig C-section.
A 10 p.m. cat in respiratory distress, talking me through how to run a proBNP on the blood machine.
But they have also been there for the moments no one sees.
The tears after a hard conversation with an owner. The frustration after a case did not go the way I hoped. The nights I questioned my decisions, replayed every step, or wondered whether I was cut out for this. They have seen me overwhelmed, exhausted, and at times at my absolute worstāand still met me with patience, reassurance, honesty, and the kind of support that helps you walk back into the next room and keep going.
They have been my extra hands, extra eyes, second brain, calm voice, and sounding board. They have taught me without judgment, challenged me when I needed it, and helped me become a better doctorānot only through the medicine, but through the humanity of this job.
Veterinary technicians are the backbone of veterinary medicine, and I wish they received even a fraction of the recognition, respect, and compensation their skill and heart deserve.
To every tech who stays late, answers the call, holds the patient, supports the owner, and somehow holds us together too: thank you.
