10/15/2026
📚🩺 Meet our VTS Series Week 4: Valerie Garuccio CVT, VTS(ECC) 📚
With 25 years in veterinary medicine and 20 years at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, Val has spent two decades growing her skills, sharing her knowledge, and helping provide exceptional care to some of our most critically ill patients.
When she graduated from veterinary technician school, she didn’t even know becoming a VTS was an option. That changed when her clinic hosted a three-day training led by a veterinarian/VTS team. Seeing a veterinary technician teaching and speaking at such a high level inspired her, and when that VTS told her she was qualified to pursue the credential herself, a seed was planted.
The journey wasn’t without setbacks. After her application was declined twice, she was accepted on her third attempt, and passed the exam on her first try! That experience taught her an important lesson she still shares today: failure isn’t a bad thing; it’s an opportunity to learn, grow, and keep going.
Earning her VTS opened the door to an incredible network of veterinary professionals who have helped her continue to grow, learn, and ultimately improve patient care. Her advice to technicians considering a VTS? Become as well-rounded as possible, expose yourself to everything, and give yourself time to discover the specialty you truly love. For her, what she once thought might be Avian & Exotics ultimately became a passion for Emergency & Critical Care.
Outside of RBVH, you’ll find her dancing at Zumba, enjoying the beach, singing a little karaoke, or searching for a great local coffee shop. She shares life with Ada, her Puerto Rican Sato and very first dog, and rescued green-cheeked conures Art & Penny, affectionately known as “the diabolical clowns.”
After 25 years in VetMed, her passion for learning, growing, and providing better patient care is still going strong, and we’re proud to have had her as part of the RBVH family for 20 of those years! ❤🐾
