Job Description Draft

 Introduction

For the past few years, I have been working as a veterinary assistant at a small animal (cats and dogs) clinic in Denver, Colorado, during summer and winter breaks. In the future, I want to be a veterinarian, and working in a clinical setting will help me achieve this dream. I am able to gain hands-on experience, learn new skills, and establish relationships with doctors and veterinary technicians. As a veterinary assistant, there are several key responsibilities, including animal handling, client interactions, running tests, drawing blood, and helping with anything else the doctors may need. Every day is exciting and helps prepare me for my future career. 

Client Interactions

Before working as a veterinary assistant, I worked in the customer service department at Macy’s. Although these jobs are different in a lot of ways, problem-solving with customers helped prepare me for the veterinary field. Since owners are the primary caregivers for our patients, communication with them is paramount. Animals cannot describe their symptoms, so it is always important to listen to the client’s observations. However, interacting with clients is not always easy. Sometimes, clients have different opinions and can be quick to anger. 

Other times, clients just need to be reassured and know that their pet is alright. One time, we had a lady come in with her Bernese mountain dog puppy. She was concerned about her puppy because he drank some of her martini. She was frantic, worried that her new puppy would be harmed by the alcohol. We then explained that a small amount of alcohol should not cause any harm to her pet. However, she was still worried. We then explained different behaviors she can look out for that would indicate her dog is drunk and might need veterinary care. She was relieved to notice that her puppy exhibited none of these behaviors and was acting perfectly normal. 

In-Clinic Tests

Running lab tests is one of the easiest ways doctors can identify what is going on inside their patients. Although some tests need to be sent out, we run a variety of tests in-house to save money for the clients. As a veterinary assistant, part of my job is to run these tests and share the results with the doctors so they can make the best decisions for their patients. There are several different tests we run in the clinic, including blood, urine/fecal, and microscope analysis. 

Blood tests are important because they can identify the health of different organ systems in the body. They can be easily run by loading up the sample and adding in the correct test for each patient. For example, the doctor would likely want to look at more values for an older dog and thus run a more thorough test compared to a puppy. More complex tests, such as fecal exams and microscope work, are done by doctors and registered veterinary technicians. One use of the microscope is to identify potentially cancerous tumors. The doctors will often take a small biopsy and look under the microscope to see if they can identify any irregular and potentially cancerous cells. From there, if the doctor is suspicious, the sample can be sent out to be tested at a lab. Another common use of the microscope is to identify different infections so they can be properly treated. One of the most common cases we see at the clinic is ear infections. These are typically caused by yeast, which one of the doctors says looks like bunny prints in the snow under the microscope. Being familiar with different clinical tests and being able to run them accurately is essential for providing the best care and ensuring that nothing is missed.  

Example of yeast from an ear infection                      Comparison of benign and malignant tumor cells

Blood Draws and Catheters

Although a lot of people (and animals) do not like getting their blood drawn, it is an essential part of patient care. The blood carries over 1,000 proteins that reflect the complex dynamics happening within the body. As a veterinary assistant, learning to draw blood from animals and place catheters is an important skill. To get myself more comfortable with blood draws, I took a class and got my phlebotomy certification, which equips me with the tools to draw blood from people. I took this class to get myself more familiar with blood draws since people have bigger veins, hold still, and do not have any fur. This was a good starting point that allowed me to do blood draws on animals. 

The most common blood test we run at the clinic is the heartworm test. This test only requires three drops of blood and is able to tell us if the animal has heartworms or not. Heartworms are parasites that are spread via mosquitoes. They can be very dangerous if they are not caught, as they live in the heart and can cause cardiovascular issues. When an animal is diagnosed with heartworm, the treatment process is very long (often up to a year), as the worms must be killed slowly to ensure they do not block any arteries, veins, or vessels. Since this disease is hard to treat, we recommend that owners test their dogs for heartworms every year and keep them on heartworm prevention, especially during the summer months. Since the test is very common and only requires three drops of blood, it was the perfect opportunity to practice my blood drawing skills. I started doing all the heartworm tests and was able to practice blood draws on a variety of breeds. In my personal experience, I find corgis are the most challenging dog breed to get blood from because they have short legs, thick fur, and are often not very patient. 

Once I became fast and accurate with the heartworm tests, I started drawing for more complicated tests and eventually learned how to place a catheter. Catheters are often done for surgery patients because it is important that the doctor has direct access to the blood if something goes wrong and they need to rapidly administer a medication. Catheters are also used to give the initial dose of anesthetic for surgeries and administer fluids throughout the procedure. Catheter placement is often very difficult because the technician must be very precise, focused and ready to adapt if the animal moves. I find the hardest part of placing a catheter is taping it down and avoiding all the fur on fluffy dogs. The first catheter I ever did was on a brown lab named Honeybear, who was in for a spay. 

Conclusion

Working as a veterinary assistant gets me closer to my goal of becoming a veterinarian and prepares me for veterinary school. Understanding proper animal handling techniques, animal husbandry, and familiarity with all the jobs in the clinic are essential to becoming a good veterinarian. I am so lucky to have been able to grow my skillset in such a supportive environment. I have already learned a lot about animals and veterinary medicine and cannot wait to keep learning more. 

Passive Sentences: 1 

Flesch Reading Ease: 57

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 10-12