Veterinary Anesthesia Technician

Veterinary anesthesia technician work involves preparing and administering prescribed anesthetics prior to, during and following surgery; and monitoring and balancing vital signs during surgery and recovery.

“The most fulfilling career decision that I have ever made has been to go into lab animal medicine. Speaking with a few technicians in the field, I realized that ….I would be using my skills, as well as expanding upon them and doing things that I never thought I would do. I would actually be a key to ensuring the mental and physical wellbeing of animals.
I work as a veterinary anesthesia technician on an array of animals, including rodents, rabbits, swine, and ruminants. My job consists of a variety of tasks, but my main focus is on pain management. Making my patients as comfortable as I can is critical, because they are where good science starts. Being a CVT is vitally important in this field.
We are technically skilled, but we also have the science knowledge to understand how the science works and why we are doing what we do. If you have a passion for animals as well as science, and if you want to make a difference in the future of medicine, then this is where you should be.”
—Samantha, CVT, RLATG from a biotechnology company in Massachusetts

Examples of work performed by a Veterinary Anesthesia Technician
-Anesthetizes animals; connects biomedical monitors and patient care devices; monitors biomedical equipment to balance patient vital signs throughout entire anesthetic delivery and recovery process.
-Checks out, calibrates and sets up all physiological monitoring and anesthetic delivery equipment for use.