Veterinary Assistant Job Description
Veterinary Assistant Duties & Responsibilities
To write an effective veterinary assistant job description, begin by listing detailed duties, responsibilities and expectations. We have included veterinary assistant job description templates that you can modify and use.
Sample responsibilities for this position include:
Veterinary Assistant Qualifications
Qualifications for a job description may include education, certification, and experience.
Licensing or Certifications for Veterinary Assistant
List any licenses or certifications required by the position: AALAS, ACVP, CITI, AVA, NAVTA, CALAS
Education for Veterinary Assistant
Typically a job would require a certain level of education.
Employers hiring for the veterinary assistant job most commonly would prefer for their future employee to have a relevant degree such as Associate and Bachelor's Degree in Veterinary, Teaching, Education, Veterinary Technology, Science, Veterinary Medicine, Biology, Health, Medical, Graduate
Skills for Veterinary Assistant
Desired skills for veterinary assistant include:
Desired experience for veterinary assistant includes:
Veterinary Assistant Examples
Veterinary Assistant Job Description
- Preparation of gauze, sponge, towel, needle, and suture packs so each contains a specified number of items, with each oriented in relation to procedures manual protocol within the pack, and wrapped in an outer wrapper so that, after autoclaving, the pack may be opened maintaining a sterile field around its outer perimeter
- Perform daily tasks to ensure the self-help laboratory is operational
- Assisting Registered Veterinary Technicians and Veterinarians with all aspects of animal care
- Restraint
- Cleaning and stocking throughout the hospital
- Filling Prescriptions
- Walking/ Feeding hospitalized patients
- Do laundry
- Clean cages and boarding kennels
- Clean public and staff areas
- Experience in a medical laboratory – a minimum one (1) year previous experience is highly desirable
- 21 years or older with a valid drivers' license
- 1-2 years related experience in a laboratory animal facility
- Minimum 1 year experience working with animals in a clinical setting
- Associates Degree in Veterinary Technology
- Prefer 3 years of experience working with animals in a clinical setting
Veterinary Assistant Job Description
- Professional, cheerful and helpful attitude when interacting with pet owners
- Knowledge of common diseases, their symptoms and means of transmission
- Knowledge of preventative health care recommendations to answer questions and assist in marketing veterinary services from which clients’ pets would benefit
- Help in reception area when needed
- Know how to check out clients and discharge boarding and hospitalized patients
- Understand proper medical record keeping
- Understand front-desk procedures in order to assist receptionists such as phone system, veterinary practice-management software and appointment scheduling guidelines
- Performs cleaning and sanitizing of cages, pens and rooms while disposing of waste materials
- Provide quality patient care while maintaining a Fear Free © approach
- Patient restraint during examinations, injections, treatments, induction
- Ability to interpret quality control monitors
- Initiative to diagnose and troubleshoot equipment difficulties without being directly supervised
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment while demonstrating excellent customer service, high degree of confidentiality, openness to teaching and providing consultation to a variety of stakeholders
- One year of experience as a veterinary assistant providing patient care
- Formal or on-the-job training in veterinary technology
- Ability and willingness to assist technicians, doctors and receptionists
Veterinary Assistant Job Description
- Surgical instrument cleaning/packing
- Surgical suite prep and clean
- Providing compassionate care and a home away from home for hospitalized pets
- Use of fear free animal handling and restraint techniques
- Assist with sedation and recovery, blood draws, IVC, CFS taps and positioning, restraint on painful animals, euthanasia, surgical clips, urinary catheter placement, TPR’s, neurologic exams and Cytosar injections
- Organize incoming appointments and assisting with appointments in the exam rooms
- Assist with transportation of down patients from the parking lot to exam room and to physical therapy
- Apply basic foundational knowledge of Brain-site Planning
- Apply basic foundational knowledge of Brain Surgery and Equipment
- Serve as a liaison for providing surgery staff with vital information about incoming cases
- Available to work on Saturdays and Sundays
- Responsibilities will vary based on the practice’s current needs, the season and the individual skills of the employee
- Ability to assist veterinarians in the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery
- Compassionate care for hospitalized patients
- Flexibility in hours including but not limited to evenings, weekends and holidays
- Capable of being cross-trained as receptionist and kennel assistant
Veterinary Assistant Job Description
- Create invoices, prints stickers and various forms, pharmacy refills and FAX refills to various outside pharmacies
- Update logs and spreadsheets used by the department
- Answers “Rounds” room phone, takes and relays messages, facilitates visitations
- Clean exam and operating rooms maintaining the order of various materials/inventory and paperwork
- Take dirty laundry to Central Supply and retrieve clean laundry
- Clean and oil drills
- Take sterile packs and equipment to Central Supply, return sterile packs and supplies to O.R
- Maintain and clean clippers and blades
- Send instruments or equipment out for repair
- Assist clinicians with setting up labs (including resident labs, student labs, and VS 660 laboratory), and acquiring cadavers
- Previous experience or training/education working in a veterinary facility preferred
- Outstanding skills in compassionate and strong patient care
- Interested in assisting with patient care (feeding, kennel care), stocking supplies, cleaning and supporting our highly skilled, friendly veterinarians and veterinary technicians for examinations, diagnostics, treatments, IV catheter placement, blood draws, lab work
- Must be a self-motivated individual, willing to work nights, weekends and holidays in addition to other shifts
- Willing to learn! Willing to contribute! Ready to become a super veterinary assistant and more!
- Capable of being cross-trained as receptionist
Veterinary Assistant Job Description
- Assist students with appropriate laboratory cleanup procedures
- Ability to perform a cursory examination of an animal
- Ability to use a stethoscope and otoscope
- Ability to recognize fleas, ticks and other external parasites
- Ability to recognize other potential health care issues, , dental or exam by a veterinarian
- Clearly communicate your findings to doctor
- Collection of biologic specimens that include but are not limited to tissue, oral fluids, blood, and feces for clinical case diagnosis and herd health monitoring
- Execute veterinary research including literature review, drafting protocols, and data entry
- Educate employees of various departments on veterinary processes including but not limited to biologic specimen collection, biosecurity, and oral controlled exposure through organized training sessions
- Audit on-farm veterinary processes and records to maintain compliance with federal, state, industry and company policies and procedures including antibiotic use
- Ne year of relevant experience as a veterinary assistant providing patient care
- Experience, knowledge and comfort with Word and Excel software
- Must have a strong drive to help others and work as a team
- Strong oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate with various audiences
- Ability to pay attention to detail and stay focused while multitasking
- Compassion for animals including demonstrated interest in caring for, promoting the health of, and fostering the contentment of animals