Vet Tech Programs: Explore Career Specialties
Learn about the different veterinary technician specialties for your career.
Veterinary Technician Specialties
Working in a pet clinic is a great way to begin your new career. But in a veterinary technician job, there are many more ways to put your skills to work, and you may find yourself drawn to a particular veterinary technician specialty area. Here are some of your options.
Veterinary Internal Medicine
Veterinary Internal Medicine is a specialty born of the need for further research into animal diseases. General wellness and preventative medicine are its primary focus.
Particular attention is paid to chronic disease, anatomy, physiology and non-surgical pathology issues of small to large animals. Cardiology and oncology are sub-specialties of veterinary internal medicine. If you like research and want to affect the quality of care directly, Internal Medicine is a great veterinary technician career.
Critical Care
Critical Care is a veterinary technician specialty worth considering. In the critical care environment, a veterinary technician is literally a vital member of the team. When every moment counts, a skilled vet tech needs to be a good decision maker and critical thinker.
During emergency procedures, a vet tech often performs the following functions:
- Replaces lost fluids intravenously
- Administers general anesthesia
- Takes radiographs and specimens
- Assists with diagnoses and treatments
- Performs invasive procedures, such as drawing blood
- Carefully monitors vital signs
Zoo Keeping
Zoo Keeping is a competitive field involving the care of animals in zoological parks or aquariums. In this environment, a vet tech helps with the maintenance of captive exotic animals for the purposes of conservation, research, public education and recreation.
In addition to the daily care of the animals, you may have the opportunity to work in a zoo hospital, where a wide spectrum of medical emergencies is handled. Zoo hospitals are concerned with cross-species disease, quarantining animals and year-round health care of animals from very different climates.
Duties performed by a vet tech in a zoo are numerous. Some may include:
- Assisting veterinarians with clinical cases
- Treatments for a variety of species
- Immobilization of large and small animals
- Surgical assistance
- Medical record keeping
- Lab work
More Vet Tech Programs and Specialties
There is no question that there are many options available to a veterinary technician. Indeed, the opportunities grow greater every year advancements in technology. In addition to the specialties detailed above, other specialties you could study in your vet tech program include:
- Avian Medicine
- Biomedical Research
- Clinical Pathology
- Dentistry
- Emergency Medicine
- Exotics
- Large Animals
- Small Animals
- Surgery
- Clinic Supervisor
Education Guide
Veterinary Technician Education
Read about course information and requirements toward your certification.
Certification Information
Learn what you need to do to become a certified veterinary technician.
School Accreditation
Get information about the benefits of attending an accredited vet tech school.
Professional Interview
Read the interview of an experienced veterinary technician and get an inside look at the profession.
Training Information
Find out how to choose the right education program and internship.
Career Guide
Career Options
Discover some of your options when you are choosing a veterinary technician career.
Job Information
Find out the responsibilities of a veterinary technician and the tasks they perform.
Veterinary Tech Specialties
Check out some of the specialties a veterinary technician career offers.
Salary Information
Find information about the earning potential of different veterinary technician jobs.
Veterinary Assistant Career
Learn about getting into the field as a veterinary assistant and the duties they perform.
Resources and Links
Browse a compiled list of vet tech resources to research your certification.