page_title: Veterinary medicine in the United States
section_title: Veterinary technicians
hierarchical_section_title: Veterinary medicine in the United States / Veterinary technicians
caption_attribution_description: English: A logo from the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA)
context_page_description: Veterinary medicine in the United States is the performance of veterinary medicine in the United States, normally performed by licensed professionals, and subject to provisions of statute law which vary by state. Veterinary medicine is normally led by veterinary physicians, normally termed veterinarians or vets.
  Veterinarians are often assisted by paraveterinary workers including veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants, and in some cases, these para-professionals may perform work on their own.
  Dependent on the jurisdiction, other professionals may be permitted to perform some animal treatment, through either specific exemptions in the law or through a lack of prohibitive legislation. This can include manipulation techniques such as physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy, or animal-specific professions such as horse and cattle hoof trimmers, equine dental technicians, and technicians who specialize in cattle artificial insemination.
context_section_description: Veterinary technicians are the primary paraveterinary workers in the US and assist the veterinarian in the role of a nurse (and in most other anglophone countries, the equivalent role is called a veterinary nurse), providing trained support.  The requirements for technicians vary by state, but in most cases, technicians are graduates of two or four year college-level programs and are legally qualified to assist veterinarians in many medical procedures.
  Some states choose to license technicians, so that only people with appropriate qualifications are able to fulfill the role, but this is not the case in all jurisdictions.
caption: Veterinary technician logo
exif: {}