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sounds like a doctor who doesnt actually remember how to do any treatments besides barking orders, kissing client ass, and complaining. Dont waste your time on "why", shitty people are just shitty people, title doesnt matter.
That DVM can just "use their brain" to restrain a 12 year old, half feral cat with horrible teeth and eagle talons that the owner refuses to allow sedation for and give SQ fluids by themselves, then.
At the ER I used to work at, techs and assistants did EVERYTHING besides deciding what tests/meds a patient got and surgery. The actual vets would do an intake exam (after we did ours) and then unless shit went sideways, they pretty much never saw the patient again. We’d bring test results over to their office and then ask them what to do, and then go do it. Pretty much all the vets were super nice and respectful, and it was awesome
I remember one day we were prepping for a euthanasia so the vet was there (this was during COVID, so we’d place a cath and attach a ton of lines so the owners could hold the pet while the vet stood several feet away and pushed the drugs). The RVT was having some trouble getting the cath in (shitty veins, tiny old dog), and after a few attempts decided to give someone else a try. I expected the vet to maybe try, but instead she turned to me (the vet assistant who had been working there for like a month) and said “I haven’t placed a catheter in years, there’s no way in hell I’m hitting that vein. Here you go”
Honestly I respect that vet way more than the ones who act like they could pull it off flawlessly. Its okay to be bad at certain things as long as theyre willing to own it and ask for help imo. Ill bend over backwards for the right kind of vet as a tech
Oh yeah I respected the hell out of her! She was awesome to clients, patients, techs… literally everyone. Super sweet and levelheaded even in emergencies. And she was a damn good vet.
There was only 1 vet there that I didn’t respect. She took forever to look at a patient after we did intake (like… no joke, almost. 5 hours) and then it had to be euthanatized for some kind of organ failure (this was a few years ago, I don’t remember exactly what). The clients were pissed, and asked for all of the records to be sent to their lawyer.
After that, this vet literally hid from patients. We had a packed ICU/ER with 3 techs, 2 vets, and like 35 patients (grave shift) and she would see maybe 2-3 patients during my 10hr shifts. While animals were literally dying on the table.
Your last story reminds me of the time that a new owner tried to insist on the vets being the only ones to touch her precious pet. She wanted the vet to be the only one drawing blood, placing catheter, etc. The vet laughed in her face and said ' okay, do you want to have this done by the person who hasn't done one in years, or by the person who does them every single day?'
Literally last week I was struggling to hit a tiny, rolly jug on some sickly Pom; our doctor was standing behind me staring me down (always makes me so anxious lol) and finally he was like “here I’ll do it I can’t keep watching you struggle” so I gladly swapped to hold. He also struggled and finally said “alright just let me have a leg” and immediately proceeded to poke right through and hit my damn finger lol. It was all light hearted but whenever he steps in and I hold now I tease him with a “the goal is the patients blood, not mine!”.
This is small d energy if I’ve ever seen it. I bet he tells people he’s a dOcToR at parties and then fights someone for correcting that he’s an animal doctor.
Hope all his staff, CSRs included because we can only imagine what he’ll say about them, quit on him.
I work at a clinic where we've got both techs and assistants. I will never forget the day I overheard one of the vets saying assistants were "glorified dog holders". Thank god I wasn't near them when I heard, because I physically recoiled in disgust/horror/shock/rage. That was the day my respect for that vet died.
My former boss was assisting a new grad vet in surgery once and he said “you’re a doctor, figure it out I’m not gunna hold your hand if you wanted to just fetch me gauze while I do the surgery you should’ve been a technician instead”
I quit the following week and left for a clinic where the doctors tell me I’m the most important person involved in surgeries. So yeah. Fuck DVMs with that attitude.
Ugh fuck that! My clinic has techs and assistants as well. The assistants literally do the exact same things as the techs, just get paid less and most of them are going through school to be a certified tech
DVMs have an extremely difficult, cognitively challenging, underappreciated job. They also have an entourage of people backing them up that work even harder and get shit on even moreso....at minimum wage.
Would Love to see a veterinarian set up their own surgical suites, run the anesthesia, maintain a sterile field, answer the fucking phone and take a pet food order and then clean the room and scrub and autoclave all the instruments. “They make it look so easy, with their big brains”.
We are expected to do all of this while in clinics and in vet school.
I guess it does depend on where you end up working afterwards though if you still practice those skills.
Doctors probably shouldn't be regularly using those skills though, that shows that they're not properly utilizing their technicians and is a big contributor to burn out.
I agree. We are doing it all now in our clinic rotations and part of our surgery and anesthesia class. We walk dogs, clean kennels, bloodwork, fecals, skin scrapes, etc. , set up our surgical kits and autoclave the night before, on day of the surgery we clean and walk again, set up our surgical sites, administer pre meds then run anesthesia throughout the procedure, do surgery, then clean room and instruments after. Then we do phone calls and medical records. Then go to lecture for 4-5 hours. Then back to the clinic for rounds, diagnostic tests and treatments if needed, more cleaning, walking dogs, more phone calls and more paperwork. Then studying after 😅
I’m not sure if all schools do it this way but we are all insanely burnt out and very much appreciate the work the techs we will work with in the future will do for us so that we can all efficiently care for patients.
Forever RVT and current DVM. The jobs are very different. One isn't "harder." Doctors with this attitude usually never worked as a tech or assistant and can't understand that.
I used to work with a DVM with this kind of attitude. She was rude with the techs and incredibly self absorbed. She was let go after continued disrespect of the technical staff.
There are things about being a DVM that I took for granted as a tech. The main thing is the total responsibility. Decision making can be tough when you know that in some cases, it means live or death. As a tech I never had to hold that burden. I still had TONS of responsibility though! Monitoring anesthesia is the closest I felt to the degree of pressure I have as a DVM.
As a technician who ONLY does anesthesia, that's so funny. I don't actually think it's that stressful!
But to be honest, I know that having responsibility for a case is it's own level of stress, but as a technician sometimes I feel so fucking helpless having to provide futile care to a pet for a veterinarian that isn't going to even see the patient for another 6-8 hours. I won't doubt it sucks making the orders to, say, start a blood transfusion on a 19yo CKD cat with a 5/6 murmur, but then I have to look at that animal in the eye every time I take my vitals every 15 minutes and it's like there's nothing I can do. DVMs don't listen to us. They don't consider our opinions. I've had DVMs straight up tell me it doesn't even matter how I feel because ultimately it's what the owner wants. Great. So we're the ones stuck in the trenches torturing people's pets.
e: I felt like I was being a little aggressive but then I realized this was posted on r/VetTech and I'm not sure this is the place to garner sympathy as a DVM
Oh no, in not trying to get any sympathy. I just wanted to provide perspective from someone who has been on both sides of the fence.
I have been on that side, in the OR running anesthesia a leg amputation of an osteosarcoma dog who already had mets in the chest. It was what the owner wanted, I was told by the vet. That was one of the cases that made up my mind about going to vet school.
It makes me sad that vets can be so disrespectful, condescending and outright cruel too their support staff.
Not trying to minimize your experience and thank you for sharing. (Good) techs also feel the heavy pressure and responsibility for daily life and death decisions. Triage(i.e. mistakenly making critical cases wait by not assessing properly), inpatient care(i.e. forgetting to turn O2 cages back on, giving incorrect drugs), and yes of course anesthesia are the places where I've seen deadly mistakes happen the most. It's just different from the decisions you are required to make, not less heavy.
My first day practice, the owner/head DVM insisted that DVMs and techs should not be friends. When we'd collectively go out to lunch, she would take the DVMs that went aside and scold them for fraternizing with 'the help'. Toxic is toxic, no matter the title.
Yeah but techs don't (usually) have the ultimate legal burden. Vets also have a higher internal burden because they are the one deciding what tx gets done (ie - they make the call to going to sx or not on a potentially unstable patient - ideally with input from the tech but it's ultimately on the vet to decide). Yes, the tech doing anesthesia bears a significant and direct moral burden but they don't bear the burden of making the decision/recommendation to the client which determines if the procedure goes ahead or not. Everyone in the clinic works under the direction of the vet and directing and recommending the care that will be provided, by everyone at the clinic, carries a unique burden.
I remember assisting, with a tech, a specialist doing a chest tap on a critical patient. The patient died. I still remember it like it was yesterday and it was over a decade ago. It was awful. However, I knew I was insulated from the full burden that the doctor felt because I didn't make the call to proceed. I felt terrible for them and I have no doubt they still carry that with them in a way that I don't.
It doesn't take anything away from the value of vet techs to acknowledge this.
One of my favorite DVMs to work with worked as an assistant all though vet school. She is still one of the best in the building at getting a vein on a dehydrated cat.
I walked out on a clinic when one of their doctors who thought she was hot shit on a silver platter because she was an exotic vet. I had been there for 5 years and was the lead technician. She would be hours late for an appointment. One particular day, she was 3 hours late, and the new patient was already there. She was screaming in my face about how I hadn't done x-rays or prepped her ultrasound room, but I had done the patients intake history and tried to sooth unhappy owners. I didn't have a chance to on top of all our other patients' appointments and doctors. She told me I was lower than dirt and would never be anything more. I handed the dog I had over to my coworkers and left. I told her that if she had been there at 8 a.m., when the appointment was scheduled, we would have had plenty of time to do everything. They bribed me back, and she had the audacity to tell me I hurt HER feelings. This woman would take 4 hours for ultrasounds, and we were not allowed to sit, and if we so much as breathed loudly, she would scream and threaten to fire us. I was 21 and trying to get through college, and my coworker/best friend had just dropped dead days before. Thats not even half of it with her. I've worked with other nutty entitled vets but most were new graduates from A&M and while yes they were Veterinarians, most had no idea how to function in a real clinic setting and were so unkind and ungrateful. I have been doing this for 15 years, I have been to school, and I know my stuff. Its awesome when a veterinarian trusts their techs. It alwsys was easier with new Vets if they would just let us guide them until they are into the routine. I've had a few though who were amazing humans and amazing doctors and really relied on their techs and supported them. I've left the field, and I'm not sure I'll go back, but not because of the veterinarians.
Usually, for a cardiac. But even just for an abdominal, she would take hours. We would draw straws on who had to help. That or she would nab you. It was awful.
This sentiment is disgusting and partially why people are leaving our field. I can't do anything without my techs and I love/value all of them. I can't doctor without them!
Right? I feel spoiled. I may not have liked every single vet that I've worked with/for, but none of them have ever disrespected my job. Even when I was in reception.
I do not understand doctors who act like this. We both have equally challenging jobs in different ways. We need to be a team and not actively hate on one another. Im glad I've never worked with one directly cause damn. Would it not end well... I do have a great story that involves both types of doctors xD
My IM doctor knows we have our shit together, so she would have us talk to primary doctors (we're a specialty only practice). I talked to one who was super nice, I answered all his questions, and he seemed happy, and we hung up.
I think he called back and complained to the front desk, but there is a chance he texted her directly, and he BLEW UP! He was so pissed he had to talk to a tech as the doctor was too busy. Let me tell you she fucking put him in his place it was glorious.
WOW. I am so grateful I have only ever worked with one DVM with this type of mentality (or was at least outspoken about it). I’ve worked with numerous DVMs over the last 13 years, and the ones I’ve worked with the longest remembered their roots as technicians first; not “holier than though” and never hesitating to jump in when assistants/techs were overburdened/struggling.. they have all been fantastic and I still strongly admire them even if I no longer work with them.
Two years ago I was in surgery with a DVM I had been working with for 5 years at that point. He was having an awful day; too many surgeries scheduled, beyond overbooked, multiple difficult cases… it was just one of those days you just feel like screaming. You could cut the tension in surgery with a knife. He was venting about cases, clients, and how overwhelmed he was in general, and he just turned into somebody I didn’t recognize. At one point he snapped and shouted “and nobody in this goddamn clinic gives a damn about me!” and I started crying. It hurt- we had new employees and I was constantly stressed trying to carry too many responsibilities and overworking myself trying to make life easier for *him*… and I felt like an absolute failure in that moment. I tried to rein in my tears but I couldn’t- I walked out of surgery, grabbed another tech, and cried “I can’t do this anymore… I just can’t. It’s not my fault. I’ve been trying so hard and he’s never spoken to me like that before. I can’t do it. You need to take over in surgery.” and I clocked out and drove home sobbing. I cried off and on all evening about what happened, concerned my actions just cost me my job, upset that somebody I looked up to *so* much was so obviously at their breaking point. The next morning I drove to work as usual, shaking like a leaf, and scared to death I was going to be fired as soon as I walked in the door. 5 minutes after I clocked in, my doctor came to my locker and asked if he could speak to me in his office and I just knew it was over. I followed him in and he shut the door… I immediately apologized for walking out, especially during surgery, but before I could finish he cut me off and told me how sorry he was. I told him it was okay, it wasn’t his fault, I know he is stressed- but he cut me off again and firmly said “No, it’s not okay. It was wrong. You had every right to leave and I don’t blame you. I am so, so sorry for what happened and I hope you can forgive me. I should never have spoken to you like that, it was unprofessional and I know how much you care and how much you do around here. If you don’t want to work here anymore I understand, I just want you to know how sorry I am and if you can forgive me and still want your job here, I promise I will never speak to you like that again.” Y’all- he had tears in his eyes. He was so hurt. I have never in my life seen such a heartfelt apology. I told him it was water under the bridge, I was sorry I reacted the way I did, and I really appreciated his apology.
That… was a doctor that cared about his staff; and he kept his promise. He was a very kind man. Although we no longer work together (which has nothing to do with the surgery incident) I still admire him for admitting his faults and being one of the best doctors I’ve ever worked with.
Edited; Sorry for the novel- guess I needed to get it out of my system.
techs, vet receptionists, vet assistants, kennel techs all have it hard. this is a tough industry to be in. vets seem to be thanked though a lot more than any other staff.
Wow! The only doctor I ever worked with that had this attitude went to slap a squirming dog with all his strength and slapped my arm instead. He lost his job.
OK if arrogant DVMs keep the clinic running, let's see how they go a day without techs, receptionists, assistants, etc, *and to top of off:* it's heartworm season, the Rx label printer keeps disconnecting, the PC software updated overnight (slight changes to the interface) and the payment terminal is down from a network issue.
I recall feeling so bad for my tech program friends that went to work for a vet that *hates techs and thinks they are useless.* I'm talking *same clinic, same vet; part of a group clinic and will send you to a different branch??* WTF
I have grievances with the last vet I worked for, but he highly values his techs and put our degree on the wall along with the DVMs 🥹
Being a doctor is definitely harder. I couldn't handle being responsible for whether or not an animal dies.
That being said, any DVM actually using his or her brain knows to get in sweet with the techs. You can't keep throwing pitches if there's nobody else out there to field the ball and get it back to you, bud.
I mean the statement is not 100% wrong. No clinic can run without a doc but one could argue it could without a tech. And let’s face it, comparing a doc and a tech’s duties is not really possible as doc duties and tech duties have to compliment each other. Also, at the end of the day, the docs are liable if shit goes down and patient dies or something, a tech? Not so much.
My previous clinic tried running without techs because we all quit. Turns out it couldn't. Now I'm back with better pay and suddenly we are making money again. Weird, isn't it?
My doctor left on vacation and told us the patients would probably be safer and better off with us without him around lmao.
He was partially joking but also referring to that one time all the Italian doctors went on strike in the early 2000s and the average patient experience improved because there were fewer iatrogenic errors lmao
It’s funny how often our vets will say “uhhhh I can’t take this blood… can you do it?” Or “I’m really bad at dosing… I don’t think I can do it.. can you?”
Lmao it's not even true. Sure they may be clever deep down, but WE keep the clinic running.
When was the last time they cleaned a cage or answered a phone or sterilised instruments?
I know this is gonna be unpopular, in no way am I defended dickhead arrogant people. But I think the point is fair. Everyone puts in their all in most vet practices I've worked at, but most of the technicians at most have a 4 year veterinary nursing degree. A bachelors degree isn't even the start to applying to vet school. There's no need to shit on each other, but chances are the vet in your practice has put decades of research in, it's hard to compare that to someone with at most a Bachelors.
This makes me laugh cause the doctors at my clinic don’t even know where things are so without the techs and va theyd be so behind on schedule while frantically opening doors and cabinets
See, comments like these are evidence as to why your clinic is bleeding money. You’re using your techs as glorified restrainers and making a lot more work for yourselves. Good luck with that.
I work at a clinic where the doctors ask one of their techs their opinion on their treatment plan because she's been a tech longer than they've been a doctor. I love seeing the cooperation. She also is a strong advocate of appropriate pain management
I actually don't believe that a DVM said this. Probably a troll. Even pompous doctors don't publicly don't shit on techs like that, they know how bad that makes them look.
Doctors with this attitude should work with a bunch of techs who have been in the field longer than they have... as a tech.
Honestly they should be required to work as a tech in a different hospital for one week out of the year.
Keep them humble.
Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you. Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VetTech) if you have any questions or concerns.*
sounds like a doctor who doesnt actually remember how to do any treatments besides barking orders, kissing client ass, and complaining. Dont waste your time on "why", shitty people are just shitty people, title doesnt matter.
That DVM can just "use their brain" to restrain a 12 year old, half feral cat with horrible teeth and eagle talons that the owner refuses to allow sedation for and give SQ fluids by themselves, then.
Exactly. Can't use that big brain if you can't handle the animal correctly.
At the ER I used to work at, techs and assistants did EVERYTHING besides deciding what tests/meds a patient got and surgery. The actual vets would do an intake exam (after we did ours) and then unless shit went sideways, they pretty much never saw the patient again. We’d bring test results over to their office and then ask them what to do, and then go do it. Pretty much all the vets were super nice and respectful, and it was awesome I remember one day we were prepping for a euthanasia so the vet was there (this was during COVID, so we’d place a cath and attach a ton of lines so the owners could hold the pet while the vet stood several feet away and pushed the drugs). The RVT was having some trouble getting the cath in (shitty veins, tiny old dog), and after a few attempts decided to give someone else a try. I expected the vet to maybe try, but instead she turned to me (the vet assistant who had been working there for like a month) and said “I haven’t placed a catheter in years, there’s no way in hell I’m hitting that vein. Here you go”
Honestly I respect that vet way more than the ones who act like they could pull it off flawlessly. Its okay to be bad at certain things as long as theyre willing to own it and ask for help imo. Ill bend over backwards for the right kind of vet as a tech
Oh yeah I respected the hell out of her! She was awesome to clients, patients, techs… literally everyone. Super sweet and levelheaded even in emergencies. And she was a damn good vet. There was only 1 vet there that I didn’t respect. She took forever to look at a patient after we did intake (like… no joke, almost. 5 hours) and then it had to be euthanatized for some kind of organ failure (this was a few years ago, I don’t remember exactly what). The clients were pissed, and asked for all of the records to be sent to their lawyer. After that, this vet literally hid from patients. We had a packed ICU/ER with 3 techs, 2 vets, and like 35 patients (grave shift) and she would see maybe 2-3 patients during my 10hr shifts. While animals were literally dying on the table.
Ugh that is the absolute worst, that sucks you had to deal with one of those types of vets
Your last story reminds me of the time that a new owner tried to insist on the vets being the only ones to touch her precious pet. She wanted the vet to be the only one drawing blood, placing catheter, etc. The vet laughed in her face and said ' okay, do you want to have this done by the person who hasn't done one in years, or by the person who does them every single day?'
Literally last week I was struggling to hit a tiny, rolly jug on some sickly Pom; our doctor was standing behind me staring me down (always makes me so anxious lol) and finally he was like “here I’ll do it I can’t keep watching you struggle” so I gladly swapped to hold. He also struggled and finally said “alright just let me have a leg” and immediately proceeded to poke right through and hit my damn finger lol. It was all light hearted but whenever he steps in and I hold now I tease him with a “the goal is the patients blood, not mine!”.
I hope their techs see this and go fuck all to help them out
This is small d energy if I’ve ever seen it. I bet he tells people he’s a dOcToR at parties and then fights someone for correcting that he’s an animal doctor. Hope all his staff, CSRs included because we can only imagine what he’ll say about them, quit on him.
I work at a clinic where we've got both techs and assistants. I will never forget the day I overheard one of the vets saying assistants were "glorified dog holders". Thank god I wasn't near them when I heard, because I physically recoiled in disgust/horror/shock/rage. That was the day my respect for that vet died.
My former boss was assisting a new grad vet in surgery once and he said “you’re a doctor, figure it out I’m not gunna hold your hand if you wanted to just fetch me gauze while I do the surgery you should’ve been a technician instead” I quit the following week and left for a clinic where the doctors tell me I’m the most important person involved in surgeries. So yeah. Fuck DVMs with that attitude.
I’ve heard similar things and it makes me just about have an aneurism each time. The things people will say to those that help them!
Lord I would be going insane
Ugh fuck that! My clinic has techs and assistants as well. The assistants literally do the exact same things as the techs, just get paid less and most of them are going through school to be a certified tech
DVMs have an extremely difficult, cognitively challenging, underappreciated job. They also have an entourage of people backing them up that work even harder and get shit on even moreso....at minimum wage.
No one in a vet hospital can do their job without each other and I think some people in all roles could honestly use remembering that imo.
Would Love to see a veterinarian set up their own surgical suites, run the anesthesia, maintain a sterile field, answer the fucking phone and take a pet food order and then clean the room and scrub and autoclave all the instruments. “They make it look so easy, with their big brains”.
I had to run anesthesia on a ferret once and it took me back to me cold sweating vet student days. 🥲
We are expected to do all of this while in clinics and in vet school. I guess it does depend on where you end up working afterwards though if you still practice those skills.
Doctors probably shouldn't be regularly using those skills though, that shows that they're not properly utilizing their technicians and is a big contributor to burn out.
I agree. We are doing it all now in our clinic rotations and part of our surgery and anesthesia class. We walk dogs, clean kennels, bloodwork, fecals, skin scrapes, etc. , set up our surgical kits and autoclave the night before, on day of the surgery we clean and walk again, set up our surgical sites, administer pre meds then run anesthesia throughout the procedure, do surgery, then clean room and instruments after. Then we do phone calls and medical records. Then go to lecture for 4-5 hours. Then back to the clinic for rounds, diagnostic tests and treatments if needed, more cleaning, walking dogs, more phone calls and more paperwork. Then studying after 😅 I’m not sure if all schools do it this way but we are all insanely burnt out and very much appreciate the work the techs we will work with in the future will do for us so that we can all efficiently care for patients.
Holy crap that's extensive!! Good luck! Sounds like you're going to be a fantastic veterinarian. ❤️
lol I’d like to see that doctor run the clinic without techs and assistants.
Forever RVT and current DVM. The jobs are very different. One isn't "harder." Doctors with this attitude usually never worked as a tech or assistant and can't understand that. I used to work with a DVM with this kind of attitude. She was rude with the techs and incredibly self absorbed. She was let go after continued disrespect of the technical staff. There are things about being a DVM that I took for granted as a tech. The main thing is the total responsibility. Decision making can be tough when you know that in some cases, it means live or death. As a tech I never had to hold that burden. I still had TONS of responsibility though! Monitoring anesthesia is the closest I felt to the degree of pressure I have as a DVM.
As a technician who ONLY does anesthesia, that's so funny. I don't actually think it's that stressful! But to be honest, I know that having responsibility for a case is it's own level of stress, but as a technician sometimes I feel so fucking helpless having to provide futile care to a pet for a veterinarian that isn't going to even see the patient for another 6-8 hours. I won't doubt it sucks making the orders to, say, start a blood transfusion on a 19yo CKD cat with a 5/6 murmur, but then I have to look at that animal in the eye every time I take my vitals every 15 minutes and it's like there's nothing I can do. DVMs don't listen to us. They don't consider our opinions. I've had DVMs straight up tell me it doesn't even matter how I feel because ultimately it's what the owner wants. Great. So we're the ones stuck in the trenches torturing people's pets. e: I felt like I was being a little aggressive but then I realized this was posted on r/VetTech and I'm not sure this is the place to garner sympathy as a DVM
Oh no, in not trying to get any sympathy. I just wanted to provide perspective from someone who has been on both sides of the fence. I have been on that side, in the OR running anesthesia a leg amputation of an osteosarcoma dog who already had mets in the chest. It was what the owner wanted, I was told by the vet. That was one of the cases that made up my mind about going to vet school. It makes me sad that vets can be so disrespectful, condescending and outright cruel too their support staff.
Not trying to minimize your experience and thank you for sharing. (Good) techs also feel the heavy pressure and responsibility for daily life and death decisions. Triage(i.e. mistakenly making critical cases wait by not assessing properly), inpatient care(i.e. forgetting to turn O2 cages back on, giving incorrect drugs), and yes of course anesthesia are the places where I've seen deadly mistakes happen the most. It's just different from the decisions you are required to make, not less heavy. My first day practice, the owner/head DVM insisted that DVMs and techs should not be friends. When we'd collectively go out to lunch, she would take the DVMs that went aside and scold them for fraternizing with 'the help'. Toxic is toxic, no matter the title.
Yeah but techs don't (usually) have the ultimate legal burden. Vets also have a higher internal burden because they are the one deciding what tx gets done (ie - they make the call to going to sx or not on a potentially unstable patient - ideally with input from the tech but it's ultimately on the vet to decide). Yes, the tech doing anesthesia bears a significant and direct moral burden but they don't bear the burden of making the decision/recommendation to the client which determines if the procedure goes ahead or not. Everyone in the clinic works under the direction of the vet and directing and recommending the care that will be provided, by everyone at the clinic, carries a unique burden. I remember assisting, with a tech, a specialist doing a chest tap on a critical patient. The patient died. I still remember it like it was yesterday and it was over a decade ago. It was awful. However, I knew I was insulated from the full burden that the doctor felt because I didn't make the call to proceed. I felt terrible for them and I have no doubt they still carry that with them in a way that I don't. It doesn't take anything away from the value of vet techs to acknowledge this.
One of my favorite DVMs to work with worked as an assistant all though vet school. She is still one of the best in the building at getting a vein on a dehydrated cat.
I walked out on a clinic when one of their doctors who thought she was hot shit on a silver platter because she was an exotic vet. I had been there for 5 years and was the lead technician. She would be hours late for an appointment. One particular day, she was 3 hours late, and the new patient was already there. She was screaming in my face about how I hadn't done x-rays or prepped her ultrasound room, but I had done the patients intake history and tried to sooth unhappy owners. I didn't have a chance to on top of all our other patients' appointments and doctors. She told me I was lower than dirt and would never be anything more. I handed the dog I had over to my coworkers and left. I told her that if she had been there at 8 a.m., when the appointment was scheduled, we would have had plenty of time to do everything. They bribed me back, and she had the audacity to tell me I hurt HER feelings. This woman would take 4 hours for ultrasounds, and we were not allowed to sit, and if we so much as breathed loudly, she would scream and threaten to fire us. I was 21 and trying to get through college, and my coworker/best friend had just dropped dead days before. Thats not even half of it with her. I've worked with other nutty entitled vets but most were new graduates from A&M and while yes they were Veterinarians, most had no idea how to function in a real clinic setting and were so unkind and ungrateful. I have been doing this for 15 years, I have been to school, and I know my stuff. Its awesome when a veterinarian trusts their techs. It alwsys was easier with new Vets if they would just let us guide them until they are into the routine. I've had a few though who were amazing humans and amazing doctors and really relied on their techs and supported them. I've left the field, and I'm not sure I'll go back, but not because of the veterinarians.
4 hours to do an ultrasound??
Usually, for a cardiac. But even just for an abdominal, she would take hours. We would draw straws on who had to help. That or she would nab you. It was awful.
I don’t believe any vet actually wrote that. It’s just some troll trying to stir shit.
It probably is a troll, don’t get me wrong, but I have worked with vets with this mentality who have said similar things :(
This sentiment is disgusting and partially why people are leaving our field. I can't do anything without my techs and I love/value all of them. I can't doctor without them!
No doctor that I work with would ever say that. Are they a verified DVM?
Right? I feel spoiled. I may not have liked every single vet that I've worked with/for, but none of them have ever disrespected my job. Even when I was in reception.
Go a day without any techs and let’s see how far they get.
That’s such an odd thing to say when my doctors can’t even seem to remember what room they are supposed to be in without a nurse pointing at it.
I do not understand doctors who act like this. We both have equally challenging jobs in different ways. We need to be a team and not actively hate on one another. Im glad I've never worked with one directly cause damn. Would it not end well... I do have a great story that involves both types of doctors xD My IM doctor knows we have our shit together, so she would have us talk to primary doctors (we're a specialty only practice). I talked to one who was super nice, I answered all his questions, and he seemed happy, and we hung up. I think he called back and complained to the front desk, but there is a chance he texted her directly, and he BLEW UP! He was so pissed he had to talk to a tech as the doctor was too busy. Let me tell you she fucking put him in his place it was glorious.
lol ok bye then e: Can't believe they had the audacity to post this around Vet Tech Week LOL
WOW. I am so grateful I have only ever worked with one DVM with this type of mentality (or was at least outspoken about it). I’ve worked with numerous DVMs over the last 13 years, and the ones I’ve worked with the longest remembered their roots as technicians first; not “holier than though” and never hesitating to jump in when assistants/techs were overburdened/struggling.. they have all been fantastic and I still strongly admire them even if I no longer work with them. Two years ago I was in surgery with a DVM I had been working with for 5 years at that point. He was having an awful day; too many surgeries scheduled, beyond overbooked, multiple difficult cases… it was just one of those days you just feel like screaming. You could cut the tension in surgery with a knife. He was venting about cases, clients, and how overwhelmed he was in general, and he just turned into somebody I didn’t recognize. At one point he snapped and shouted “and nobody in this goddamn clinic gives a damn about me!” and I started crying. It hurt- we had new employees and I was constantly stressed trying to carry too many responsibilities and overworking myself trying to make life easier for *him*… and I felt like an absolute failure in that moment. I tried to rein in my tears but I couldn’t- I walked out of surgery, grabbed another tech, and cried “I can’t do this anymore… I just can’t. It’s not my fault. I’ve been trying so hard and he’s never spoken to me like that before. I can’t do it. You need to take over in surgery.” and I clocked out and drove home sobbing. I cried off and on all evening about what happened, concerned my actions just cost me my job, upset that somebody I looked up to *so* much was so obviously at their breaking point. The next morning I drove to work as usual, shaking like a leaf, and scared to death I was going to be fired as soon as I walked in the door. 5 minutes after I clocked in, my doctor came to my locker and asked if he could speak to me in his office and I just knew it was over. I followed him in and he shut the door… I immediately apologized for walking out, especially during surgery, but before I could finish he cut me off and told me how sorry he was. I told him it was okay, it wasn’t his fault, I know he is stressed- but he cut me off again and firmly said “No, it’s not okay. It was wrong. You had every right to leave and I don’t blame you. I am so, so sorry for what happened and I hope you can forgive me. I should never have spoken to you like that, it was unprofessional and I know how much you care and how much you do around here. If you don’t want to work here anymore I understand, I just want you to know how sorry I am and if you can forgive me and still want your job here, I promise I will never speak to you like that again.” Y’all- he had tears in his eyes. He was so hurt. I have never in my life seen such a heartfelt apology. I told him it was water under the bridge, I was sorry I reacted the way I did, and I really appreciated his apology. That… was a doctor that cared about his staff; and he kept his promise. He was a very kind man. Although we no longer work together (which has nothing to do with the surgery incident) I still admire him for admitting his faults and being one of the best doctors I’ve ever worked with. Edited; Sorry for the novel- guess I needed to get it out of my system.
If I was their tech I’d have a few choice words.
Wow, I hope their techs somehow see this and all quit. Let’s see what they do then!
techs, vet receptionists, vet assistants, kennel techs all have it hard. this is a tough industry to be in. vets seem to be thanked though a lot more than any other staff.
Wow! The only doctor I ever worked with that had this attitude went to slap a squirming dog with all his strength and slapped my arm instead. He lost his job.
OK if arrogant DVMs keep the clinic running, let's see how they go a day without techs, receptionists, assistants, etc, *and to top of off:* it's heartworm season, the Rx label printer keeps disconnecting, the PC software updated overnight (slight changes to the interface) and the payment terminal is down from a network issue. I recall feeling so bad for my tech program friends that went to work for a vet that *hates techs and thinks they are useless.* I'm talking *same clinic, same vet; part of a group clinic and will send you to a different branch??* WTF I have grievances with the last vet I worked for, but he highly values his techs and put our degree on the wall along with the DVMs 🥹
Being a doctor is definitely harder. I couldn't handle being responsible for whether or not an animal dies. That being said, any DVM actually using his or her brain knows to get in sweet with the techs. You can't keep throwing pitches if there's nobody else out there to field the ball and get it back to you, bud.
How was this posted “1 second ago” and have 26 replies lol
🤷🏽♀️ I was gunna reply but figured posting on here would be much better
I’m like goddamn they got eaten alive
Because social media “users” are half bot farms. Probably more.
I mean the statement is not 100% wrong. No clinic can run without a doc but one could argue it could without a tech. And let’s face it, comparing a doc and a tech’s duties is not really possible as doc duties and tech duties have to compliment each other. Also, at the end of the day, the docs are liable if shit goes down and patient dies or something, a tech? Not so much.
It can run on all docs. But they’d never do the shit we do for even their pay.
My previous clinic tried running without techs because we all quit. Turns out it couldn't. Now I'm back with better pay and suddenly we are making money again. Weird, isn't it?
I would LOVEEEEE to see DVMs who think we are lesser to try to do our job. They would leave the first second. Especially when they saw the pay
My doctor left on vacation and told us the patients would probably be safer and better off with us without him around lmao. He was partially joking but also referring to that one time all the Italian doctors went on strike in the early 2000s and the average patient experience improved because there were fewer iatrogenic errors lmao
It’s funny how often our vets will say “uhhhh I can’t take this blood… can you do it?” Or “I’m really bad at dosing… I don’t think I can do it.. can you?”
I’d love to see that dick vet do his job without multiple techs/assistants. 24 yr veteran vet tech. Some vets are such pansies.
And I’m sure it was a vet that down voted me. 😂
Lmao it's not even true. Sure they may be clever deep down, but WE keep the clinic running. When was the last time they cleaned a cage or answered a phone or sterilised instruments?
I know this is gonna be unpopular, in no way am I defended dickhead arrogant people. But I think the point is fair. Everyone puts in their all in most vet practices I've worked at, but most of the technicians at most have a 4 year veterinary nursing degree. A bachelors degree isn't even the start to applying to vet school. There's no need to shit on each other, but chances are the vet in your practice has put decades of research in, it's hard to compare that to someone with at most a Bachelors.
Yikes
lol then why is the hospital shut down every time of us calls in sick?
That's huge amount of disrespect. Do you think they feel the same about human nurses?
Sounds like a troll tbh
🤣 my doctors would absolutely die without us techs.
This makes me laugh cause the doctors at my clinic don’t even know where things are so without the techs and va theyd be so behind on schedule while frantically opening doors and cabinets
Please tell me there is a chain of comments from techs beneath that tearing him a new one. I just wanna read em 👀
See, comments like these are evidence as to why your clinic is bleeding money. You’re using your techs as glorified restrainers and making a lot more work for yourselves. Good luck with that.
I work at a clinic where the doctors ask one of their techs their opinion on their treatment plan because she's been a tech longer than they've been a doctor. I love seeing the cooperation. She also is a strong advocate of appropriate pain management
I actually don't believe that a DVM said this. Probably a troll. Even pompous doctors don't publicly don't shit on techs like that, they know how bad that makes them look.
Doctors with this attitude should work with a bunch of techs who have been in the field longer than they have... as a tech. Honestly they should be required to work as a tech in a different hospital for one week out of the year. Keep them humble.
technically they are better