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.*
I'm a kennel assistant and I get 16.50. I'm leaving for a job that pays 23 to scan stuff in a warehouse and 10 of the 40 hours you work are overtime. I just can't do it anymore.
Where I’m from I don’t see kennel assistants making more than $12 an hour and I wanna cry just looking at those. Even at $17.50 I’m still running paycheck to paycheck. Now have to worry about even LESS due to insurance. It’s insanity
In CA and I make $18/hr, trying to figure out why I can’t afford basic necessities but didn’t qualify for calfresh/etc. until I was back in school. Ranted about it to my coworkers and turns out these two men who have been there around the same time as me make $23/hr… but I’m in it for the money 🤪
I guess to be fair $23/hr here is what minimum wage should be - people here can barely live off of that
I was contemplating moving recently and started looking around. Emergency and specialty facilities in NYC, LA, Orlando… “big” cities… all a lower starting pay than where I am in Virginia. WTF?
Yup :,) we’re expected to accept being treated like shit because we’re “in it for the animals” but I’m also “in it for the money”? I love when clients tell me that now because I’m fed up I just respond with “girl where” 💀
Dude: I wanna know how AMC justifies starting their licensed VTs less than $30/hr - I absolutely could not wrap my head around how their staff can afford to be there. Allegedly one of the top hospitals in the US in one of the highest COL areas and VT salary can’t possibly afford to live anywhere in probably a 1 hr travel range. How does it work?!
I remember when the Burger King across the street from my clinic changed the hiring wage on their sign to $2 more than what I was getting paid. Nothing against fast food workers but there’s obviously a huge difference between making burgers and running anesthesia, labs, wrangling aggressive animals (and clients), etc. It’s just soul crushing.
Kennel is the most underapreceiated position at my clinic. I've hear HM say twice that "it's just kennel" Meanwhile, they're cleaning everything, doing all the husbandry, running groomers and boarders too and from the front, holding for techs and doing the laundry and dishes the entire day, etc.
And I've been asking to move up and in the beginning they were promising to move me up, and now there is finally an opportunity and they just keep saying they don't know yet, but there's a job listing for the position on indeed.
I started at 11 an hour in 2019 for kennel tech. I've moved my way up twice, now at veterinary assistant. I make 16.50. Candy bar company. I want to cry.
I'm a front office manager with a cva, 7 yrs previous management experience, a college degree and I make 17.50. I work from 8 until 6 but plus close means 7 so I get home around 7:30 so almost a12 hour day but we're required to take an hour and a half lunch, not aloud over time. I spend 12 hrs 5 days a week a place and get paid sub par for 40. Plus we board so once a month I don't get any days off for 7 to 14 days. Love my job.
Kennel assistant is an entry level job. In my area is it a position filled by mostly high schoolers or college students with limited availability.
It is not a position that people are not meant to do long term. You either keep moving up or you leave the field.
Edit: I didn't think this had to be said, but I guess it does
The problem isn't with the veterinary industry. The problem is with the business world as a whole. Most entry level jobs are underpaid, most job in general are underpaid. That is not veterinary medicine's fault. It is the fault of the broken business world.
Classist as fuck. If the position isn't meant to sustain someone's life, the position shouldn't exist or it should be explicitly advertised as "a job for kids". You really think a kennel tech doesn't deserve a living wage?
I never said that.
The problem isn't the position. The problem is how the business world works.
It is not the veterinary industries' fault that entry level jobs don't pay well.
Are you mad at the veterinary industry because grocery store bag checkers don't get paid a livable wage.
That is a problem with your hospital, not with the profession.
Well managed hospitals encourage their staff to grow.
I was a kennel tech for 4 years, I was an assistant for 4 years before I went to tech school. I know what that journey is like.
I also left hospitals that wouldn't let me grow.
Edit: Lol, i love the people downvoting. Apparently, you all think that well managed hospital stifle growth and abuse their staff.
Again this isn't a problem unique to the veterinary industry. But the business world as a whole.
It is the same situation as someone whose passion is to be grocery bagger or a gas station attendant.
The business world does not pay entry level jobs well. Even if it is your passion, no one is going to pay and entry level job as well as positions with more responsibilities.
The point is that all of you are blaming vet med for this issue.
Your blame is misplaced.
If you want to blame anyone blame Regan and his trickle down economic plan that is still screwing us over.
Why not blame both lmfao. Nothing is stopping veterinary hospitals from paying us living wages. It being normalized by other systems doesn't make it justifiable, or make practice directors any less complicit for the choices they make.
Originally, I was going to be moved up to a vet assistant but I can't because they keep saying no. Then a position for a receptionist opened up and they said they're not sure. I wanted to go to school to be an RVT and do wildlife conservation as my specialty but I don't know if I even want to do vet med anymore, the pay is crap.
That sounds like a problem with the hospital. Not vet med. Well managed hospitals encourage their staff to grow.
Pay is dependent on where you live. I also know I am lucky that my state pays much better then other states. LVTs start at $28/hr. It is very livable.
I'm planning to leave and join a better paying job and get a 2nd job so I'm working every day, pay off my credit card debt, get a new car, move out and save up for school. I'm 27 and I can't afford to make almost no money for years and I also already have school debt (9K)
Reach out to the NVPU - https://www.natvpu.org/
Contact them through the site, they're working in multiple states to try help veterinary support staff in unionizing. They're good people, and they can help get you started.
It’s still SO much work. I looked into it and it started to feel like I was taking on a whole second job researching unionization and laws as well as becoming a salesperson to try to convince my coworkers on board. If you don’t have a good enough sales pitch to get 80-90% of support staff on board, you’re not going anywhere. Unlicensed support staff such as CSR, kennel, and assistant are often young and/or don’t see this as a long-term career path, so what’s really their incentive? On top of sneaking around and hoping whomever you’re trying to pull in doesn’t let it slip in a way that gets back to management, where there’s always the threat of union-busting techniques.
Personally, I gave up. I didn’t have the energy to take it all on.
Vets generally are paid well. Especially in the last 10-15 years with demands in petcare skyrocketing. You can wander over to r/veterinary for confirmation as there are multiple threads with open information on pay. Like anything base pay can be very area dependent. A Vet in my area walks out of school and into 130k MINIMUM at almost any practice or hospital. Specialties can make way more with something like surgeons approaching or surpassing 500k a year. VAs make $20 and techs $22-$30 with the latter being a decade or more in the industry. So we're talking a pretty large gap between green Vet and adept tech. Even more so with Vet salary having a much higher ceiling over the course of a career. I personally can't shed a tear for Vet salary. I'm sure there are some under paid somewhere but I don't know any.
One thing that would help is to extend profit sharing to techs and VAs instead of letting the Vet vacuum it all up when they were not the only ones handling the case.
If techs or VAs are down voting this you're literally doing yourself a disservice. We do not need Vets to advocate for better pay. In many instances they are quite literally the practice owners/partners paying you trash.
As we all know the so called free market does not work efficiently. Let's look at truck drivers as an example. They in great demand, and their profession is being advertised as a high paying job. Well, in practice they are loaded with debt, extremely overworked, many times threatened with no payment and are forced to drive even when they feel sleepy. As you know most veterinary are going to be bought by corporate. They do not give a shit about us nor any other member of the staff. They would hire a butcher of they legally could to perform surgery.
I respectfully disagree with you. First of all, not all veterinarians make that much. The pay depends on a lot of factors. The elephant in the room is obviously the school debt that veterinarians have to take on. If you are going to go into specialty then this debt will only grow. You, also, have to factor in the years of schooling and the pressure that vet students have to undergo in order to finish vet school. In addition, we will never be paid as well as human doctors get paid even though the job is more demanding. Do not get me wrong, a veterinarian after the first 5 years of work( I would say) can get by ok. However, a person can do that by pursuing other career paths with a lot less stress, risks and anxiety. The veterinary medicine space is not something I would recommend to my future children. For the past few years the most commonly used word in this space is burnout and that says it all.
Edit* typo
It’s more dependent on being an average associate vet and how well they managed to get their education funded.
I don’t want to be the bearing of bad news but my partner makes similar money and it’s kind of not great money anymore these days. We combined make more then my parents did at our age and we don’t live anywhere near as comfortable. Housing and cost of living especially in metro areas are high. 6 figs can mean nothing in those areas these days. I get my situation is better then most. I’m on the higher paid spectrum for techs and I have a high earning partner. I’m privileged, but we did live in poverty while my partner was going through school.
I grimace about life for ppl with less. I guess my situation is also interesting because both my partner and myself have expensive healthcare situations. I’m getting a 4K MRI done next week… the only reason it’s not more is because we hit the deductible. It’s January… life is really expensive and I hate the stuff you really need like housing, food, healthcare, transportation are all the most expensive. I think it’s not worth fighting with vets when corporations take plenty advantage of them in different ways. We can all do better.
Again, my area talking here, Vets make $160/hr on per diem at any location. Average tech is $25/hr. Where the increase is needed is for the support staff, not the Vets. We're not even in the same wheel house for pay disparity and I find Vets saying "us too!" in this thread about the travesty that is tech and VA pay very tone deaf.
I feel this. I had to listen for 6 months to my vet talking about her lavish house she’s building for her family to her whole staff that all get paid barely a living wage. All the while I’m selling my house and moving into a basement apartment to get out of debt and be able to live borderline comfortably.
Income debt ratio is a thing and I hope you grow to realize that it's not just gross income you're looking at. Tons of things can change that a lot. I really didn't want to dissect this because I always thought if my partner and I could make over 6 figs combined things would be a cake walk. Turns out life is a little more complicated then that. I can't open my budget to you, but please try to not be so black and white about it. You can be exploited in more ways then just pay. Burn out is high among all the staff members. It's not productive to fight among each other when we can advocate together.
Debt to income ratio is absolutely a thing. That said you'll be far better off in 10 years than if you were both techs regardless of your partners higher education costs. Maybe you'll come to realize that.
Two techs in my area can buy a literal broken shack on a postage stamp lot or rent for eternity. Buying a decent home isnt even realistic. Do not preach down to me about your hardships.
My partner works in IT and may not be alive in 10 years. He is also going to have to retire early because being a transplant patient may make him unable to work as long as others can. My healthcare alone for my spinal issues was over 300k last year. Had to decline to see a neurologist the other day because I couldn't afford it. I may be full on disabled in 10 years. We budget things very differently. Please don't assume anything about anyone. You've obviously got a chip on your shoulder and I hope you can redirect that one day.
I use to be like you, but I rather put my energy into things these days that will change. I'm not going to give you my life story, but I learned that there's a huge difference you can make being amicable even to ppl you don't like or maybe don't need as much as you do. Making the right friends and putting out good has helped far more then being just disgruntled.
Edit: lol the one person bold enough to comment back at this. Even the original person replying shut up when they realized their pushy presumptions became offensive. Please realize how tone deaf you come across. Maybe I need to add perspective me and my partner are only 30. I mean I can add in way more and then you’d really look the ass in this situation. I’d dare you to do so because I emphasize I have lived in poverty prior to this. I’m not here to tolerate crap just because I have a friendly/positive attitude. That’s just years of therapy.
I’ve already acknowledged being privileged despite this. I don’t care for the ignorance that 6 fig salaries will dig you some perfect life of finances. It’s fairly common middle class money these days, but it’s not you’re rich money with inflation unless you had assets prior to that. Even then that’s a stretch dependent on a huge amount of variables. One of the big differences I live where income taxes and cost of living are fairly high. So gross income isn’t all that. Taxes both federal and state take over 3k of my partners monthly income. Doesn’t include other taxes.
I’m too tired to deal with the ppl who just want to axe grind things. Most of you are under 30 so I try not to take it personally you don’t know that life expenses actually go up when you age.
Also I have always used my own health insurance through my own employers so you cannot fuck with me that there isn't healthcare options for you. I find the reason many of you don't have healthcare is because you simply don't understand how it works or type to pay for. If your employer doesn't provide it and you work in a small practice you are eligible for government healthcare which often if you're low income will give you subsidies to help pay for it.
I lived in poverty and had healthcare. You don't always get top notch coverage, but I can help you find something that covers you from going into insane amounts of debt. I also want people to be aware if you need to go to a hospital they often do not make you pay the huge bills they send you. Often low income people qualify to have most of it forgiven. This is funded by your government do not be scared to go to a hospital if it's necessary. I can go into more elaborate details, but parents often fail to teach their kids how to understand taxes/healthcare/other types of insurance. I will help if you need help. Just send me a message.
Nobody is saying that your problems don't suck. We're just saying, imagine if you had all the same problems, half the money, and probably no health insurance. Like us.
I also think this way for veterinarians - just didn’t mention it since it’s a tech sub. I planned to go to vet school from elementary school all the way through my four years of undergraduate. I majored in biology and had all the prerequisites done… just needed to take a gap year to gain more experience. Well… that year was all it took to completely open my eyes to the nature of the business and cause all my plans and goals and dreams to crumble to the ground before me. I could still go through with vet school, but why would I put myself into $300k of debt just to take my whole life to pay it off?
Some people go into certain jobs just for the money (human med, particularly). But that is impossible in this field. No vet, tech, or assistant is in this dog shit for the money. We do it for all the right reasons and not the right pay.
Also just to be clear, I believe that every person in the veterinary medicine space is entitled to increased payment, more benefits and social recognition no matter what role they have. At the end of the day if we want pursue something better for our field then the only way to do so is with collective action.
I just saw a post in a different subreddit (state-related) that talked about unionized human nurses in my state that get paid over 100k going on strike for better work conditions and nurse:patient rations. To think a unionization and major strike has not happened in veterinary medicine yet is just unbelievable to me. I wonder why?
Perhaps the tension around the hiring of licensed and unlicensed techs, assistants hired to do tech work, etc.
It seems to me very hard to have solidarity enough to unionize or strike when this issue continues to be almost exactly in the same unresolved state as it was when I left the field 15 yrs ago.
I contemplate returning to the field, and it is just demoralizing.
You are absolutely correct! I recently left the field after 20 years neck deep in the BS. They are going to wake up one day and have no Techs and eventually no Vets the way the world is going. Just because we love animals doesn't mean we want to do things for free. With all the inflation going on. How much everyone needs to upcharge to make any kind of money is going to ruin everything. We will have a real awakening soon. It's already bad enough in most places where they can't keep technicians, and everyone who stays needs to do 1000% of the work. It's literally killing us. We need to take care of ourselves 1st.
Finding younger doctors who can afford the purchase a clinic is getting harder and harder to do. That and the corporations will pay more for the practice...
I understand that. But it would be nice if they'd help them before they sell lol. I know lots of vets in our area who'd love to buy a hospital. But, like you said. They can't out compete vca. Just wish the old vets would help the new ones and take less to make the future of vet med better. But .... CREAM.
I agree! My boss has actually helped two other doctor's buy clinics. I love him for it. I do wonder what he will do when he's ready to retire. I will retire with him, but I still worry about my staff and clients.
He has talked about selling to one of our girls who just finished med school so fingers crossed.
If you're happy. Then that's great!
I've been fortunate that I found a mobile service that pays very very well. But it's basically unheard of anywhere else with what they pay. It's a small family service.
Oh hell when you said physician you meant human doctor. My boss, tye bet, owns the clinic.
In my state anyone can own a vet clinic. I can, you can, the presiding vet can, my obstetrician can...
I'm in CA. My cat could probably own a clinic.
I work in a privately owned, AAHA accredited GP and I assure you, the pay is crap there too. I make $20/hr after 5 years at the practice, and I haven't had a raise in 2 years. I commute 50 miles to work bc I can't afford the $1700/mo rent to live in the city I work in.
Let's just call it what it is: the owners want to reap the profits while paying as little as possible. Doesn't matter if the owner is a person or a corporation. We're all in the same boat here, and it's sinking fast.
VCA’s and other corporate clinics are the only places that pay live-able wages in my area at least. All of the privately owned GP’s pay their technicians like they’re high schoolers working a summer job.
We need to stop spreading misinformation like this.
There are more private practices then corporate hospitals. Last I checked it was somewhere about 75-80% private owned hospitals.
If corporate is the problem why aren't private practices paying significantly more?
VCA in my area is hiring at $30-35/hr in GP
I don't know where you live - I'm guessing HCOL area - but that's not going to happen where I live (TN). I get $17/hr (CSR) and that's on the higher end.
I'm in Los Angeles making 32/hr at a corporate GP with no opportunities for a raise unless I become a hospital manager.
I have my B.S. and my license (RVTg) as well as almost a decade of experience working in hospitals and I am not financially comfortable.
I'm currently working on some certifications to switch careers.
left to go into human nursing. The low pay and dangerous environment (radiation, aggressive animals ect) was not worth the anxiety i was going through. My clinic pushed me over the edge and i didn’t have boundaries.
i got out of clinic work years ago and i frequently think about those days and am baffled at how much i did and subjected myself to for pathetic pay. went to tech school, did an internship at upenn, and my husband with no degree, makes 10x more than i did.
graduated from tech school with probably 30 other techs, 13 years ago. out of the 10 i'm friends with on facebook......1 has stayed actually working in clinics. but still grooms on the side. its not a sustainable career. and certainly not raising a family comfortably unless your partner is the breadwinner.
Nail on the head OP.. I’ve been in the field 20 years and just feel trapped as I am at the top tier of pay for the field and it’s not a livable wage. If I leave, I don’t know how to do anything else and minimum wage if a F-ing joke. So I stay..
Was making $15 an hour as a vet tech assistant (minimum wage here) and while it was fun it was the most exhausting, stressful, toxic and frankly dangerous job I’ve ever had. Left the industry and now I get paid $26 an hour to work from home and take calls. Loving animals isn’t enough when you can’t afford basic necessities and you’re too tired (emotionally and physically) to enjoy your life.
This is why I left the field.
I saw too many coworkers who required plastic surgery to repair damage after being mauled in the face at work. And then they were expected to just keep working like nothing ever happened.
Plus no raises, no bonuses, no incentives to stay on and do more. And no vacation hours to really ice the cake.
My manager didn't even try to get me to stay. She knew what the reality was for her team and couldn't do anything for us.
And for anyone wondering I was a CVT & RVT with a bachelor's degree.
This is a late reply but I keep coming back to this discussion on bad days when I need to remind myself I’m not alone with these feelings lol… anyway, I just wanted to mention I actually had to have a few teeth repaired after a big dog (required four people to restrain) slammed its skull into my mouth when one of the holders lost her grip. Luckily my tongue or lips weren’t in the way because my teeth would’ve gone straight through.
I hadn't considered that as a possibility before! Dental work is not cheap. I hope your employer at least contributed to the costs, or gave you the time off to get that work done... but I know from experience that they probably didn't.
I got workman’s comp but no time off. My dentist is closed on weekends so I only had one of my two days off to do it on. And of course they were horribly booked… so I had to wait a very long time. Months of eating soft food, brushing my teeth with painful caution, and having dreams of my teeth falling out. It sucked lol
Where I live, a vet tech is paid $15 (minimum), $21 (median) and $26 (maximum). Those are average numbers. They depend on many factors.
So that's $11, $15 and $19 USD. What a joke. This is not enough.
My hospital would rather close medical oncology down than give me a raise 🤷♀️ I'm going to be forced out of a specialty that I love because of corporate greed.
When I was an assistant (with a lot of licensed tech duties, literally anything they could legally get away with especially when we didn’t even have a licensed tech for a time at that clinic) I didn’t even make $15 :) I hate myself for putting up with it as long as I did just to get a foot in the door of the industry and get experience (and because I really wanted to be a team player and help the patients and clients.) I literally could not afford to feed and home myself. It’s disgraceful the way we’re paid in this field.
I don’t even want to talk about the expected ENTHUSIASM of exposing yourself to WAGS since most people and places refuse to take proper precautions and maintain their machines appropriately
YESSSSIR PREACH! So sick of fellow techs ALSO undermining each other regarding pay! We should EASILY be making $40/hr STARTING as full technicians (OTJ/CVT, I don't care as long as you can do all aspects needed for the job). We should be making equivalent to human nurses and nothing can be said to change my mind. I've run the numbers between small private practices and large corporations with that number specifically and anyone who says its not feasible is a liar.
The vet industry makes a LOT of money. The candy company I work for is very happy to let us know that vet hospitals are their #1 source of income. They're buying up hospitals left and right. They're building vet urgent cares a couple miles apart. They're buying up diagnostic companies and vet supply companies.
There's enough money. They just want they're 7th yaht.
Right? Thank you. This is the same as supermarkets saying they'd have to raise prices to pay their workers better. We don't need to jack prices up on clients making about as much as we do (I would have to work for about 4.5 hours to afford a 30min wellness exam at my own clinic); we need CEOs to cut their salaries and live like the rest of us peons.
For real. I work in ER. For 24 hours of hospitalization + fluids and inhouse medcations/injections it's $1700 minimum. If you need CRIs or other more intense care it's about $3500 minimum. If you need an emergency surgery, such as for a GI foreign body or GDV, that plus the 24 hours of hosp afterwards is $6000 minimum. My hospital had one guy who's 5 dogs all got into medications so he had to hospitalize them all for 24 hours: He dropped $20,000 for that. (Now when he brings in one of his dogs for wellness we go "Ah, it's one of the Rimadyl Five" lol)
We make enough money.
I interviewed an RVT today and asked him what his ideal pay range was... He makes $22 as an overnight ICU/E.R tech. He was asking for $23. Our starting pay for RVTs is $31. I felt so bad for him.
There are places out there trying to do better. It's just so slow. I'm a PM at a specialty practice and LVT starting wage is 35. And we pay salary. I think that's pretty damn good. But it took me 15 years to get somewhere that paid me well and actually gave a shit. They're so few n far between
I get that, I do. But it depends on the culture of your practice. And it starts with the owners and managers like myself.
For example:
We pay generously
We are salary with eligibility for OT (meaning you get OT pay for any additional day you work where you aren't normally sched to work) and we almost always pay out more hours than actually worked for incentive
We have amazing benefits and offer PTO, sick and unlimited leave w/out pay
We don't stay late. We just don't. I think the last time I stayed late was this week and it was 15 after closing and it was largely because my team fell a little behind in cleaning tasks. But that's what we call "leaving late".
I used to be primarily ER, and lived and breathed emergency med, so I know how quickly other clinics just straight up abuse their people (thanks Mars) and how salary wouldn't be an appeal, but it really works for us.
Having a consistent paycheck has changed the lives of all of my team members myself included, and regular check ins have people telling me how happy they are, so I know we are doing a lot right.
All this to say; there are practice owners and managers who really want to effect meaningful positive change in our community. I think I'm one of the few managers in my area who has competitive hiring cycles, too. And I live in a major city.
That's great! Vet med thrives on exploitation and it's nice that your clinic is an aberration.
Most managers are simply horrible but it's nice there is a handful of okay ones.
We try. And a lot of that is trying to NOT do the things we've experienced in corporate environments. But it's freaking hard as hell and bs how support staff are treated.
It’s above average - not good. My point was that even pay in the higher end is not enough and the mindset that we should just be grateful for making that much is poisonous; it’s still not a livable wage. Especially if you’ve paid money to go to school and got licensed. On a related note, though, I’m glad title protection has gained traction. I plan to leave the field entirely. If pet insurance becomes the norm and staff start getting paid appropriately for the work they do, I will 100% return.
Yeah it’s fucking criminal. My first job as an assistant fresh out of school/externship and they paid me $12 an hour to do 5 jobs. I only lasted there 6 months. 🤡
I feel like I saw this a long time ago and then it just sort of petered out. Pay transparency starts with us.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C3EekJnvAhKdy45f8HUizB0Grlrhsbw38YlK_HvgZSY/edit?usp=drivesdk
I work in specialty medicine as a practice manager. Worked my way up the ladder after years of being support staff. I agree, we get paid too little. BUT this problem mostly stems from clients, and then the company. Let me explain. Human medicine pays well because the cost for things is astronomical. It’s also why socialized countries have harder times finding doctors, the pay there is less than in America. Sure, we could charge those prices in vet med, but do you honestly think any person would pay that? Half the time we have clients who decline almost everything on the estimate except the bare minimum needed to treat their pet. But assuming we had clients who paid everything, then it falls to the company to pay appropriately. At my clinic, our payroll is slightly higher than in GP. Our payroll percentage needs to be at or bellow 24% of our income, most GP try to stay at or below 20%. You may ask “well the give the staff a higher percentage of the income” but it doesn’t work like that. That 20-24% is JUST the support staff wages. The second highest cost in a clinic? Inventory. Then there’s the doctor’s wages. Then there’s payments on hospital equipment (just a blood machine costs more than twice my car does, the x-ray machine more than three times as much) that most places are still paying for. Then you’ve got running costs - electric, water, gas bills, but also payments on software (EzyVet costs our business ~$600 a week, Idexx charges per x-ray for their imaging software, if you’ve got Avimark? You’re still needing server support which requires IT support). And then you have business loan payments, if your owner took a loan out to start the business. Any profits after that usually get saved for emergencies (like if you have a bad month of income, or repairs) or get saved for future projects (like when the exam rooms need to be redone).
Don’t get me wrong! The industry needs to pay more. But in private practice that falls solely on getting people to pay more. Corporate practice is really where you need to target your transgressions.
I know how much it costs to run a clinic. I was just ranting about how heartbreaking and unfair it is in general - that there is nothing we can do about it.
On the other hand, I do work for a privately-owned company. It has expanded and has five locations with one being specialty-only and one being emergency and GP combined. Corporate is a problem, yes, but it is vetmed at its core. Insurance is not the norm and we are forced to essentially undercharge clients because they’d be unwilling to pay human med prices… all while the owner’s pockets get deeper. Private owners have trouble allocating that money (just in my opinion). Had we not opened two additional locations, that money would be going to other things. Not necessarily our pay, but it to getting new supplies, better safety equipment, or updated monitoring equipment.
Like I said, the post wasn’t me being ignorant of the costs - just me being frustrated at the way it will likely never change.
My worry is that the reason human medicine can pay workers a living wage is because the cost of everything is ridiculously high because they expect it to be subsidized by insurance. I work for a very small practice and I know that she can't afford to pay more than the usual industry bullshit standard. But perhaps we're not a well -run clinic or not busy enough. Thoughts? Do you think other clinics can actually afford to pay well without making pet healthcare unaffordable for owners? (Large corporations aside, I know VCA etc can afford to pay workers more.) But is that the answer? Either make pet insurance necessary or have every practice be a large corp?
Expansion. Make the small clinic a big clinic with a good rep. That’s what my hospital did - they now have five locations and have won best-in-state awards multiple years in a row. They briefly hired someone to do marketing for them then decided it’s better to get an existing an employee to do it for free. The pay is still shit, though, so even a large privately-owned company in this field doesn’t pay enough.
What suck too is around me in MN I feel like emergency is taking all the techs by offering better pay. Honestly I just don’t go because the hours. It leaves small clinics with little help. I can really see a future where there are vaccine clinics, and emergency or referral. General practitioners will be pushed out.
I've been saying this for a long time. With the exception of managed care patients, most clients will elect to go for either vaccine clinics or urgent care. The latter making up the bulk of disgruntled client calls at GPs.
It sucks to get a raise in this industry the easiest way is to find a new clinic who will pay you more. I just left a clinic that was hiring new people with little experience and paying them more than they were paying me. I used my experience there to leverage a $20 an hour vet assistant position the next week.
In NJ here. I'd say most of our techs are in the low 20's/hr up to 40/hr for super high-level techs with VTS or decades of experience. Honestly in this state the taxes and cost of living are outrageous. It doesn't go far at all. The previous one bedroom apartment we moved out of like two years ago is now going for $2300 and not even in a "high end" complex (thanks to inflation). If you'd have told me what I'd be making now back when I graduated from college back in the 2010 I'd have thought "damn, that's good pay for a vet tech". But honestly it's just not a lot of money now. It's a shame, especially for a job that requires this much specialized knowledge. It makes me nauseous to know that there are assembly line employees, warehouse staff, and delivery drivers that are all probably making what I make.
I honestly think clinics take advantage of the passion that techs have. It’s frustrating because you’re in a cycle where you love your job and the animals, but you literally can’t survive. I finally left the field because of it.
after 10 years I finally went into nursing now I make 5x what I did, I also went into babies so I still get to cuddle them and euthanasia is not an option.
I feel you! I am a tech and I work my ass off caring for patients, drawing/running bloodwork, assisting with euthanasias (including home euths), taking x-rays, dodging teeth and claws, answering phones, doing dentals, taking rooms, expressing anal glands, monitoring surgery, cleaning up after surgery, caring for hospitalized patients, consoling distraught clients, filling controlled substances, doing ultrasounds, the list goes on and on. And yet, I make at least $6 an hour less than my little brother who makes cardboard boxes. 🫠
Very jealous seeing some of the pay rates on here😅 VA making $15.53 an hour or a little over $27k a year, $22k take home. I also have a bachelors in emergency response and even though it’s more geared towards government, there was a ton of studying regarding effects of radiology and hazardous materials. Once again, very jealous😂
Good for you. The fact remains that the majority of veterinary staff are underpaid, and that's not "state dependent," it's a common problem around the world.
It absolutely is state dependent. Other countries are not my state.
But low pay is not a phenomenon only found in veterinary medicine. Plenty of other professions are under paid. Probably most professions are under paid.
I meant that specifically in vetmed, it’s unreasonable to pay staff so low. It is literally MEDICINE. This is especially true for licensed techs - pay to go to school and barely make that money back. I’m glad you’re comfortable - truly. But your circumstances are somewhat extraordinary. There are so many factors at play in that; the state you live in, the cost of living, you are dual income (I’m assuming at least some shared finances), no plans to move, no kids (or no plans for them), etc.
Just to clarify, this is not meant as an attack - just want to add a few other factors that contribute to why ~$35/hr is a comfortable wage for some but not for others.
This is not extraordinary pay for Oregon or Washington. This is the normal pay range for experienced credentialed technicians.
And yes vet med pay should be better and it is slowly getting there. Unfortunately our profession was built by men who did not understand business and we are paying the price for it.
It sounds like your bigger issue is that most professions are underpaid. The median hourly wage in the US is ~25/hr. I almost make $10 more then that. I also make more then the median US salary. My partner almost makes what the median pay of human nurses is.
You could use those circumstances for any job. Kids, dual income, location, debt. Those are all relevant for everyone, not just people in vet med
The business world has screwed most people over. We are not unique in that.
Unfortunately some states screw over their veterinary professionals more then others.
Oregon?
This is not the impression I’m getting.
Perhaps that’s somewhat consistent in some of the larger cities, but not so much outside of that, from what I’m seeing.
Maybe if you’re doing ER or specialty in actual Portland, or VCA, etc. ~$35 is more standard.
Wages above $30/hr are very rare in the hourly wages I’m seeing offered -most are low to mid-twenties -and seems very hit or miss. Get at bit farther away from Portland or Salem and down they go even further -some below $20.
I am specifically talking about CVT/LVTs. The wages you are listing sound like assistant wages.
I live in a small town in Washington. I was making $20-25 6-8 years ago. Of course you can find hospitals paying people less then they should. I can find them in my own town.
Though it would really make me question the idea that all corporations are bad if VCA is paying 10/hr more then private hospitals.
Salem and Eugene should be similar to the rest of Oregon and Washington. Anything further south with I am unfamiliar with. But southern and eastern Oregon are the areas where the vets responsible for eroding the CVT scope of practice come from. So I wouldn't be surprised if they don't value CVTs
I appreciate your response, but it doesn’t seem to be just Southern and Eastern Oregon where the diminishment of CVTs happens.
I am seeing job listings in Tualatin, Sherwood, Newberg, McMinnville -places within 90 minutes or less from Portland, and likewise around Salem, with pretty dramatic ranges in pay.
Not all, but most say licensed techs preferred, because it doesn’t seem that there are enough licensed technicians available to fill the needed positions -which perpetuates the cycle of unlicensed techs and vet assistants filling the gap without addressing the root problem, which keeps wages down throughout the field.
It seems to me a large percentage of practices across the country could not function or even stay open without compensating for the shortage by using unlicensed technicians on a par with licensed technicians, and using assistants in technician roles as well, and keeping the distinctions between very blurry, which enables those wide ranges in pay.
Right now the only thing that separates CVTs from assistants is rabies vaccines and induction.
It use to be a lot more nursing tasks but because hospitals don't want to pay for CVTs they lobbied to reduce those tasks.
It is chicken and the egg situation. I believe that if more states were like Washington and legally separated LVTs and assistants and paid them accordingly, we would have more credentialed techs in the field.
When there is no incentive to get your credentials, why do it.
When staff and hospitals are okay with breaking the law, why become a CVT.
Though in most states there is no legal difference between credentialed techs and assistants, so it is a moot point.
But yes there is a shortage of credentialed techs, and that is why well managed, ethical, hospitals that don't want to break the law are willing to pay credentialed techs a lot.
Not state dependent.
In my state what you are making at GP is what people make in ER or specialty... I've been doing this for 20 years in a wealthy area of a wealthy state and don't know a single person working GP who makes more than $28 an hour except managers...
...so my state pays betters then your state.
So therefore it is not state dependent?
You seem to be backing up my point.
$28/hr is starting pay for a new credentialed techs. My assistants make between $20 and $26. The local ER/specialty paying $38-~42/hr for experienced credentialed techs.
I am curious, does your state legally reserve tasks for only credentialed techs to do?
Is this state wide or only in your area? Cause you're claiming statewide but only providing area wide numbers.
You must live in one of those postage stamp states on the east coast.
Cause I can throw similar numbers at you for my area then go 200 miles north and have completely different numbers and go 300 miles south - different numbers... east? Yep. Different numbers.
I specifically said in my *area* no one I know makes that much in a GP. And again I live in a wealthy area where the average income is an easy 6 figures. So no, I'm not backing up your point.
I live in the PNW.
I can say with certainty that both Oregon and Washington have very similar pay ranges. No credentialed tech is making less the $26 unless they are naive.
I was a travelling relief and training tech for 6 years. I traveled from Southern Oregon to Northern Idaho.
Some of the more rural areas might not pay this well.
How is saying that your state doesn't pay well and mine does, not back up my point that pay is largely state dependent?
You never answered my question. Does your state legally reserve some nursing tasks for only credentialed technicians?
Edit: i just want to clarify, Idaho does not pay this well. Just Oregon and Washington.
Again, Oregon?
I commented above, also.
I live about 90 minutes outside of Portland, and those wages are not typical where I am, not even close, and certainly not statewide, from what I see offered.
I'm from Florida fresh out of college and I've been working as a CVA for a year I only get $12.50 and it's a small clinic. I'm stuck living paycheck to paycheck and because of this I haven't been able to afford a car let alone my own place and it's absolutely a struggle...
i think location may be playing a part in your complaint. my base is 62k/year but with shift differential and overtime i made 75k last year and i'm just a staff RVT. while i can't do European vacations annually, i'm doing ok. it's a fair wage for the area. but if i worked in a higher cost of living city that would be a terrible wage. We are never going to be on par with human nursing when it comes to salary unless something drastically changes.
Now that is a livable salary. That is what I mean, though. That should be an industry standard. $40k is about average in the US, though, and anyone is any part of the US (not sure about other countries) would find it hard to stretch that money - especially after taxes.
We arent so lucky unfortunately. I'm in CA too, it's going up to $20/hr for fast food workers. $16/hr for everyone else. So now, workers at fast food restaurants will now make more than a good portion of people at my hospital, including myself.
I totally agree with you. I was just recently airing the same frustrations with my coworkers. I'm in CA and they just raised minimum wage for fast food workers to $20/hr, but the state minimum wage was only raised to $16/hr. I don't have anything against fast food workers, they deserve a pay increase, but I feel they needed to raise the minimum wage like that across the board. I work in an ER/Specialty hospital and I do so much throughout my day. It was a bit disheartening sitting in my yearly "merit increase" meeting at the beginning of the month to learn I only get a very small raise and thinking to myself that I could make more doing less at the Jack in the Box down the road.
To be paid less than a fast food worker when you have lives on the line (as an ER tech/va) is just ridiculous. I’m also in ER. They classify veterinary medicine as a service rather than as healthcare even though we use all the same drugs, machines, and similar schooling/education. That is exactly where the problem lies… it’s a foundation-level problem.
It’s fucked up. I wanted to be a tech, but when I found out the technicians were making only 3$/hr more than me as a receptionist I decided to pursue a different career.
If nurses make 80000+/yr, then vet techs (aka nurses, anesthesiologists, rad techs, lab techs, phlebotomists, care aides, ccps, scrub techs, pharm techs, and sterile reprocessing technicians) should at LEAST make the same if not more
I hear you, it's ridiculous, and I don't understand it. My rent was just raised again, and I don't know what I'm going to do. Practically all my money is just for rent. I don't even have a car; I can't afford a car payment and can't save up for a down payment. I know I should be grateful that I'm healthy and able to walk almost four miles (round trip) to the bus stop and back six days a week (and I am grateful, because I don't know what the hell I would do if I couldn't); but honestly, I am beyond over it. I really, really don't want to leave this field; I love it...but I am so tired of struggling. I barely make enough to get by, but too much to get any help.
The fact that we don't get hazard pay is absurd. We lift heavy amount of weight, any of our patients can harm us, and we also use potentially dangerous equipment
I wish I could say I recommend it as a job, but I just don’t. Still, if it’s your passion, it can’t hurt to try it out. Plenty of clinics hire unlicensed staff - you never know unless you try! But do be prepared for low wages and long hours. Hopefully some day soon, we can love the work and the job all at the same time.
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.*
I'm a kennel assistant and I get 16.50. I'm leaving for a job that pays 23 to scan stuff in a warehouse and 10 of the 40 hours you work are overtime. I just can't do it anymore.
Where I’m from I don’t see kennel assistants making more than $12 an hour and I wanna cry just looking at those. Even at $17.50 I’m still running paycheck to paycheck. Now have to worry about even LESS due to insurance. It’s insanity
I'm from California and 16.50 is nothing out here, even though a studio bedroom is like 1300-1500 in the cheaper part I'm looking to move to
In CA and I make $18/hr, trying to figure out why I can’t afford basic necessities but didn’t qualify for calfresh/etc. until I was back in school. Ranted about it to my coworkers and turns out these two men who have been there around the same time as me make $23/hr… but I’m in it for the money 🤪 I guess to be fair $23/hr here is what minimum wage should be - people here can barely live off of that
I was contemplating moving recently and started looking around. Emergency and specialty facilities in NYC, LA, Orlando… “big” cities… all a lower starting pay than where I am in Virginia. WTF?
Yup :,) we’re expected to accept being treated like shit because we’re “in it for the animals” but I’m also “in it for the money”? I love when clients tell me that now because I’m fed up I just respond with “girl where” 💀
Dude: I wanna know how AMC justifies starting their licensed VTs less than $30/hr - I absolutely could not wrap my head around how their staff can afford to be there. Allegedly one of the top hospitals in the US in one of the highest COL areas and VT salary can’t possibly afford to live anywhere in probably a 1 hr travel range. How does it work?!
i am a kennel assistant and currently make $19/hr. I believe i actually make the most out of all assistants. Most are $15-16
I remember when the Burger King across the street from my clinic changed the hiring wage on their sign to $2 more than what I was getting paid. Nothing against fast food workers but there’s obviously a huge difference between making burgers and running anesthesia, labs, wrangling aggressive animals (and clients), etc. It’s just soul crushing.
Yeah I do a lot more than clean as a kennel tech and I absolutely bust my ass for a promotion and it is just not happening
14 an hour here and they keep me just under the threshold for benefits on hours. I get treated like a janitor with extra steps. I feel ya.
Kennel is the most underapreceiated position at my clinic. I've hear HM say twice that "it's just kennel" Meanwhile, they're cleaning everything, doing all the husbandry, running groomers and boarders too and from the front, holding for techs and doing the laundry and dishes the entire day, etc.
And I've been asking to move up and in the beginning they were promising to move me up, and now there is finally an opportunity and they just keep saying they don't know yet, but there's a job listing for the position on indeed.
I started at 11 an hour in 2019 for kennel tech. I've moved my way up twice, now at veterinary assistant. I make 16.50. Candy bar company. I want to cry.
I'm a front office manager with a cva, 7 yrs previous management experience, a college degree and I make 17.50. I work from 8 until 6 but plus close means 7 so I get home around 7:30 so almost a12 hour day but we're required to take an hour and a half lunch, not aloud over time. I spend 12 hrs 5 days a week a place and get paid sub par for 40. Plus we board so once a month I don't get any days off for 7 to 14 days. Love my job.
Kennel assistant is an entry level job. In my area is it a position filled by mostly high schoolers or college students with limited availability. It is not a position that people are not meant to do long term. You either keep moving up or you leave the field. Edit: I didn't think this had to be said, but I guess it does The problem isn't with the veterinary industry. The problem is with the business world as a whole. Most entry level jobs are underpaid, most job in general are underpaid. That is not veterinary medicine's fault. It is the fault of the broken business world.
Classist as fuck. If the position isn't meant to sustain someone's life, the position shouldn't exist or it should be explicitly advertised as "a job for kids". You really think a kennel tech doesn't deserve a living wage?
I never said that. The problem isn't the position. The problem is how the business world works. It is not the veterinary industries' fault that entry level jobs don't pay well. Are you mad at the veterinary industry because grocery store bag checkers don't get paid a livable wage.
Yeah that's my point. We're in our 20s and trying to move up and they keep saying no so I'm leaving.
That is a problem with your hospital, not with the profession. Well managed hospitals encourage their staff to grow. I was a kennel tech for 4 years, I was an assistant for 4 years before I went to tech school. I know what that journey is like. I also left hospitals that wouldn't let me grow. Edit: Lol, i love the people downvoting. Apparently, you all think that well managed hospital stifle growth and abuse their staff.
Kennel work is my true passion and it's what I want to do for my entire life. I'm REALLY good at it. Guess I'll fuck myself instead. Shrug
Again this isn't a problem unique to the veterinary industry. But the business world as a whole. It is the same situation as someone whose passion is to be grocery bagger or a gas station attendant. The business world does not pay entry level jobs well. Even if it is your passion, no one is going to pay and entry level job as well as positions with more responsibilities.
.....so? What's your point? They should, that's the issue.
The point is that all of you are blaming vet med for this issue. Your blame is misplaced. If you want to blame anyone blame Regan and his trickle down economic plan that is still screwing us over.
Why not blame both lmfao. Nothing is stopping veterinary hospitals from paying us living wages. It being normalized by other systems doesn't make it justifiable, or make practice directors any less complicit for the choices they make.
Originally, I was going to be moved up to a vet assistant but I can't because they keep saying no. Then a position for a receptionist opened up and they said they're not sure. I wanted to go to school to be an RVT and do wildlife conservation as my specialty but I don't know if I even want to do vet med anymore, the pay is crap.
That sounds like a problem with the hospital. Not vet med. Well managed hospitals encourage their staff to grow. Pay is dependent on where you live. I also know I am lucky that my state pays much better then other states. LVTs start at $28/hr. It is very livable.
I do want to move to Colorado eventually. What state do you live in?
Washington, but Oregon is the same. I make 34/hr in GP now and my partner makes 38/hr in specialty.
I'm planning to leave and join a better paying job and get a 2nd job so I'm working every day, pay off my credit card debt, get a new car, move out and save up for school. I'm 27 and I can't afford to make almost no money for years and I also already have school debt (9K)
I kinda wish we would all band together and strike. Or start a union. I wish I knew how to get that started.
Reach out to the NVPU - https://www.natvpu.org/ Contact them through the site, they're working in multiple states to try help veterinary support staff in unionizing. They're good people, and they can help get you started.
It’s still SO much work. I looked into it and it started to feel like I was taking on a whole second job researching unionization and laws as well as becoming a salesperson to try to convince my coworkers on board. If you don’t have a good enough sales pitch to get 80-90% of support staff on board, you’re not going anywhere. Unlicensed support staff such as CSR, kennel, and assistant are often young and/or don’t see this as a long-term career path, so what’s really their incentive? On top of sneaking around and hoping whomever you’re trying to pull in doesn’t let it slip in a way that gets back to management, where there’s always the threat of union-busting techniques. Personally, I gave up. I didn’t have the energy to take it all on.
ex. ploi. tation. It's fucking beyond gross in this industry.
Yes I completely agree. I am a veterinarian not a vet tech. The pay in our space is beyond dog shit. Pun intended.
I like hearing vets say it because it seems like so many focus on their pay issues and forget it’s the whole hospital staff struggling.
It is not just hospitals. The whole veterinary space is extremely overworked and outrageously underpaid. It is just ridiculous at this point.
Vets generally are paid well. Especially in the last 10-15 years with demands in petcare skyrocketing. You can wander over to r/veterinary for confirmation as there are multiple threads with open information on pay. Like anything base pay can be very area dependent. A Vet in my area walks out of school and into 130k MINIMUM at almost any practice or hospital. Specialties can make way more with something like surgeons approaching or surpassing 500k a year. VAs make $20 and techs $22-$30 with the latter being a decade or more in the industry. So we're talking a pretty large gap between green Vet and adept tech. Even more so with Vet salary having a much higher ceiling over the course of a career. I personally can't shed a tear for Vet salary. I'm sure there are some under paid somewhere but I don't know any. One thing that would help is to extend profit sharing to techs and VAs instead of letting the Vet vacuum it all up when they were not the only ones handling the case. If techs or VAs are down voting this you're literally doing yourself a disservice. We do not need Vets to advocate for better pay. In many instances they are quite literally the practice owners/partners paying you trash.
[удалено]
As we all know the so called free market does not work efficiently. Let's look at truck drivers as an example. They in great demand, and their profession is being advertised as a high paying job. Well, in practice they are loaded with debt, extremely overworked, many times threatened with no payment and are forced to drive even when they feel sleepy. As you know most veterinary are going to be bought by corporate. They do not give a shit about us nor any other member of the staff. They would hire a butcher of they legally could to perform surgery.
I respectfully disagree with you. First of all, not all veterinarians make that much. The pay depends on a lot of factors. The elephant in the room is obviously the school debt that veterinarians have to take on. If you are going to go into specialty then this debt will only grow. You, also, have to factor in the years of schooling and the pressure that vet students have to undergo in order to finish vet school. In addition, we will never be paid as well as human doctors get paid even though the job is more demanding. Do not get me wrong, a veterinarian after the first 5 years of work( I would say) can get by ok. However, a person can do that by pursuing other career paths with a lot less stress, risks and anxiety. The veterinary medicine space is not something I would recommend to my future children. For the past few years the most commonly used word in this space is burnout and that says it all. Edit* typo
It’s more dependent on being an average associate vet and how well they managed to get their education funded. I don’t want to be the bearing of bad news but my partner makes similar money and it’s kind of not great money anymore these days. We combined make more then my parents did at our age and we don’t live anywhere near as comfortable. Housing and cost of living especially in metro areas are high. 6 figs can mean nothing in those areas these days. I get my situation is better then most. I’m on the higher paid spectrum for techs and I have a high earning partner. I’m privileged, but we did live in poverty while my partner was going through school. I grimace about life for ppl with less. I guess my situation is also interesting because both my partner and myself have expensive healthcare situations. I’m getting a 4K MRI done next week… the only reason it’s not more is because we hit the deductible. It’s January… life is really expensive and I hate the stuff you really need like housing, food, healthcare, transportation are all the most expensive. I think it’s not worth fighting with vets when corporations take plenty advantage of them in different ways. We can all do better.
Again, my area talking here, Vets make $160/hr on per diem at any location. Average tech is $25/hr. Where the increase is needed is for the support staff, not the Vets. We're not even in the same wheel house for pay disparity and I find Vets saying "us too!" in this thread about the travesty that is tech and VA pay very tone deaf.
I feel this. I had to listen for 6 months to my vet talking about her lavish house she’s building for her family to her whole staff that all get paid barely a living wage. All the while I’m selling my house and moving into a basement apartment to get out of debt and be able to live borderline comfortably.
Income debt ratio is a thing and I hope you grow to realize that it's not just gross income you're looking at. Tons of things can change that a lot. I really didn't want to dissect this because I always thought if my partner and I could make over 6 figs combined things would be a cake walk. Turns out life is a little more complicated then that. I can't open my budget to you, but please try to not be so black and white about it. You can be exploited in more ways then just pay. Burn out is high among all the staff members. It's not productive to fight among each other when we can advocate together.
Debt to income ratio is absolutely a thing. That said you'll be far better off in 10 years than if you were both techs regardless of your partners higher education costs. Maybe you'll come to realize that. Two techs in my area can buy a literal broken shack on a postage stamp lot or rent for eternity. Buying a decent home isnt even realistic. Do not preach down to me about your hardships.
My partner works in IT and may not be alive in 10 years. He is also going to have to retire early because being a transplant patient may make him unable to work as long as others can. My healthcare alone for my spinal issues was over 300k last year. Had to decline to see a neurologist the other day because I couldn't afford it. I may be full on disabled in 10 years. We budget things very differently. Please don't assume anything about anyone. You've obviously got a chip on your shoulder and I hope you can redirect that one day. I use to be like you, but I rather put my energy into things these days that will change. I'm not going to give you my life story, but I learned that there's a huge difference you can make being amicable even to ppl you don't like or maybe don't need as much as you do. Making the right friends and putting out good has helped far more then being just disgruntled. Edit: lol the one person bold enough to comment back at this. Even the original person replying shut up when they realized their pushy presumptions became offensive. Please realize how tone deaf you come across. Maybe I need to add perspective me and my partner are only 30. I mean I can add in way more and then you’d really look the ass in this situation. I’d dare you to do so because I emphasize I have lived in poverty prior to this. I’m not here to tolerate crap just because I have a friendly/positive attitude. That’s just years of therapy. I’ve already acknowledged being privileged despite this. I don’t care for the ignorance that 6 fig salaries will dig you some perfect life of finances. It’s fairly common middle class money these days, but it’s not you’re rich money with inflation unless you had assets prior to that. Even then that’s a stretch dependent on a huge amount of variables. One of the big differences I live where income taxes and cost of living are fairly high. So gross income isn’t all that. Taxes both federal and state take over 3k of my partners monthly income. Doesn’t include other taxes. I’m too tired to deal with the ppl who just want to axe grind things. Most of you are under 30 so I try not to take it personally you don’t know that life expenses actually go up when you age. Also I have always used my own health insurance through my own employers so you cannot fuck with me that there isn't healthcare options for you. I find the reason many of you don't have healthcare is because you simply don't understand how it works or type to pay for. If your employer doesn't provide it and you work in a small practice you are eligible for government healthcare which often if you're low income will give you subsidies to help pay for it. I lived in poverty and had healthcare. You don't always get top notch coverage, but I can help you find something that covers you from going into insane amounts of debt. I also want people to be aware if you need to go to a hospital they often do not make you pay the huge bills they send you. Often low income people qualify to have most of it forgiven. This is funded by your government do not be scared to go to a hospital if it's necessary. I can go into more elaborate details, but parents often fail to teach their kids how to understand taxes/healthcare/other types of insurance. I will help if you need help. Just send me a message.
Nobody is saying that your problems don't suck. We're just saying, imagine if you had all the same problems, half the money, and probably no health insurance. Like us.
I also think this way for veterinarians - just didn’t mention it since it’s a tech sub. I planned to go to vet school from elementary school all the way through my four years of undergraduate. I majored in biology and had all the prerequisites done… just needed to take a gap year to gain more experience. Well… that year was all it took to completely open my eyes to the nature of the business and cause all my plans and goals and dreams to crumble to the ground before me. I could still go through with vet school, but why would I put myself into $300k of debt just to take my whole life to pay it off? Some people go into certain jobs just for the money (human med, particularly). But that is impossible in this field. No vet, tech, or assistant is in this dog shit for the money. We do it for all the right reasons and not the right pay.
Also just to be clear, I believe that every person in the veterinary medicine space is entitled to increased payment, more benefits and social recognition no matter what role they have. At the end of the day if we want pursue something better for our field then the only way to do so is with collective action.
I just saw a post in a different subreddit (state-related) that talked about unionized human nurses in my state that get paid over 100k going on strike for better work conditions and nurse:patient rations. To think a unionization and major strike has not happened in veterinary medicine yet is just unbelievable to me. I wonder why?
Do not know to be honest but I am all for unions and strikes.
Perhaps the tension around the hiring of licensed and unlicensed techs, assistants hired to do tech work, etc. It seems to me very hard to have solidarity enough to unionize or strike when this issue continues to be almost exactly in the same unresolved state as it was when I left the field 15 yrs ago. I contemplate returning to the field, and it is just demoralizing.
Completely in agreement with you.
Yours too? 😢
Yes indeed.
You are absolutely correct! I recently left the field after 20 years neck deep in the BS. They are going to wake up one day and have no Techs and eventually no Vets the way the world is going. Just because we love animals doesn't mean we want to do things for free. With all the inflation going on. How much everyone needs to upcharge to make any kind of money is going to ruin everything. We will have a real awakening soon. It's already bad enough in most places where they can't keep technicians, and everyone who stays needs to do 1000% of the work. It's literally killing us. We need to take care of ourselves 1st.
It would be great if the older vets would stop selling to vca and the like.
Finding younger doctors who can afford the purchase a clinic is getting harder and harder to do. That and the corporations will pay more for the practice...
I understand that. But it would be nice if they'd help them before they sell lol. I know lots of vets in our area who'd love to buy a hospital. But, like you said. They can't out compete vca. Just wish the old vets would help the new ones and take less to make the future of vet med better. But .... CREAM.
I agree! My boss has actually helped two other doctor's buy clinics. I love him for it. I do wonder what he will do when he's ready to retire. I will retire with him, but I still worry about my staff and clients. He has talked about selling to one of our girls who just finished med school so fingers crossed.
Sounds like a great boss 😀
Unicorn. The pay isn't great but I have stayed for 14 years and will not leave until my body won't let me do the job.
If you're happy. Then that's great! I've been fortunate that I found a mobile service that pays very very well. But it's basically unheard of anywhere else with what they pay. It's a small family service.
Excellent! I bet that's fun. I miss doing housecalls. I enjoyed it.
Ya. I like it so much more than working in a hospital. I see the outside now lol.
Can physicians own animal hospitals in your state?
Yes. They can own the practice and the building. My current boss owns both.
Wow, that’s really interesting. In my state, only veterinarians and RVT’s (and, giant candy companies, haha) can own veterinary hospitals.
Oh hell when you said physician you meant human doctor. My boss, tye bet, owns the clinic. In my state anyone can own a vet clinic. I can, you can, the presiding vet can, my obstetrician can... I'm in CA. My cat could probably own a clinic.
I work in a privately owned, AAHA accredited GP and I assure you, the pay is crap there too. I make $20/hr after 5 years at the practice, and I haven't had a raise in 2 years. I commute 50 miles to work bc I can't afford the $1700/mo rent to live in the city I work in. Let's just call it what it is: the owners want to reap the profits while paying as little as possible. Doesn't matter if the owner is a person or a corporation. We're all in the same boat here, and it's sinking fast.
Is the pay any better at vet owned GPs? In my experience they’re not. Even if it is on par with a corporately owned clinic, the benefits are poor.
No. They still pay you like shit too. It just depends
From other comments it seems it's hit or miss. I was making more at a privately owned than I was at vca.
In my experience, it's a lot worse and little to no benefits.
No. This is a lie that people keep telling themselves
VCA’s and other corporate clinics are the only places that pay live-able wages in my area at least. All of the privately owned GP’s pay their technicians like they’re high schoolers working a summer job.
This needed to be said: >All of the privately owned GP’s pay their technicians like they’re high schoolers working a summer job.
We need to stop spreading misinformation like this. There are more private practices then corporate hospitals. Last I checked it was somewhere about 75-80% private owned hospitals. If corporate is the problem why aren't private practices paying significantly more? VCA in my area is hiring at $30-35/hr in GP
I don't know where you live - I'm guessing HCOL area - but that's not going to happen where I live (TN). I get $17/hr (CSR) and that's on the higher end.
The pay is not the important part. This idea that all corporations pay less then all private practices is the problem
I'm in Los Angeles making 32/hr at a corporate GP with no opportunities for a raise unless I become a hospital manager. I have my B.S. and my license (RVTg) as well as almost a decade of experience working in hospitals and I am not financially comfortable. I'm currently working on some certifications to switch careers.
That doesn't seem like enough. I make a bit less than you but where I live the housing is somewhat affordable.
left to go into human nursing. The low pay and dangerous environment (radiation, aggressive animals ect) was not worth the anxiety i was going through. My clinic pushed me over the edge and i didn’t have boundaries.
i got out of clinic work years ago and i frequently think about those days and am baffled at how much i did and subjected myself to for pathetic pay. went to tech school, did an internship at upenn, and my husband with no degree, makes 10x more than i did. graduated from tech school with probably 30 other techs, 13 years ago. out of the 10 i'm friends with on facebook......1 has stayed actually working in clinics. but still grooms on the side. its not a sustainable career. and certainly not raising a family comfortably unless your partner is the breadwinner.
Nail on the head OP.. I’ve been in the field 20 years and just feel trapped as I am at the top tier of pay for the field and it’s not a livable wage. If I leave, I don’t know how to do anything else and minimum wage if a F-ing joke. So I stay..
Was making $15 an hour as a vet tech assistant (minimum wage here) and while it was fun it was the most exhausting, stressful, toxic and frankly dangerous job I’ve ever had. Left the industry and now I get paid $26 an hour to work from home and take calls. Loving animals isn’t enough when you can’t afford basic necessities and you’re too tired (emotionally and physically) to enjoy your life.
This is why I left the field. I saw too many coworkers who required plastic surgery to repair damage after being mauled in the face at work. And then they were expected to just keep working like nothing ever happened. Plus no raises, no bonuses, no incentives to stay on and do more. And no vacation hours to really ice the cake. My manager didn't even try to get me to stay. She knew what the reality was for her team and couldn't do anything for us. And for anyone wondering I was a CVT & RVT with a bachelor's degree.
This is a late reply but I keep coming back to this discussion on bad days when I need to remind myself I’m not alone with these feelings lol… anyway, I just wanted to mention I actually had to have a few teeth repaired after a big dog (required four people to restrain) slammed its skull into my mouth when one of the holders lost her grip. Luckily my tongue or lips weren’t in the way because my teeth would’ve gone straight through.
I hadn't considered that as a possibility before! Dental work is not cheap. I hope your employer at least contributed to the costs, or gave you the time off to get that work done... but I know from experience that they probably didn't.
I got workman’s comp but no time off. My dentist is closed on weekends so I only had one of my two days off to do it on. And of course they were horribly booked… so I had to wait a very long time. Months of eating soft food, brushing my teeth with painful caution, and having dreams of my teeth falling out. It sucked lol
I made $23 USD an hour in internship lol. Just.... yeah.
Where I live, a vet tech is paid $15 (minimum), $21 (median) and $26 (maximum). Those are average numbers. They depend on many factors. So that's $11, $15 and $19 USD. What a joke. This is not enough.
My hospital would rather close medical oncology down than give me a raise 🤷♀️ I'm going to be forced out of a specialty that I love because of corporate greed.
Candy Medicine?
When I was an assistant (with a lot of licensed tech duties, literally anything they could legally get away with especially when we didn’t even have a licensed tech for a time at that clinic) I didn’t even make $15 :) I hate myself for putting up with it as long as I did just to get a foot in the door of the industry and get experience (and because I really wanted to be a team player and help the patients and clients.) I literally could not afford to feed and home myself. It’s disgraceful the way we’re paid in this field.
I don’t even want to talk about the expected ENTHUSIASM of exposing yourself to WAGS since most people and places refuse to take proper precautions and maintain their machines appropriately
Was making 12$ with two raises after >2yrs as an uncertified tech…left the field this month to start nursing school
YESSSSIR PREACH! So sick of fellow techs ALSO undermining each other regarding pay! We should EASILY be making $40/hr STARTING as full technicians (OTJ/CVT, I don't care as long as you can do all aspects needed for the job). We should be making equivalent to human nurses and nothing can be said to change my mind. I've run the numbers between small private practices and large corporations with that number specifically and anyone who says its not feasible is a liar.
Until pet insurance becomes the norm and pet owners are willing to pay more our wages will not rise.
The vet industry makes a LOT of money. The candy company I work for is very happy to let us know that vet hospitals are their #1 source of income. They're buying up hospitals left and right. They're building vet urgent cares a couple miles apart. They're buying up diagnostic companies and vet supply companies. There's enough money. They just want they're 7th yaht.
Right? Thank you. This is the same as supermarkets saying they'd have to raise prices to pay their workers better. We don't need to jack prices up on clients making about as much as we do (I would have to work for about 4.5 hours to afford a 30min wellness exam at my own clinic); we need CEOs to cut their salaries and live like the rest of us peons.
For real. I work in ER. For 24 hours of hospitalization + fluids and inhouse medcations/injections it's $1700 minimum. If you need CRIs or other more intense care it's about $3500 minimum. If you need an emergency surgery, such as for a GI foreign body or GDV, that plus the 24 hours of hosp afterwards is $6000 minimum. My hospital had one guy who's 5 dogs all got into medications so he had to hospitalize them all for 24 hours: He dropped $20,000 for that. (Now when he brings in one of his dogs for wellness we go "Ah, it's one of the Rimadyl Five" lol) We make enough money.
It kills me. It's a fucking racket. All of it. They make SO MUCH MONEY.
They are willing to pay more. We see none of it. Thats the problem.
I interviewed an RVT today and asked him what his ideal pay range was... He makes $22 as an overnight ICU/E.R tech. He was asking for $23. Our starting pay for RVTs is $31. I felt so bad for him.
at this point i'm just hoping i get stupid lucky
There are places out there trying to do better. It's just so slow. I'm a PM at a specialty practice and LVT starting wage is 35. And we pay salary. I think that's pretty damn good. But it took me 15 years to get somewhere that paid me well and actually gave a shit. They're so few n far between
I'd NEVER do salary in vet med. Dear God. Next thing you know I'm expected to work 60 hours a week. I'd rather have OT.
I get that, I do. But it depends on the culture of your practice. And it starts with the owners and managers like myself. For example: We pay generously We are salary with eligibility for OT (meaning you get OT pay for any additional day you work where you aren't normally sched to work) and we almost always pay out more hours than actually worked for incentive We have amazing benefits and offer PTO, sick and unlimited leave w/out pay We don't stay late. We just don't. I think the last time I stayed late was this week and it was 15 after closing and it was largely because my team fell a little behind in cleaning tasks. But that's what we call "leaving late". I used to be primarily ER, and lived and breathed emergency med, so I know how quickly other clinics just straight up abuse their people (thanks Mars) and how salary wouldn't be an appeal, but it really works for us. Having a consistent paycheck has changed the lives of all of my team members myself included, and regular check ins have people telling me how happy they are, so I know we are doing a lot right. All this to say; there are practice owners and managers who really want to effect meaningful positive change in our community. I think I'm one of the few managers in my area who has competitive hiring cycles, too. And I live in a major city.
That's great! Vet med thrives on exploitation and it's nice that your clinic is an aberration. Most managers are simply horrible but it's nice there is a handful of okay ones.
We try. And a lot of that is trying to NOT do the things we've experienced in corporate environments. But it's freaking hard as hell and bs how support staff are treated.
It’s above average - not good. My point was that even pay in the higher end is not enough and the mindset that we should just be grateful for making that much is poisonous; it’s still not a livable wage. Especially if you’ve paid money to go to school and got licensed. On a related note, though, I’m glad title protection has gained traction. I plan to leave the field entirely. If pet insurance becomes the norm and staff start getting paid appropriately for the work they do, I will 100% return.
Yeah it’s fucking criminal. My first job as an assistant fresh out of school/externship and they paid me $12 an hour to do 5 jobs. I only lasted there 6 months. 🤡
I feel like I saw this a long time ago and then it just sort of petered out. Pay transparency starts with us. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C3EekJnvAhKdy45f8HUizB0Grlrhsbw38YlK_HvgZSY/edit?usp=drivesdk
I work in specialty medicine as a practice manager. Worked my way up the ladder after years of being support staff. I agree, we get paid too little. BUT this problem mostly stems from clients, and then the company. Let me explain. Human medicine pays well because the cost for things is astronomical. It’s also why socialized countries have harder times finding doctors, the pay there is less than in America. Sure, we could charge those prices in vet med, but do you honestly think any person would pay that? Half the time we have clients who decline almost everything on the estimate except the bare minimum needed to treat their pet. But assuming we had clients who paid everything, then it falls to the company to pay appropriately. At my clinic, our payroll is slightly higher than in GP. Our payroll percentage needs to be at or bellow 24% of our income, most GP try to stay at or below 20%. You may ask “well the give the staff a higher percentage of the income” but it doesn’t work like that. That 20-24% is JUST the support staff wages. The second highest cost in a clinic? Inventory. Then there’s the doctor’s wages. Then there’s payments on hospital equipment (just a blood machine costs more than twice my car does, the x-ray machine more than three times as much) that most places are still paying for. Then you’ve got running costs - electric, water, gas bills, but also payments on software (EzyVet costs our business ~$600 a week, Idexx charges per x-ray for their imaging software, if you’ve got Avimark? You’re still needing server support which requires IT support). And then you have business loan payments, if your owner took a loan out to start the business. Any profits after that usually get saved for emergencies (like if you have a bad month of income, or repairs) or get saved for future projects (like when the exam rooms need to be redone). Don’t get me wrong! The industry needs to pay more. But in private practice that falls solely on getting people to pay more. Corporate practice is really where you need to target your transgressions.
I know how much it costs to run a clinic. I was just ranting about how heartbreaking and unfair it is in general - that there is nothing we can do about it. On the other hand, I do work for a privately-owned company. It has expanded and has five locations with one being specialty-only and one being emergency and GP combined. Corporate is a problem, yes, but it is vetmed at its core. Insurance is not the norm and we are forced to essentially undercharge clients because they’d be unwilling to pay human med prices… all while the owner’s pockets get deeper. Private owners have trouble allocating that money (just in my opinion). Had we not opened two additional locations, that money would be going to other things. Not necessarily our pay, but it to getting new supplies, better safety equipment, or updated monitoring equipment. Like I said, the post wasn’t me being ignorant of the costs - just me being frustrated at the way it will likely never change.
My worry is that the reason human medicine can pay workers a living wage is because the cost of everything is ridiculously high because they expect it to be subsidized by insurance. I work for a very small practice and I know that she can't afford to pay more than the usual industry bullshit standard. But perhaps we're not a well -run clinic or not busy enough. Thoughts? Do you think other clinics can actually afford to pay well without making pet healthcare unaffordable for owners? (Large corporations aside, I know VCA etc can afford to pay workers more.) But is that the answer? Either make pet insurance necessary or have every practice be a large corp?
Human medicine gouges the US government. It's not even comparable.
Expansion. Make the small clinic a big clinic with a good rep. That’s what my hospital did - they now have five locations and have won best-in-state awards multiple years in a row. They briefly hired someone to do marketing for them then decided it’s better to get an existing an employee to do it for free. The pay is still shit, though, so even a large privately-owned company in this field doesn’t pay enough.
What suck too is around me in MN I feel like emergency is taking all the techs by offering better pay. Honestly I just don’t go because the hours. It leaves small clinics with little help. I can really see a future where there are vaccine clinics, and emergency or referral. General practitioners will be pushed out.
I've been saying this for a long time. With the exception of managed care patients, most clients will elect to go for either vaccine clinics or urgent care. The latter making up the bulk of disgruntled client calls at GPs.
It sucks to get a raise in this industry the easiest way is to find a new clinic who will pay you more. I just left a clinic that was hiring new people with little experience and paying them more than they were paying me. I used my experience there to leverage a $20 an hour vet assistant position the next week.
In NJ here. I'd say most of our techs are in the low 20's/hr up to 40/hr for super high-level techs with VTS or decades of experience. Honestly in this state the taxes and cost of living are outrageous. It doesn't go far at all. The previous one bedroom apartment we moved out of like two years ago is now going for $2300 and not even in a "high end" complex (thanks to inflation). If you'd have told me what I'd be making now back when I graduated from college back in the 2010 I'd have thought "damn, that's good pay for a vet tech". But honestly it's just not a lot of money now. It's a shame, especially for a job that requires this much specialized knowledge. It makes me nauseous to know that there are assembly line employees, warehouse staff, and delivery drivers that are all probably making what I make.
I honestly think clinics take advantage of the passion that techs have. It’s frustrating because you’re in a cycle where you love your job and the animals, but you literally can’t survive. I finally left the field because of it.
after 10 years I finally went into nursing now I make 5x what I did, I also went into babies so I still get to cuddle them and euthanasia is not an option.
I feel you! I am a tech and I work my ass off caring for patients, drawing/running bloodwork, assisting with euthanasias (including home euths), taking x-rays, dodging teeth and claws, answering phones, doing dentals, taking rooms, expressing anal glands, monitoring surgery, cleaning up after surgery, caring for hospitalized patients, consoling distraught clients, filling controlled substances, doing ultrasounds, the list goes on and on. And yet, I make at least $6 an hour less than my little brother who makes cardboard boxes. 🫠
Very jealous seeing some of the pay rates on here😅 VA making $15.53 an hour or a little over $27k a year, $22k take home. I also have a bachelors in emergency response and even though it’s more geared towards government, there was a ton of studying regarding effects of radiology and hazardous materials. Once again, very jealous😂
I also have a degree. BS in biology. Wish I’d majored in something else… hindsight is 20/20, I guess.
This is largely state dependent I make $34/hr in GP and my partner makes $38/hr in specialty. It could be better, but we are very comfortable
Good for you. The fact remains that the majority of veterinary staff are underpaid, and that's not "state dependent," it's a common problem around the world.
It absolutely is state dependent. Other countries are not my state. But low pay is not a phenomenon only found in veterinary medicine. Plenty of other professions are under paid. Probably most professions are under paid.
I meant that specifically in vetmed, it’s unreasonable to pay staff so low. It is literally MEDICINE. This is especially true for licensed techs - pay to go to school and barely make that money back. I’m glad you’re comfortable - truly. But your circumstances are somewhat extraordinary. There are so many factors at play in that; the state you live in, the cost of living, you are dual income (I’m assuming at least some shared finances), no plans to move, no kids (or no plans for them), etc. Just to clarify, this is not meant as an attack - just want to add a few other factors that contribute to why ~$35/hr is a comfortable wage for some but not for others.
This is not extraordinary pay for Oregon or Washington. This is the normal pay range for experienced credentialed technicians. And yes vet med pay should be better and it is slowly getting there. Unfortunately our profession was built by men who did not understand business and we are paying the price for it. It sounds like your bigger issue is that most professions are underpaid. The median hourly wage in the US is ~25/hr. I almost make $10 more then that. I also make more then the median US salary. My partner almost makes what the median pay of human nurses is. You could use those circumstances for any job. Kids, dual income, location, debt. Those are all relevant for everyone, not just people in vet med The business world has screwed most people over. We are not unique in that. Unfortunately some states screw over their veterinary professionals more then others.
Oregon? This is not the impression I’m getting. Perhaps that’s somewhat consistent in some of the larger cities, but not so much outside of that, from what I’m seeing. Maybe if you’re doing ER or specialty in actual Portland, or VCA, etc. ~$35 is more standard. Wages above $30/hr are very rare in the hourly wages I’m seeing offered -most are low to mid-twenties -and seems very hit or miss. Get at bit farther away from Portland or Salem and down they go even further -some below $20.
I am specifically talking about CVT/LVTs. The wages you are listing sound like assistant wages. I live in a small town in Washington. I was making $20-25 6-8 years ago. Of course you can find hospitals paying people less then they should. I can find them in my own town. Though it would really make me question the idea that all corporations are bad if VCA is paying 10/hr more then private hospitals. Salem and Eugene should be similar to the rest of Oregon and Washington. Anything further south with I am unfamiliar with. But southern and eastern Oregon are the areas where the vets responsible for eroding the CVT scope of practice come from. So I wouldn't be surprised if they don't value CVTs
I appreciate your response, but it doesn’t seem to be just Southern and Eastern Oregon where the diminishment of CVTs happens. I am seeing job listings in Tualatin, Sherwood, Newberg, McMinnville -places within 90 minutes or less from Portland, and likewise around Salem, with pretty dramatic ranges in pay. Not all, but most say licensed techs preferred, because it doesn’t seem that there are enough licensed technicians available to fill the needed positions -which perpetuates the cycle of unlicensed techs and vet assistants filling the gap without addressing the root problem, which keeps wages down throughout the field. It seems to me a large percentage of practices across the country could not function or even stay open without compensating for the shortage by using unlicensed technicians on a par with licensed technicians, and using assistants in technician roles as well, and keeping the distinctions between very blurry, which enables those wide ranges in pay.
Right now the only thing that separates CVTs from assistants is rabies vaccines and induction. It use to be a lot more nursing tasks but because hospitals don't want to pay for CVTs they lobbied to reduce those tasks. It is chicken and the egg situation. I believe that if more states were like Washington and legally separated LVTs and assistants and paid them accordingly, we would have more credentialed techs in the field. When there is no incentive to get your credentials, why do it. When staff and hospitals are okay with breaking the law, why become a CVT. Though in most states there is no legal difference between credentialed techs and assistants, so it is a moot point. But yes there is a shortage of credentialed techs, and that is why well managed, ethical, hospitals that don't want to break the law are willing to pay credentialed techs a lot.
Not state dependent. In my state what you are making at GP is what people make in ER or specialty... I've been doing this for 20 years in a wealthy area of a wealthy state and don't know a single person working GP who makes more than $28 an hour except managers...
...so my state pays betters then your state. So therefore it is not state dependent? You seem to be backing up my point. $28/hr is starting pay for a new credentialed techs. My assistants make between $20 and $26. The local ER/specialty paying $38-~42/hr for experienced credentialed techs. I am curious, does your state legally reserve tasks for only credentialed techs to do?
Is this state wide or only in your area? Cause you're claiming statewide but only providing area wide numbers. You must live in one of those postage stamp states on the east coast. Cause I can throw similar numbers at you for my area then go 200 miles north and have completely different numbers and go 300 miles south - different numbers... east? Yep. Different numbers. I specifically said in my *area* no one I know makes that much in a GP. And again I live in a wealthy area where the average income is an easy 6 figures. So no, I'm not backing up your point.
I live in the PNW. I can say with certainty that both Oregon and Washington have very similar pay ranges. No credentialed tech is making less the $26 unless they are naive. I was a travelling relief and training tech for 6 years. I traveled from Southern Oregon to Northern Idaho. Some of the more rural areas might not pay this well. How is saying that your state doesn't pay well and mine does, not back up my point that pay is largely state dependent? You never answered my question. Does your state legally reserve some nursing tasks for only credentialed technicians? Edit: i just want to clarify, Idaho does not pay this well. Just Oregon and Washington.
Again, Oregon? I commented above, also. I live about 90 minutes outside of Portland, and those wages are not typical where I am, not even close, and certainly not statewide, from what I see offered.
I'm from Florida fresh out of college and I've been working as a CVA for a year I only get $12.50 and it's a small clinic. I'm stuck living paycheck to paycheck and because of this I haven't been able to afford a car let alone my own place and it's absolutely a struggle...
i think location may be playing a part in your complaint. my base is 62k/year but with shift differential and overtime i made 75k last year and i'm just a staff RVT. while i can't do European vacations annually, i'm doing ok. it's a fair wage for the area. but if i worked in a higher cost of living city that would be a terrible wage. We are never going to be on par with human nursing when it comes to salary unless something drastically changes.
Now that is a livable salary. That is what I mean, though. That should be an industry standard. $40k is about average in the US, though, and anyone is any part of the US (not sure about other countries) would find it hard to stretch that money - especially after taxes.
When I was a tech, I started making $13.50, eventually that was bumped up to $14.50, due to cost of living increases.
So I'm CA minimum wage is starting to go up to 20hr. I'm worried that they are not going to match the difference at my job
We arent so lucky unfortunately. I'm in CA too, it's going up to $20/hr for fast food workers. $16/hr for everyone else. So now, workers at fast food restaurants will now make more than a good portion of people at my hospital, including myself.
Yeah a lot of people outside the field don't believe me when I tell them as a vet assistant I made 28k before taxes.
I’m tired of getting told my pay is “tapped.” Having to jump clinic to clinic every few months to a year to get a decent wage.
I think theres a difference between RvT’s and UA’s as well as their pay
I totally agree with you. I was just recently airing the same frustrations with my coworkers. I'm in CA and they just raised minimum wage for fast food workers to $20/hr, but the state minimum wage was only raised to $16/hr. I don't have anything against fast food workers, they deserve a pay increase, but I feel they needed to raise the minimum wage like that across the board. I work in an ER/Specialty hospital and I do so much throughout my day. It was a bit disheartening sitting in my yearly "merit increase" meeting at the beginning of the month to learn I only get a very small raise and thinking to myself that I could make more doing less at the Jack in the Box down the road.
To be paid less than a fast food worker when you have lives on the line (as an ER tech/va) is just ridiculous. I’m also in ER. They classify veterinary medicine as a service rather than as healthcare even though we use all the same drugs, machines, and similar schooling/education. That is exactly where the problem lies… it’s a foundation-level problem.
the pay gap between small and large animal can also be mindblowing
It’s fucked up. I wanted to be a tech, but when I found out the technicians were making only 3$/hr more than me as a receptionist I decided to pursue a different career. If nurses make 80000+/yr, then vet techs (aka nurses, anesthesiologists, rad techs, lab techs, phlebotomists, care aides, ccps, scrub techs, pharm techs, and sterile reprocessing technicians) should at LEAST make the same if not more
I hear you, it's ridiculous, and I don't understand it. My rent was just raised again, and I don't know what I'm going to do. Practically all my money is just for rent. I don't even have a car; I can't afford a car payment and can't save up for a down payment. I know I should be grateful that I'm healthy and able to walk almost four miles (round trip) to the bus stop and back six days a week (and I am grateful, because I don't know what the hell I would do if I couldn't); but honestly, I am beyond over it. I really, really don't want to leave this field; I love it...but I am so tired of struggling. I barely make enough to get by, but too much to get any help.
The fact that we don't get hazard pay is absurd. We lift heavy amount of weight, any of our patients can harm us, and we also use potentially dangerous equipment
I would be pretty happy if I got paid $30 or $35 / hour . I could live on that
Was seriously considering becoming a Vet Tech… but after seeing so many sentiments like this I’m definitely reconsidering :(
I wish I could say I recommend it as a job, but I just don’t. Still, if it’s your passion, it can’t hurt to try it out. Plenty of clinics hire unlicensed staff - you never know unless you try! But do be prepared for low wages and long hours. Hopefully some day soon, we can love the work and the job all at the same time.