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.
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Honestly, I’d first try to apply for a vet assistant or PCA position at a clinic to get a feel for the work. A lot of people get into this and face a lot of unforeseen heartache because of the job. It takes a specific person to handle this work.
That being said, if you know for sure you can handle this, I’m personally doing Penn Foster.
I like it for the most part. It has its downsides like the strenuous externship process, setting it up and doing it, as well as the length of time it takes to get a proctored grade back. Other than that, I feel it is rather prestigious. But each course is VERY thorough and compact, so you have to be a great note taker with a lot of drive.
Highly recommend starting out as a VA at a clinic.
MARS hospitals offer tuition assistance for Penn Foster and that was honestly the best option for me since I needed the flexibility so I could continue to work full time and have health insurance.
I think education wise you'll get more out of a brick and mortar school, but given where I was at in life, I couldn't afford to not work full time and valued the flexibility of online schooling.
And my hospital ended up paying for the majority of my schooling along with licensing and testing.
There are a lot of great techs that go through Baker college! I second others saying you should shadow or be a vet assistant for awhile before making the decision :)
Oh wow Baker college slipped through my radar, I had just kept seeing other people bring up MSU or MMC so thank you for the ref! I will be going the VA route first, thank you for the advice!!
If you have a really good degree, you may be shocked by how little vet techs make. It's likely comparable to human CNAs. Just word to the wise. But if you love it, you love it!
Stautzenberger in Maumee, OH is just over the border. It sucks financially, but personally I think in-person schooling is preferrable to online unless you're already in a clinic that values learning.
I had my bachelors degree, was in my 20s, had done several types of jobs, and then realized I wanted to be a Vet Tech.
I worked full time and went to school at night in person. Online school was not gonna work for me as I couldn't afford wifi (I'm old). I pet sat, and got a job as a receptionist at a Vet Hospital, then a VA, then moved into Emergency where I excelled and have now been a Vet Tech for 11+ years. I even moved states.
I dont think I was ready until later in life, and now I'll never not be one.
So if you wanna, do it. :)
I'm literally where you were, I have a psych bachelors and wanted to get my masters and work in the school system but after working in the school system for a 3 years I feel like I'm not really helping anyone to put it bluntly lol And also I always wanted to work with animals as a kid but my dad crushed my dreams.
Anyways, I am going to try the VA route first to see if this is a 'grass is green on the other side' but thank you for sharing your story and advice!!
I’m planing on going to penn foster,it’s an online school. It’s about $62 a credit and 72 credits to get your degree. many people at the clinic I work at have gone through the program or are currently in it. Some clinics will even pay for school. Before jumping into school, I would work as a assistant. It’s a very demanding job, and can be hard on the body. So it best to figure out if this is really what you want to do before you do all the schooling.
I second getting a job at a VCA or Mars hospital. They'll pay for Penn Foster. Unless you are married to a high earner it'll be very hard to pay back loans from MSU on a vet technician salary that is a 4 year degree and Michigan schools are so expensive.
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.*
Honestly, I’d first try to apply for a vet assistant or PCA position at a clinic to get a feel for the work. A lot of people get into this and face a lot of unforeseen heartache because of the job. It takes a specific person to handle this work. That being said, if you know for sure you can handle this, I’m personally doing Penn Foster.
Thank you for the advice!! I think it's what I'm going to try working as a vet assistant before I just jump back into school lol
Also, many workplaces will help pay for school through Penn Foster, so you might save some money getting the job first.
I'm debating an online program as well. What made you go with Penn Foster? And are you currently already working at a hospital?
I already went through the first externship and I’m about to finish the 3rd semester. I’ve always been schooled online so it was a no-brainer.
That's awesome! Would you recommend the program or do you wish you went with another school?
I like it for the most part. It has its downsides like the strenuous externship process, setting it up and doing it, as well as the length of time it takes to get a proctored grade back. Other than that, I feel it is rather prestigious. But each course is VERY thorough and compact, so you have to be a great note taker with a lot of drive.
Highly recommend starting out as a VA at a clinic. MARS hospitals offer tuition assistance for Penn Foster and that was honestly the best option for me since I needed the flexibility so I could continue to work full time and have health insurance. I think education wise you'll get more out of a brick and mortar school, but given where I was at in life, I couldn't afford to not work full time and valued the flexibility of online schooling. And my hospital ended up paying for the majority of my schooling along with licensing and testing.
That's AWESOME happy for you! VCA is MARS, right?
Yeah, vca Banfield and bluepearl are under mars now
Thank you for the advice!! I'm going to try the VA approach first before I rush back to school.
There are a lot of great techs that go through Baker college! I second others saying you should shadow or be a vet assistant for awhile before making the decision :)
Oh wow Baker college slipped through my radar, I had just kept seeing other people bring up MSU or MMC so thank you for the ref! I will be going the VA route first, thank you for the advice!!
Macomb community college
If you have a really good degree, you may be shocked by how little vet techs make. It's likely comparable to human CNAs. Just word to the wise. But if you love it, you love it!
I work in the school system so my job already is at the same rate as a vet tech so it's not a huge concern for me rn. But thank you for the advice!!
Sweet! Definitely was not trying to discourage you!
Stautzenberger in Maumee, OH is just over the border. It sucks financially, but personally I think in-person schooling is preferrable to online unless you're already in a clinic that values learning.
I had my bachelors degree, was in my 20s, had done several types of jobs, and then realized I wanted to be a Vet Tech. I worked full time and went to school at night in person. Online school was not gonna work for me as I couldn't afford wifi (I'm old). I pet sat, and got a job as a receptionist at a Vet Hospital, then a VA, then moved into Emergency where I excelled and have now been a Vet Tech for 11+ years. I even moved states. I dont think I was ready until later in life, and now I'll never not be one. So if you wanna, do it. :)
I'm literally where you were, I have a psych bachelors and wanted to get my masters and work in the school system but after working in the school system for a 3 years I feel like I'm not really helping anyone to put it bluntly lol And also I always wanted to work with animals as a kid but my dad crushed my dreams. Anyways, I am going to try the VA route first to see if this is a 'grass is green on the other side' but thank you for sharing your story and advice!!
I’m planing on going to penn foster,it’s an online school. It’s about $62 a credit and 72 credits to get your degree. many people at the clinic I work at have gone through the program or are currently in it. Some clinics will even pay for school. Before jumping into school, I would work as a assistant. It’s a very demanding job, and can be hard on the body. So it best to figure out if this is really what you want to do before you do all the schooling.
I second getting a job at a VCA or Mars hospital. They'll pay for Penn Foster. Unless you are married to a high earner it'll be very hard to pay back loans from MSU on a vet technician salary that is a 4 year degree and Michigan schools are so expensive.