"Even a nurse can do an episiotomy for birthing," Johnson says. "There is a model out there. Yet veterinarians say we can't
hire at the level of physician assistants. Why not? What has the veterinary profession in the state of California done to
promote trained technical staff? I can't think of anything." Backing change While it would be ideal to have RVTs educated to the level of physician assistants, that's not current reality, Weigand says.
"The training would have to be dramatically different," he says. "It's like apples and oranges." Accredited RVT training is a two-year program consisting of 60 educational units of classroom instruction. All registered
veterinary technicians must pass a standardized exam for licensure, and the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA)
Council on Education accredits just 10 of California's 12 RVT programs. By contrast, physician assistants, established in
the 1960s to address a shortage of primary care physicians, complete roughly 26 months of training before sitting for licensure.
Sue Geranen admits there are instructive differences, yet she says a slow transformation is possible. The CVMB executive director
says association leaders are "resisting growth" among RVTs, which as a profession hasn't changed for almost 30 years. "The CVMA has objections about allowing RVTs to make nick incisions to put in catheters, and they're upset about new anesthesia
requirements," she says. "But where is the consumer protection of these tasks if you don't regulate who can do them?" Wrong path The addition of job tasks isn't how RVTs should take advantage of a "huge vacuum" that Weigand claims is now evident in the
profession. While new veterinary graduates historically have filled the roll of glorified technician, hefty student loans requiring higher
starting salaries have forced owners to demand their immediate performance as practitioners. That leaves a hole for technicians
to fill using their current level of training. "What has changed in veterinary job duties in the last 100 years? Nothing," he says. "But look how much the profession's changed.
The same thing can happen for technicians if they're leveraged correctly."
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