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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Humanities and Social Sciences
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1437525

The Newly Credentialed Veterinary Technician: Perceptions, Realities, and Career Challenges

Provisionally accepted
Addie Rose Reinhard Addie Rose Reinhard 1,2*Victoria P Celt Victoria P Celt 1Leah E Pilewki Leah E Pilewki 1Mariel K Hendricks Mariel K Hendricks 1,2
  • 1 College of Veterinary Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee, United States
  • 2 MentorVet, LLC, Lexington, KY, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Previous research has shown that when comparing psychological wellbeing between credentialed veterinary technicians and human registered nurses, high levels of burnout and distress were noted within the veterinary technician population. This qualitative focus group study sought to gain a better understanding of the early-career veterinary technician experience to understand what factors might contribute to stress and burnout. Four ninety-minute qualitative focus groups were conducted with a range of two to five participants. Semi-structured interviewing was used, and focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed. Two major categories were identified: (1) The Credentialing Journey, and (2) Challenges with the Career. Seven themes were identified in these two categories, including Credentialing: Perceptions and Reality, the Newly Credentialed Veterinary Technician, Us vs. Us, Ethical Dilemmas, Work Environment, Utilization, and Career Longevity. The findings of this study can inform future intervention research to improve the mental health and wellbeing of veterinary technicians. A focus on teaching team-based medicine, leadership skills, and conflict management in both veterinary and veterinary technician schools may help reduce team conflict. In addition, effectively utilizing veterinary technicians and increasing awareness of their value may help improve veterinary technician career satisfaction.

    Keywords: burnout, utilization, Longevity, veterinary technician, veterinary wellbeing

    Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Reinhard, Celt, Pilewki and Hendricks. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Addie Rose Reinhard, College of Veterinary Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, 37752, Tennessee, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.