New Research: Vet Techs May Help Improve Access to Veterinary Care

Posted October 22, 2026

Veterinary technicians play an essential role in delivering quality care, supporting veterinarians and keeping practices running smoothly. But in many practices, technicians may spend significant portions of their day on responsibilities that could be handled by other members of the veterinary team, limiting opportunities to fully apply their training and skills.

Veterinary technician examining long haired cat in vet office.

As the veterinary community recognizes National Veterinary Technician Week, October 18-24, practices have an opportunity to consider not only how they celebrate their veterinary technicians, but how they support and utilize their skills year-round.

Making more strategic use of credentialed veterinary technicians starts with looking at how their time and skills are being integrated across the practice. Here are five ways practices can put those skills to work more effectively.

1. Give Veterinary Technicians Their Own Appointments

One way practices can expand capacity is by creating dedicated appointment types for credentialed veterinary technicians. Depending on state scope-of-practice requirements and practice protocols, technicians may be able to support routine services such as:

Nail trims
Suture removals and bandage changes
Vaccine boosters under an established treatment plan
Weight checks and blood draws
Follow-up visits for established patients

Creating dedicated technician appointments can help preserve veterinarian time for diagnostics, surgery and complex cases while giving clients another way to access routine care.

According to a recent Penn Foster survey, nearly two-thirds of pet owners have either already scheduled a separate appointment with a veterinary technician or would be interested in doing so.

Put it into practice:

Review your service offerings and identify procedures that fall within your state's scope of practice for a veterinary technician
Consider adding dedicated technician appointment slots to your schedule
Make sure client service teams understand when a technician appointment may be appropriate so they can clearly explain the option to pet owners

2. Help Veterinary Technicians Practice at the Top of Their Credential

Credentialed veterinary technicians develop skills across areas such as anesthesia monitoring, dental care, radiography, laboratory procedures, patient assessment and client education. When technicians regularly take on responsibilities that don't require those skills, practices may be missing opportunities to use their expertise more effectively.

Helping technicians excel starts with understanding how responsibilities are distributed across the entire veterinary team. Practices can look at each role's training and capabilities and align responsibilities accordingly. This can allow credentialed technicians to spend more time on skilled clinical work while helping other team members make effective use of their own training.

Put it into practice:

Review how responsibilities are currently distributed across the veterinary team
Identify administrative, non-clinical or entry-level responsibilities that may be appropriate for other team members
Develop clear delegation protocols that reflect state requirements and each employee's training
Revisit responsibilities as employees gain experience, skills and credentials

3. Help Clients Understand the Veterinary Technician's Role

Veterinary technicians can play a significant role in a pet's care, but clients may not always understand what they do or recognize when a credentialed technician is providing care.
Penn Foster's survey found that about one-third of pet owners typically don't know whether a veterinarian or credentialed veterinary technician is seeing their pet.
Helping clients better understand the role of veterinary technicians can build familiarity with the broader care team and reinforce the expertise technicians bring to each visit. It can also help clients feel more comfortable with technician-led appointments and recommendations when appropriate.

Put it into practice:

Encourage technicians to introduce themselves by name and credential
Include credentials on name badges, email signatures and practice team pages
Highlight veterinary technicians and their work through practice communications and social media
Identify the team members involved in a pet's care in discharge instructions or follow-up communications

4. Expand the Role of Veterinary Technicians in Preventive Care

Preventive care and client education are additional areas where veterinary technicians can apply their training while strengthening relationships with pet owners.

Depending on state regulations and practice protocols, veterinary technicians may be able to support clients with areas such as:

Nutrition and weight management
Dental care and at-home oral hygiene
Parasite prevention
New puppy and kitten care
Check-ins for senior pets and pets with chronic conditions
Education about supplements and over-the-counter products

Penn Foster's recent survey found that many pet owners are spending more on wellness products, while some are turning to supplements, home remedies and over-the-counter products in place of veterinary visits. Practices can use technician-led education to help clients navigate these choices, answer questions about preventive care and understand when an issue may require veterinary attention.

5. Develop Veterinary Technician Talent From Within

Making full use of credentialed veterinary technicians also requires practices to have enough qualified professionals on their teams. For practices looking to strengthen their veterinary technician pipeline, one option is to support veterinary assistants and other employees who are interested in advancing their careers and pursuing credentials.

Developing talent from within can offer several benefits:

Employee development. Education benefits can give team members an opportunity to build new skills and advance their careers.
Existing knowledge. Current employees already understand the practice's clients, protocols and culture.
Expanded capabilities. As employees build their skills and earn credentials, practices may be able to expand the responsibilities they can safely delegate.
Career pathways. Providing opportunities for advancement can demonstrate how employees can build longer-term careers within the veterinary field.

Flexible education options can make continued learning more accessible for working employees. Team members may be able to complete coursework around work and personal responsibilities while gaining required hands-on experience in clinical settings.

Build Your Veterinary Team With Penn Foster

Better utilizing veterinary technicians starts with giving them more opportunities to apply the skills and training they already have. By taking a closer look at how technicians' time, responsibilities and expertise are used, practices can create a more effective division of responsibilities across the veterinary team.

For practices looking to build veterinary technician talent from within, Penn Foster works with veterinary practices and hospital groups to support workforce development through flexible, career-focused education. Penn Foster's Veterinary Technician Associate Degree Program is designed to help learners build the knowledge and skills needed to pursue credentialing while continuing to balance work and other responsibilities.

Contact Penn Foster's partnership team to learn more about how education benefits can support the development of your veterinary workforce.