Licensed Technician, LVT

All our technicians at Casselton Veterinary Service are licensed Veterinary Technicians (LVT) in North Dakota. Each state has different requirements, in North Dakota a candidate must be a graduate of an AVMA accredited Veterinary Technology program (most with BS degrees, some with AS) and must pass a national board exam in order to become licensed. Some states give the technician a license, some use certification and yet in other states, the technician is registered.

All these terms have the same weight or value. While the term “technician” is used even for those without a license, our clinic employs only licensed personnel for technician duties. Those “trained on the job” are called assistants.

If you were to compare Licensed Veterinary Technicians (LVT) to the human/medical field, you would need more than one term to describe their duties. Think of a nurse, lab tech, radiology tech, anesthetist, dental hygenist and surgery prep person all in one as well as beautician, receptionist, medical transcriptionist, and janitor at times. LVT duties include lab work, positioning and taking radiographs, hooking up intraveneous catheters, obtaining blood and urine specimens, giving and monitoring anesthesia, scrubbing for and assisting in surgery, cleaning teeth, preparing prescriptions, giving injections and other medications, monitoring hospitalized patients, getting a physical exam and history on sick patients, client education and restraint when needed. Licensed Veterinary Technicians are able to perform all tasks at a veterinary clinic except:prescribe, diagnose, or perform surgery.