Ok… can I be honest with you guys? I’m going to be honest for a minute…since I went to a 4yr uni I am a bit jaded and jealous. I mean you know how much chem ALONE i had to go through and yet we are competing on the same level!?! How DARE YOU. 4 years of hell, HELL I SAY PLUS 4x the money!? WHY didnt anyone tell ME about 2yr programs!?! I didnt even know what the hell an associates degree WAS until it was too late!!!

No but seriously. I was in school when the recession hit everyone and there was a major shift in education standards. Thats why you see a lot of Commercials for technical schools these days. There are trade offs though: 2yr programs are a lot cheaper in than a normal 4. I mean i paid 10grand per semester vs like 3 for a community college. 2yr programs are more career focus and vocation driven unlike a traditional college which is all about higher learning. Which is why they are half the time. Its pretty much just core classes with no need for thing like econ, history, phys ed electives But there are cons Because they are focused solely on one career its harder to reach beyond your area where as I could do almost anything science related, I know botany, ecology, immunolobiology etc… Technical schools and Community colleges arent well know. and although that may not sound like a big deal, you’d be shocked, Not just as a resume builder. But larger Uni’s have partnerships with companies that lead to students walking right into jobs. Tuskegee and Auburn both work with the USDA, CDC, and purdue farms so they know “us” by name. We meet reps all the time. Zoo atl works with UGA and GaTech classes so a lot of our education dept are Tech alum. You can only go so far with a 2yr degree. The ACTUAL progression of a keep doesnt end with lead keeper. Lead keepers can become curators and manage animal stocks and stud books BUT ONLY WITH A MASTERS OR HIGHER… even some leads, depending on what animals and at what zoo require a BS or higher. So then you would be stuck at a mid level or not being able to work with an animal you have more knowledge about. So whats my final opinion… If you are serious about just working animal husbandry for the love of working with animals a 2yr program is actually a smart move. But if you want to be serious about the entire arts and sciences of wildlife conservation sooner or later you will need higher education.

were you ease dropping on me and hopefulveterinarian  convo??? haha just kidding… well its kind of tricky in the US the terms Tech, Nurse, and Assistant are somewhat interchangeable depending on WHAT you’re doing and WHAT state you’re doing it in. Medical laws are regulated state by state so each state has a different(but somewhat similar) definition of each position…

example i live in Georgia, there’s no such thing as “vet nurse” here. We have Techs, which have to go to school, be certified, and can do dental exams and assist with surgeries. Then we have assistants who just help with daily duties like cleaning kennels, holding animals for blood draws, etc…  

BUT i have a friend in Colorado who IS a nurse and says a tech is someone who works in a lab, or can do lab procedures. A nurse works in a clinic and doesnt need to be certified.

In reality its really up to the vet you are working with to decide what they are comfortable letting you do certain things. I worked as a “kennel tech” one summer, my vet was old school so i was doing anything and everything.