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Summary Job Description | Tasks | |||
Feed, water, and examine pets and other nonfarm animals for signs of illness, disease, or injury in laboratories and animal hospitals and clinics. Clean and disinfect cages and work areas, and sterilize laboratory and surgical equipment. May provide routine post-operative care, administer medication orally or topically, or prepare samples for laboratory examination under the supervision of veterinary or laboratory animal technologists or technicians, veterinarians, or scientists. | Monitor animals' recovering from surgery and notify veterinarians of any unusual changes or symptoms. | |||
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Administer anesthetics during surgery and monitor the effects on animals. | ||||
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Clean, maintain, and sterilize instruments and equipment. | ||||
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Administer medication, immunizations, and blood plasma to animals as prescribed by veterinarians. | ||||
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Provide emergency first aid to sick or injured animals. | ||||
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Clean and maintain kennels, animal holding areas, examination and operating rooms, and animal loading/unloading facilities to control the spread of disease. | ||||
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Hold or restrain animals during veterinary procedures. | ||||
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Perform routine laboratory tests or diagnostic tests such as taking and developing x-rays. | ||||
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Fill medication prescriptions. | ||||
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Collect laboratory specimens such as blood, urine, and feces for testing. | ||||
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Examine animals to detect behavioral changes or clinical symptoms that could indicate illness or injury. | ||||
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Assist veterinarians in examining animals to determine the nature of illnesses or injuries. | ||||
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Prepare surgical equipment, and pass instruments and materials to veterinarians during surgical procedures. | ||||
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Perform enemas, catheterization, ear flushes, intravenous feedings, and gavages. | ||||
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Prepare feed for animals according to specific instructions such as diet lists and schedules. | ||||
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Exercise animals, and provide them with companionship. | ||||
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Record information relating to animal genealogy, feeding schedules, appearance, behavior, and breeding. | ||||
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Educate and advise clients on animal health care, nutrition, and behavior problems. | ||||
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Perform hygiene-related duties such as clipping animals' claws, and cleaning and polishing teeth. | ||||
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Prepare examination or treatment rooms by stocking them with appropriate supplies. | ||||
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Provide assistance with euthanasia of animals and disposal of corpses. | ||||
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Perform office reception duties such as scheduling appointments and helping customers. | ||||
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Dust, spray, or bathe animals to control insect pests. | ||||
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Write reports, maintain research information, and perform clerical duties. | ||||
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Perform accounting duties, including bookkeeping, billing customers for services, and maintaining inventories. | ||||
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Sell pet food and supplies to customers. | ||||
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Groom, trim, or clip animals' coats. | ||||
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CompGeo Salary Survey Benchmark Job Summary and Competencies
Veterinary Assistants
The Benchmark Job Description below represents the specific Position Characteristics of the job used in the Salary Survey. Benchmark Job Descriptions should be inspected carefully to review the degree of matching between an organizations' Job and the Salary Survey Benchmark. Matching internal Jobs to Salary Survey Benchmark Jobs should not be done on Job Title alone. A thorough comparison of Salary Survey Benchmark to Internal Job Descriptions is recommended. A good overlap should exist on any comparisons used on critical Job Dimensions and Competencies.- Job Description
- Knowledges
- Skills
- Abilites
- Tools and Technology
- Education and Experience
- Alternate Job Titles
- Salaries
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Important Knowledge Competencies | Competency Description | |||
Customer and Personal Service | Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. | |||
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English Language | Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. | |||
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Biology | Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment. | |||
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Clerical | Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology. | |||
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Medicine and Dentistry | Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures. | |||
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Chemistry | Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods. | |||
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Mathematics | Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications. | |||
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Education and Training | Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects. | |||
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Important Skill Competencies | Competency Description | |||
Active Listening | Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. | |||
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Monitoring | Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. | |||
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Speaking | Talking to others to convey information effectively. | |||
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Reading Comprehension | Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. | |||
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Critical Thinking | Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. | |||
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Social Perceptiveness | Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. | |||
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Service Orientation | Actively looking for ways to help people. | |||
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Science | Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems. | |||
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Coordination | Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. | |||
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Writing | Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. | |||
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Active Learning | Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. | |||
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Instructing | Teaching others how to do something. | |||
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Complex Problem Solving | Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. | |||
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Judgment and Decision Making | Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. | |||
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Time Management | Managing one's own time and the time of others. | |||
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Important Ability Competencies | Competency Description | |||
Oral Expression | The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. | |||
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Problem Sensitivity | The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem. | |||
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Deductive Reasoning | The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. | |||
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Information Ordering | The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). | |||
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Manual Dexterity | The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects. | |||
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Finger Dexterity | The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. | |||
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Trunk Strength | The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without 'giving out' or fatiguing. | |||
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Oral Comprehension | The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. | |||
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Written Comprehension | The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. | |||
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Arm-Hand Steadiness | The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position. | |||
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Static Strength | The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects. | |||
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Extent Flexibility | The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs. | |||
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Near Vision | The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). | |||
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Far Vision | The ability to see details at a distance. | |||
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Speech Recognition | The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. | |||
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Speech Clarity | The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. | |||
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Written Expression | The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. | |||
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Inductive Reasoning | The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). | |||
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Multilimb Coordination | The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion. | |||
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Category Flexibility | The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways. | |||
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Flexibility of Closure | The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material. | |||
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Selective Attention | The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. | |||
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Tools/Technology Example | Product Category | |||
IDEXX Laboratories IDEXX Cornerstone | Medical software | |||
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Labeling software | Label making software | |||
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McAllister Software Systems AVImark | Medical software | |||
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Microsoft Access | Data base user interface and query software | |||
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Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | |||
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Microsoft Office software | Office suite software | |||
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Microsoft Word | Word processing software | |||
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Practice management software PMS | Medical software | |||
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Scheduling software | Calendar and scheduling software | |||
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Animal nail clippers | Veterinary nail trimmers or cutters | |||
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Animal razors | Animal shearing or clipping equipment | |||
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Animal restraints | Animal catching devices | |||
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Balling guns | Veterinary injection or suction units or accessories | |||
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Bandage scissors | Bandage scissors or its supplies | |||
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Benchtop centrifuges | Benchtop centrifuges | |||
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Bite gloves | Protective gloves | |||
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Blood collection syringes | Blood collection syringes | |||
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Chemical sterilizers | Chemical or gas sterilizers | |||
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Commercial dryers | Clothes dryers | |||
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Commercial washing machines | Laundry type washing machines | |||
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Desktop computers | Desktop computers | |||
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Digital cameras | Digital cameras | |||
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Digital veterinary thermometers | Veterinary clinical thermometers | |||
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Digital veterinary x ray equipment | Medical x ray units for general diagnostic use | |||
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Electric animal clippers | Animal shearing or clipping equipment | |||
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Electronic animal scales | Animal weighing scales | |||
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Evacuated blood collection tubes | Vacuum blood collection tubes or containers | |||
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General purpose laboratory test tubes | Multipurpose or general test tubes | |||
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Glass beakers | Laboratory beakers | |||
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Handheld refractometers | Handheld refractometers or polarimeters | |||
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Hematology analyzers | Hematology analyzers | |||
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Injection syringes | Veterinary injection or suction units or accessories | |||
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Intravenous IV administration sets | Intravenous tubing with catheter administration kits | |||
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Label printers | Label making machines | |||
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Laboratory forceps | Laboratory forceps | |||
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Laptop computers | Notebook computers | |||
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Lead aprons | Medical radiological shielding aprons or masks or drapes | |||
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Lead gloves | Medical radiological shielding gloves | |||
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Mechanical stethoscopes | Mechanical stethoscopes or accessories | |||
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Microchip readers | Bar code reader equipment | |||
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Microhematocrit centrifuges | Microcentrifuges | |||
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Microscope slides | Microscope slides | |||
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Multi-line telephone systems | Special purpose telephones | |||
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Muzzles | Muzzles | |||
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Optical compound microscopes | Binocular light compound microscopes | |||
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Personal computers | Personal computers | |||
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Pill counters | Tablet counters | |||
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Specimen collection containers | Specimen collectors | |||
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Stationary veterinary x ray equipment | Medical x ray units for general diagnostic use | |||
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Steam autoclaves | Steam autoclaves or sterilizers | |||
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Suture scissors | Suture removers | |||
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Tourniquets | Tourniquets | |||
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Urine analysis equipment | Urinalysis analyzers | |||
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Urinometers | Urinalysis analyzers | |||
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Veterinary anesthesia machines | Anesthesia sets or kits | |||
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Veterinary blood pressure cuffs | Veterinary blood pressure testers | |||
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Veterinary immersion hydrotherapy equipment | Full body immersion hydrotherapy baths or tanks | |||
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Veterinary vaccination syringes | Veterinary injection or suction units or accessories | |||
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X ray cassettes | Medical x ray film or cassettes for general use | |||
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X ray film processors | Medical x ray darkroom equipment or supplies | |||
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Prerequisite Qualification Category | Education and Experience Level | |||
Required Level of Education | High School Diploma (or GED or High School Equivalence Certificate) | |||
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On-the-Job Training | Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months | |||
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On-Site or In-Plant Training | Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months | |||
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Related Work Experience | Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year | |||
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Alternate Job Title(s) | |||
Animal Care Provider | |||
Animal Care Service Worker | |||
Animal Care Taker | |||
Animal Caregiver | |||
Animal Health Technician | |||
Avian Keeper | |||
Emergency Veterinary Assistant | |||
Groomer | |||
Kennel Assistant | |||
Kennel Attendant | |||
Kennel Help | |||
Kennel Technician | |||
Kennel Worker | |||
Laboratory Animal Caretaker | |||
Large Animal Care Technician | |||
Research Animal Attendant | |||
Small Animal Caretaker | |||
Veterinarian Assistant | |||
Veterinarian Helper | |||
Veterinarian Technician | |||
Veterinary Assistant (VA) | |||
Veterinary Assistant (Vet Assistant) | |||
Veterinary Attendant | |||
Veterinary Surgery Technician | |||
Veterinary Technician (Vet Tech) | |||
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