Your puppy gets sick in the middle of the night, so you drive him to the animal hospital and carry him in. But the first medical professional you see probably isn’t a veterinarian. A veterinary technician takes your puppy’s history, asking you for a description of the animal’s symptoms. He or she will take your puppy’s vital statistics, including blood pressure and temperature, and decide how urgent the case is. If your puppy has trouble breathing, the veterinary technician can give CPR or an intubation and call for a veterinarian. You can relax, though: with a veterinary technician providing care, your puppy is in good hands.

Veterinary technicians are often called animal nurses because they care for animal patients the way nurses care for humans. But veterinary technicians’ responsibilities extend beyond nursing, combining duties of many human healthcare jobs. In addition to providing general nursing, technicians help to administer and monitor anesthesia just as surgical nurses do, take x rays and sonograms like radiologic technicians, clean teeth like dental technicians, provide rehabilitation like physical therapy aides, monitor surgical equipment like surgical technicians, and conduct laboratory tests like clinical laboratory technicians.

Many people are attracted to veterinary technology because they love animals–and that’s a good foundation for a veterinary career. But veterinary technicians also need solid scientific skills. As veterinary medicine becomes more advanced, the duties of technicians are becoming more complex and varied.