Exploring career options for veterinary technicians

The Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, Pennsylvania, hosted its first Veterinary Technician Summit on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, in partnership with the Zoetis. The event welcomed more than 50 veterinary technician students from Manor College in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania; Harcum College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania; and Camden County College in Blackwood, New Jersey. The summit provided students with a tour of the zoo’s veterinary hospital, a panel discussion with industry experts speaking about the variety of career options open to veterinary technicians, and a presentation on monoclonal antibodies, as well as networking opportunities.

Participating experts Michele Goodman, VMD, an attending veterinarian at Elmwood Park Zoo; Alyssa Mages, BS, CVT, FVTE, an owner and educator with Empowering Veterinary Teams, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Bailey Donovan, BS, CVT, a specialist in teaching and veterinary learning technology at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison, spoke with dvm360 about what they would like students to take away from the summit. These professionals all discussed the many opportunities and career paths that the students can take advantage of in their veterinary technician careers.

The following is a transcript of the video:

Michele Goodman, VMD: We're excited to bring veterinary technician students here to the zoo. We just opened a new veterinary hospital, the Frank and Paige Engro Veterinary Health Center. It's been open for about 15 months now, so we're excited to show off our new facility. We want veterinary technician students to know that there's many more opportunities for them in the field in addition to companion animal medicine. We want them to be able to see the work that we do here.

Alyssa Mages, BS, CVT, FVTE: Traditional roles within a general practice or within an [emergency department] and specialty practice are not the only things we can do. Once you get your credentials as a [certified veterinary technician, licensed veterinary technician, licensed veterinary medical technician, or registered veterinary technician], you can do anything—literally anything. I'm included in that, as well, because I'm an entrepreneur. That was not something that, when I went to school, I thought I would ever do. Now I'm speaking, writing, developing, and doing all of the things, just like these other women I was presenting with today.

Bailey Donovan, BS, CVT: There are so many wonderful things to do to...give back to the industry and really help make a difference in the veterinary industry and [in both] animals and people's lives that [don't] necessarily involve being at a clinic every day. Keep an open mind. When you're starting to decide what [you want] to do and where you want to end up at the end of school, apply for everything that interests you and take all the interviews that you can get. It doesn't mean that you have to accept that job, but you might learn something about how a facet of the industry works or [find] a different area of clinical practice than you thought you would get into that you really love and enjoy, and [that] might really spark passion for you. You'll never know where you end up, so don't close your mind to those things. Always be open to new experiences.