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A CAREER WITH TEETH

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By MARK DOUGLAS

mdouglas@wfla.com

Published: March 3, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG - Under general anesthesia and attended by a half-dozen people, Phil is getting his teeth cleaned.
Electronic monitors record his heartbeat, oxygen level and other vital signs. He is getting the best medical treatment money can't buy.

A retired racing greyhound, Phil was the subject for a clinical practice Monday at St. Petersburg College. The school operates one of about 150 veterinary technician programs across the nation. Hillsborough Community College offers another.

They are the training ground for one of the nation's fastest-growing professions: At least 96 percent of grads will have jobs when they retire, St. Petersburg College educators say.

Jessica Gomez, 22, said she chose the field because she grew up loving animals. "Everywhere we'd go I'd see a rabbit and I'd go, 'Can I have it, can I have it?'" she said. "And then I found out about the vet tech program and I was like, 'That's what I'm gonna do.'"

Student Holly Elsinger, 33, said her husband runs a business tied to construction - decorative concrete - so she was looking for a way to help survive the recession.

"Not everyone needs to have pretty concrete and, yeah, we've been feeling the effects of it right now."

For about $8,000 in tuition and books, Elsinger is pursuing her own recession-resistant career. And doing what she loves. "It's the best thing ever."

Starting pay for vet techs is usually $25,000 to $35,000, but it can reach as high as $55,000 with experience and the right niche. Within the next decade, said the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, vet tech jobs will grow 41 percent.

More and more, pets are considered members of the family and people are willing to go for the best medical treatment necessary, regardless of cost, said Richard Flora, dean of the program at St. Petersburg College.

Cancer treatments, joint replacements and MRIs are becoming more common in veterinary medicine.

"This is a very challenging program," said Flora, whose program offers associate's and bachelor's degrees. "It's not puppies and kitties for two years. It's physiology, anatomy and anesthesiology."

For information on the St. Petersburg College program, go to www.spcollege.edu/hec/vt/index.htm.

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