An act regulating the practice and licensure of veterinary technicians. 

H.332 (Bill H.332 malegislature.gov) (Hunt, Driscoll) 

Call to Action! - Massachusetts members please contact your legislators and ask them to support our bill!

• You can look up who your local state representative is at Find My Legislator (malegislature.gov).
• To find your state representative’s contact info, see House Members (malegislature.gov).
• You’ll send an email to your state representative. Refer to H.332 when writing to your representative.
• Click here for an email draft. Feel free to add a personal and brief sentence or two, keeping within the spirit of the draft.

•  This bill would establish within the Board of Registration in Veterinary Medicine, a subsidiary board for veterinary technology that would be subject to the control of the board of registration in veterinary medicine.
• The first assignment for the subsidiary board would be to establish rules and regulations for the mandatory licensure of veterinary technicians in Massachusetts.
• The Problem is that, currently in Massachusetts, any person, with any level of experience, can work in a veterinary practice and be called a veterinary technician.  
• Complex and costly veterinary medical services should be performed by educated, trained, and licensed veterinary technicians.
• Inducing and monitoring anesthesia
• Taking radiographs
• Performing diagnostic testing
• Providing comprehensive nursing care
• Placing intravenous and urinary catheters

• The Purpose of the bill is to develop and implement quality educational and practice standards for veterinary technicians within the practice of veterinary medicine.

• Licensure would require:  1) completing an American Veterinary Medical Association approved program of study (associate or bachelor’s degree), 2) passing the Veterinary Technician National Exam, and 3) meeting continuing education requirements.

• Forty other states have a state regulated credential system. Only ten, including Massachusetts, still have private organizations overseeing voluntary credential systems. 

• Four Massachusetts community colleges offer associate degree veterinary technician programs:  Massasoit CC, Holyoke CC, North Shore CC, and Mount Wachusett CC.  UMass Amherst offers a four-year bachelor program.

• Employing a higher number of credentialed veterinary technicians per veterinarian is associated with higher clinic revenues. (JAVMA, Vol 236, No. 8, April 15, 2010; ACER Report, Ontario Assoc. of VTs, 01/21/19) Educated and highly skilled veterinary technicians help facilitate clinical appointments and operations more efficiently.

For more information, please contact MVTA Legislation Committee Chair, Erin Spencer, at [email protected]