District V

Abstract

The following comments are those as viewed by a bovine practitioner. The comments may not relate to other phases of veterinary medicine. It is said the average man marries for beauty rather than brains which just shows that he can see better than he can think. From comments by many veterinarians, it appears that sometimes we see what we might lose rather than thinking about what we can do in our own practice environments.

Animal technicians have been around since the beginning of animal medicine. Just in recent years have we given them a more important sounding name, and in some cases a little formal training. Our prime concern should be not protecting the veterinarian from encroachment into veterinary medicine, but rather in protecting the public from misconceptions about the qualifications of animal technicians. Animal technicians are just a part of the total field of animal health, and rightly so.