Minnesota doesn't license vet techs. A Willmar-area vet wants to change that

CATHY WURZER: This is Minnesota Now here on MPR News. I'm Cathy Wurzer.

When you take your pet to the vet, you're likely to first meet with a vet tech, the veterinary medicine world's version of a nurse. Unlike a human registered nurse, Minnesota vet techs are not certified or licensed. There's a bill in the state legislature that would change that.

One of the people pushing for the change is Dr. Al Balay. He's a longtime veterinarian in the New London area and a teacher in the Vet Tech Program at Ridgewater College in Willmar. Dr. Balay, welcome.

ALLEN BALAY: Thank you, Cathy. I appreciate this opportunity.

CATHY WURZER: You know this. You need to be licensed in Minnesota to cut hair and do a bunch of other things but not be a vet tech. And I bet that comes as a surprise to some of our listeners. Do we know why vet techs have been left out of licensing and certification requirements?

ALLEN BALAY: We don't really have a good understanding of that. The only person that's identified in statute in Minnesota law through the Board of Veterinary Medicine is the veterinarian. Everyone else is considered an unlicensed employee.

CATHY WURZER: Help me out here. Minnesota does have an optional certification program right now for vet techs. Is that used a lot?

ALLEN BALAY: Yes, it is very much so used. It is an optional-- that's a key word, it is an optional certification. And it's done through not a state agency, not a state regulatory agency. It's done through the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association. So if there's a complaint, if there's a concern, we as an Association can't do anything.

CATHY WURZER: Clinics, though, are doing their own screening, I would think, to make sure that the vet techs are competent to do the job. So might some people say, well, gee, a license requirement is just another layer?

ALLEN BALAY: Possibly they could see that. But we see it as really some substantiation to the public that that person that's caring for their animal is qualified and competent. Most veterinary technician programs are either going to be two and half years in length, and there are in the United States some four-year programs.

So that person who, and you said it, they're more than just the nurse. They're doing some of the nursing care on animals. But they are the nurse anesthetist. They're the person keeping the animal alive.

They're doing all the laboratory work. They're the radiology technician or imaging technician. They're the pharmacy technician. They are doing multiple jobs in that role as the veterinary technician. And we just think it's important that the public should understand that the people working on their pets, again, are qualified and competent.

There are people that have learned on the job that are very qualified and competent. They're good at their skill. They understand the how to do things. They may not understand the why.

CATHY WURZER: What kind of work would be required to get a license? Have you thought of that at this point?

ALLEN BALAY: Absolutely. We've been working with the Board of Veterinary Medicine to make sure that we could predict what their expectations are going to be. And any new licensee really in anything in Minnesota is going to require that individual, of course, has got to go through an application. They have to go through a criminal background check. They will have to go through an open-book laws of Minnesota or jurisprudence exam. But it's open book.

And submit their fee. And the prediction on our fees-- we're working with the Board of Veterinary Medicine-- is the fee structure is going to be very similar to the voluntary certification costs.

CATHY WURZER: Vet clinics are struggling nowadays. They are woefully understaffed. They're at capacity, a lot of folks bringing in their pets.

The rural parts of the state, those of my friends who are out there who are in the large animal sector of veterinary medicine, they're retiring. There seems like there is just some fraught times here in the veterinary medicine world. Do you think this bill might bolster the ranks out there?

ALLEN BALAY: That's our big hope. From the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association and Minnesota Association of Veterinary Technicians, our impetus is to try to keep the technicians in the career field. They often leave the career field. And one of their frustrations, when we look at the national surveys, is that lack of respect by having a title. And we think by having that official title, it's going to keep them in the career field longer.

You are right. There are not enough veterinary technicians, although we've got almost 2,700 voluntarily certified through the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association. But there are not enough veterinary technicians.

CATHY WURZER: Is the situation more difficult with the small-animal clinics or the large-animal clinics?

ALLEN BALAY: It's a shortage in both. But one of the problems that we're concerned about is particularly some of those rural clinics, some of those mixed or large-animal practitioners. By "mixed," I mean somebody who is the general practitioner who works on both small animals and large animals. In our bill is a proposal that increases the scope of practice for the veterinary, the licensed veterinary technician, where they would be able to do some supervision of unlicensed employees, so veterinary assistants and other employees in the clinic, to free up the veterinarian.

The other key piece is we put in some language about remote supervision, where potentially the right veterinarian working with a licensed veterinary technician could send that veterinary technician out to the farm never to do diagnosis, prescription, or surgery. Those are the responsibilities of the veterinarian. But they could do some follow-up.

Let's say I had a horse. I do horses. And I had a horse that needed a follow-up complete blood count. I could send, if I had the right person, I could send them out to the farm to draw that blood sample while I'm doing something else that I was specifically trained for. And that's how we see that this could help us with the shortage of veterinarians that's coming in the future.

CATHY WURZER: This is an issue that, of course, has really affected both vet techs and veterinarians. And I know you really can't address it in this bill, but I'm wondering, burnout, compassion fatigue in this profession is a big problem. Does some of this problem come because we're undervaluing the work being done?

ALLEN BALAY: That's it. You've hit it right on the head. Again, the national surveys show and surveys talking to veterinary technicians here in Minnesota show that we're probably only using about 30% of their skill set. So back to those reasons why they leave the career field, the second reason that they leave the career field is that they don't feel utilized. And so part of what we're also doing with the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association is trying to enhance how we use our technicians so that, again, we can hopefully retain them, keep them in the career field.

CATHY WURZER: As you mentioned, this is not the first time this bill has been introduced. What was the opposition to the bill? Why didn't it go anywhere.

ALLEN BALAY: The last legislative cycle, though, in '21 and '22, we did get a bill introduced in both the House and the Senate. It was bipartisanly supported. But we could never get a committee hearing. And that's what we're hoping for, is to be able to get a committee hearing this year. And I think if we could get a hearing, we've got a chance to get this bill through.

CATHY WURZER: This question may come out of left field, but I'm wondering, with the proliferation of the use of some animal tranquilizers, especially large animal tranquilizers that are out there that folks are mixing with fentanyl, and I'm wondering, is there a weak link here where if you do have certified and licensed vet techs, because they do handle drugs that, is that a problem that this bill could mitigate?

ALLEN BALAY: One of the things that happens in veterinary facilities is drug diversion. And diversion, of course, is a fancy word for drug theft. And the surveys through the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association show that approximately 20% of the diversions, the thefts in veterinary clinics, are happening by veterinary technicians.

And again, the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association and the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine get calls, get complaints about these thefts. And, frankly, there's nothing we can do. These often do get reported to various police agencies and up to the-- it's up to the county prosecuting office whether they'll prosecute. We often find they don't want to follow up on this because it's not of the value that generates enough interest on the part of the prosecutors.

What happens is that employee, that veterinary technician gets fired. And because there's no state accountability, they can potentially go down the road to the next clinic and get another job and may be in a position where they can steal drugs again.

CATHY WURZER: Well, we'll see what happens when it comes to getting a hearing on this bill in the legislature. But I appreciate you running down the details for us, Doctor. Thank you so much.

ALLEN BALAY: Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity.

CATHY WURZER: Dr. Al Balay is a veterinarian in New London, a teacher at Ridgewater College, and president of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association's Veterinary Technician Committee. By the way, the bill was introduced last week in the House. And it was introduced today in the Senate. It was referred to the Health, Finance, and Policy Committee and also the Agriculture, Broadband, and Rural Development Committee.