October is RVT Month in Canada!

The Alberta Veterinary Technologist Association (ABVTA) is pleased to announce that October will be recognized as RVT Month across Canada. The ABVTA has teamed up with the national (RVTTC) and provincial RVT associations (BCVTA, SAVT, MVTA, OAVT, EVTA), to promote, celebrate and recognize Registered Veterinary Technicians and Technologists throughout the month of October.

Since 1993, the third week of October has typically been recognized as National Veterinary Technician Week (NVTW). As the profession has advanced across Canada, due in part to the legal credential adoption of Registered Veterinary Technologist or Technician (RVT), it was felt that one week was not enough time to celebrate the profession. The knowledge and experience of an RVT is one of the most incredible aspects of our profession, so why not celebrate this?

RVTs are formally educated in countless areas within veterinary medicine and employed in areas such as, anesthesia, dentistry, lab animal research, industry sales; equine medicine, avian and exotic medicine; nutrition, radiology; production animal and shelter medicine to name a few. RVTs work alongside veterinarians across the country to provide animals with the highest quality of healthcare, so why wouldn’t we want to turn a one week event into a month-long celebration?

To encourage clinics and workplaces across the country to get involved with RVT Month, RVT Month Kits have been created and made available through every provincial association. Each kit contains items like posters, stickers, window clings, buttons and dog bite prevention postcards.

Want an RVT Month Kit? Kits will be distributed through WDDC to member clinics throughout September. For non-member clinics, kits will be sent via Canada Post.

There are a number of initiatives planned throughout the month of October to help promote and recognize the RVT profession. ABVTA RVTs can look forward to:
● Celebrating RVT Month together at our AGM at CanWest Veterinary Conference, October 14th.
● Instagram, Facebook posts and new graphics promoting the RVT profession featuring hashtags such as #RVTMonth, #HugAnRVT and #oneweekjustwasntenough

We are looking forward to witnessing practices and other workplaces getting involved in celebrating their RVTs throughout this inaugural month! We are grateful for the teamwork and collaboration that has happened between the provincial associations in order to make this a national event.