OR Vet Tech common mistakes
OR Vet Tech · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Calculating a drug dose by multiplying the mg/kg figure by the patient's weight in pounds instead of kilograms, producing a dose roughly 2.2 times too high.
Most formularies are written in mg/kg, but weights are often recorded verbally in pounds and candidates convert in their head under time pressure, or skip conversion entirely because the arithmetic feels familiar.
What to do instead
Build a fixed three-step written template for every dose problem: convert weight to kg (lb ÷ 2.2), multiply by mg/kg, then divide by concentration to get mL. Write each step on paper even when the answer seems obvious, and sanity-check the final volume against a common syringe size.
Drawing up a drug without re-verifying the concentration on the vial, treating all bottles of the same drug as interchangeable (for example 2% vs 10% lidocaine, or 50 mg/mL vs 100 mg/mL ketamine).
Candidates memorize drug names and standard doses but treat concentration as a constant, and multi-dose vials of the same agent look identical at a glance.
What to do instead
Practice a verbal read-back habit before every calculation: state drug name, concentration, and total volume drawn aloud. When studying, deliberately work the same dose problem with two different concentrations and compare the resulting mL.
Reading a packed cell volume or refractometer protein result and reporting a single number with no interpretation of lipemia, hemolysis, or dehydration artifact.
Candidates focus on producing the number and treat interpretation as the veterinarian's job, so they never learn which preanalytical factors distort each test.
What to do instead
For each lab parameter studied, write a short list of its known interferences and the direction of the error. Practice reading a PCV tube for the buffy coat and plasma color before reporting the value, and state observed artifacts alongside the result.
Placing an endotracheal tube or sizing a cuff by guessing, then inflating the cuff until the leak just stops by feel rather than checking cuff pressure or confirming placement.
Anesthesia skills are often learned by watching rather than by explicit criteria, and candidates conflate 'no leak' with 'correct cuff inflation'.
What to do instead
Memorize tube sizes by species and weight range, and rehearse the sequence: visualize the larynx, confirm tube length at the incisors, attach the breathing circuit, watch for chest excursions and capnography waveform, then inflate the cuff only until the leak disappears at peak inspiration.
On a radiograph question, describing the finding ('there is a fluid line in the thorax') without committing to a roentgen sign, a location, or a differential list.
Candidates answer imaging items as descriptive prose because they have not practiced the systematic film-reading sequence, and they fear being wrong about a diagnosis.
What to do instead
Use a fixed reporting order for every image: technical quality, then outside-in or organ-by-organ, then a named sign, then a ranked differential. Practice on any image you can find and force yourself to write the sign name, not just the appearance.
Triaging a patient by walking it straight into the treatment area and starting treatment before obtaining a minimum database of temperature, pulse, respiration, mucous membrane color, and menthol/CRT assessment.
Emergency scenarios in training are often demonstrated with dramatic interventions first, so candidates associate competence with acting fast rather than with structured assessment.
What to do instead
Drill a fixed triage script that is spoken aloud on arrival: chief complaint, then TPR and perfusion parameters, then a category assignment. Practice categorizing paper cases as stable, urgent, or critical before deciding any intervention.
Handling a fractious or painful patient with a single standard restraint hold instead of selecting a technique matched to the species, temperament, and procedure.
Candidates learn one 'safe hold' early and reuse it, and they underestimate how pain or fear escalates defensive behavior.
What to do instead
For each common species, list three restraint options ordered from least to most restrictive and the procedure each suits. Before any hold, state the plan and the escape route, and switch techniques at the first sign of escalating fear rather than tightening the grip.
Packaging and processing surgical instruments without inspecting box locks, hinges, and cutting edges, and without confirming that instruments are dry and function before sterilization.
Candidates treat instrument care as cleaning rather than as functional inspection, and time pressure encourages loading the autoclave without checking each item.
What to do instead
Use a physical checklist at the prep station: open every box lock, test every ratchet, check scissors on test material, dry hinges, and verify indicator strips. Practice identifying a worn or misaligned instrument and removing it from the set.
Charting dental findings as 'tartar' or 'dental disease' rather than using a periodontal probing depth, gingival index, and tooth-specific notation.
Dental charting is often taught late and briefly, and candidates default to informal language because they have never practiced a full-mouth chart.
What to do instead
Learn one standard charting system and complete a full-mouth chart on every available model or skull, recording probing depths, mobility, furcation involvement, and fracture lines per tooth. Practice translating a chart into a treatment plan.
Answering behavior and welfare items with anthropomorphic labels ('he is spiteful', 'she is stubborn') instead of describing the observable behavior, its trigger, and the underlying motivation.
Everyday language about animals is anthropomorphic, and candidates absorb it from clients and casual conversation rather than from behavioral terminology.
What to do instead
Rewrite anthropomorphic statements into antecedent-behavior-consequence form as a study exercise, and learn the standard terms for fear, anxiety, resource guarding, and learned avoidance so the description replaces the label.
Confusing the roles and legal limits of the veterinary technician with those of the veterinarian, particularly around diagnosis, prognosis, and prescribing.
Practice-management content is studied as administrative trivia, so candidates never connect legal scope of practice to concrete task decisions.
What to do instead
Build a task table with three columns: technician may perform independently, may perform under direct supervision, and may not perform. Populate it with common tasks and review it before any ethics or jurisprudence question.
Describing a pathologic process by naming a tissue or organ rather than by mechanism, for example answering 'liver problem' when the question asks for the type of necrosis or the hemodynamic disturbance.
Candidates memorize organ-system lists for anatomy and treat pathology as a separate vocabulary, so they reach for the organ name instead of the process.
What to do instead
For each major pathology category (necrosis, inflammation, circulatory disturbance, neoplasia), write the defining mechanism in one sentence and one example. When answering, force yourself to state the process first, then the organ.