Ideas to Help You Celebrate Vet Tech Week

It’s National Veterinary Technician Week. Does your practice have plans to celebrate? There are all kinds of ways you can show appreciation for your incredible vet techs, and we’re more than happy to help by offering some ideas!

Just keep in mind—you can choose to honor your vet techs specifically, or you can choose to honor your entire team, so everyone feels included. It’s entirely up to your team!

Want to make Vet Tech Week fun and memorable for the whole team? Here are some different ways you can do that!

Vet techs laughing

Highlight Your Vet Techs on Social Media

One way you can recognize your vet techs and all their hard work is to create individual social media posts dedicated to each and every one. Brag about them, share an anecdote or two, and encourage them to share a fun fact or personal story about their journey in veterinary medicine.

It’s always a great idea to highlight team members on your social media platforms, because it humanizes your practice and drives engagement. Pet owners love meeting your team, and when they see your social posts about your awesome vet techs, they won’t hesitate to offer some kind words about them in the comments!

One Word: Food

It goes without saying that if you’re going to celebrate your vet techs (or any member of the team, for that matter), food absolutely needs to be involved.

Plus, there are lots of ways you can incorporate food into your celebrations.

Here are a few to consider:

  • Catering
  • Food trucks
  • Cook-off
  • Potluck
  • Going to a restaurant as a group
  • Cookout

Give Gifts

Gift-giving is always in style. If you’re able to plan in advance, a Secret Santa-style gift exchange can be a fun way for your team to bond and make each other feel special. Gift cards, coffee mugs, and customized tees are just some gift ideas, but there really is no limit. You can also work with local vendors to create anagrammed gifts for your techs. Be silly or sentimental, or both. It’s about what works best for your team.

Female massage therapist massaging patient's back

Promote Wellness and Mental Health

We all know how high-pressure the veterinary profession can be, especially for vet techs, who may not feel like they’re truly appreciated for what they do (and they do a LOT).

The prioritization of mental health has started to gain ground in the veterinary industry, and what better way to reward your amazing techs than with a spa day?

There are a few ways you can do this:

  • Have a professional massage therapist come into the clinic and give everyone a 15-minute massage
  • Cover the cost of a massage appointment at a particular spa in the area for each of your techs
  • Give gifts to your techs that include essential oils, candles, a sleep mask, and a spa certificate (or something comparable)

Go Out and Do Something Fun as a Team

Schedule a group activity (or two) with your vet team outside of work so everyone can loosen up and enjoy themselves. This can be paintballing, touring wineries, doing an escape room, playing laser tag, bowling, or attending a major league baseball game.

If you prefer, you can suggest a handful of ideas and cast votes to see what everyone is most excited to do. This is a good way to have everyone participate and have their opinions heard.

Community saying thank you

Get the Community Involved in Showing Its Appreciation

As an organization, it’s important to show your vet techs how much you care about them and value their dedication. But you can also go a step further and get your practice’s clients involved. If you have active social media profiles, use them to encourage pet owners in your community to send thank you cards to your practice voicing appreciation for your vet techs. Or, you can create an email campaign to send out the message to your clients. Invite them to share positive stories about their experiences with your team. Hearing from the community they serve can truly make your techs feel seen, heard, and respected.

Create Custom Merch for Your Team

Are you the kind of practice that loves doing branded merch? Why not have some swag made especially for your vet techs? You can create mugs, stickers, water tumblers, hats, T-shirts, hoodies, key fobs, and more to bring your team closer together (and have them looking fabulous).

While Vet Tech Week is the prime time to honor your veterinary technicians, it doesn’t have to be the only time. Praise them whenever you can, and never miss an opportunity to let your team know how important they are to your practice and to your clients and patients. Your words can have a bigger and more positive impact than you realize!