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The differences between surgery technicians and animal health technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a surgery technician and an animal health technician. Additionally, a surgery technician has an average salary of $41,646, which is higher than the $37,267 average annual salary of an animal health technician.
The top three skills for a surgery technician include patients, patient care and surgical procedures. The most important skills for an animal health technician are animal handling, IM, and laboratory animals.
| Surgery Technician | Animal Health Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $41,646 | $37,267 |
| Hourly rate | $20.02 | $17.92 |
| Growth rate | 20% | 20% |
| Number of jobs | 83,376 | 89,376 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 32 | 32 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A surgery technician plays a vital role in the success of medical surgeries. They are primarily in charge of performing essential support tasks such as sanitizing and preparing operating rooms, setting-up equipment, sterilizing instruments, and ensuring that supplies are accurate and adequate. They also prepare patients before surgeries, assist surgeons by handing out supplies or tools, and participate in transporting the patients from one room to another. Moreover, they must maintain an active communication line with nurses and surgeons, coordinating every step of the way.
Animal health technicians work primarily in an animal diagnostics laboratory, where they test specimens according to a veterinarian's requests. The animal health technician must be capable of operating all of the necessary diagnostics equipment for animal care. The animal health technician must provide accurate results on diagnostic requests coming from a veterinarian. Added responsibilities of an animal health technician are educating owners on taking care of their pets, ensuring that all equipment is working correctly, and providing accurate results for better diagnosis.
Surgery technicians and animal health technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Surgery Technician | Animal Health Technician | |
| Average salary | $41,646 | $37,267 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $55,000 | Between $23,000 And $58,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | - |
| Highest paying state | - | - |
| Best paying company | - | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a surgery technician and an animal health technician in terms of educational background:
| Surgery Technician | Animal Health Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Animal Science |
| Most common college | Emory University | Ohio State University |
Here are the differences between surgery technicians' and animal health technicians' demographics:
| Surgery Technician | Animal Health Technician | |
| Average age | 32 | 32 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 26.3% Female, 73.7% | Male, 29.6% Female, 70.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 77.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 77.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |