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"I'd much rather have my personally trained assistant do these things than any of the [credentialed] technicians I have ever had work for us. The technicians seem to be less competent yet 'above' doing certain procedures. My overall opinion of certified technicians is that they're lazy." As a profession, credentialed veterinary technicians are undervalued and their skills are underused. (To see the survey results that support this, visit dvm360.COm/ techsurvey ) So what's the profession to do? That's the question Banfield attempted to answer by hosting the Credentialed Veterinary Technician Future Forum. Early this spring, 17 industry thought leaders gathered at Banfield's headquarters in Portland, Ore. The discussion centered on how to raise the status of veterinary technicians and, through that, the status of assistants and all team members.