Supply lists online can be overwhelming, half of it feels unnecessary and the other half doesn't explain why it's useful. A lot of them are also written for a general college student, not someone drowning in medical terminology, color-coded anatomy diagrams, and drug names that all start to blur together by week three. So here's a breakdown of what vet tech students consistently reach for, split between physical supplies and digital tools, so you can figure out which camp you fall into (or a mix of both). None of this is about buying everything on this list at once, it's about knowing what's genuinely worked for other students so you're not guessing or wasting money on the wrong thing.
For Handwritten Note-Takers
If you learn best with a pen in your hand, these are the supplies that show up again and again in vet tech students' bags and desks.
Notebooks. Skip the fancy five-subject notebook. Most students go through notebooks fast in this program, especially during terminology and anatomy-heavy courses, so simple, inexpensive notebooks tend to be the better investment. Paper thickness matters more than people expect once highlighters enter the picture, thin, cheap paper lets highlighter ink bleed through to the next page, which makes double-sided notes messy and hard to review later. Five Star notebooks are a favorite among students specifically for this reason, the pages are noticeably thicker, so highlighters and pens don't bleed or ghost through, which matters a lot if you're color-coding heavily or writing on both sides of the page. Some students prefer a dedicated notebook per subject; others prefer one notebook they later reorganize with a spiral-hole punch or binding system for exam review.
Highlighters. These are practically universal in vet tech note-taking. A common approach is color-coding by body system or topic, one color for cardiovascular, another for respiratory, and so on, which makes flipping back through notes for a specific system much faster during review. Liquid or chisel-tip highlighters tend to be preferred for smoother, more controlled coverage over thin pen ink, though they're also more prone to bleeding through thinner paper, another reason thicker-paper notebooks like Five Star tend to pair well with a heavy highlighter habit. Pastel or muted-tone highlighters have also grown popular for students who find neon shades too harsh to reread for long study sessions.
Pens and pencils. Pencils are popular for early note-taking since they're easy to correct, while pens (often required for clinical or lab settings, sometimes specifically black ink) become more relevant once you're documenting in a professional context. Mechanical pencils tend to win out over standard ones for students who write a lot, since there's no sharpening interruption mid-lecture. Gel pens are a common favorite for smoother, less hand-fatiguing writing during long note-taking sessions, and many students keep a couple of colors on hand for quick emphasis without pulling out a full highlighter set.
Colored pencils or fine-tip markers. Especially useful for anatomy diagrams, where color-coding different structures makes them far easier to study and recall than a single-color sketch. Fine-tip markers in particular are popular for detailed diagram labeling, since they allow precision that a thicker highlighter or standard pen can't.
Index cards. The classic flashcard format still holds up, especially for terminology and drug names, and some students prefer physical cards they can shuffle and physically sort into "known" and "still learning" piles. A small index card ring or box keeps them from turning into a loose, unmanageable stack by midterms.
Sticky tabs or flags. Useful for marking frequently referenced sections in a textbook or binder, body systems in an anatomy text, for example, so you're not flipping through the whole book every time. Color-coded flag sets let you extend the same system-based color-coding from your notes directly into your textbook.
Binders and dividers. For students who prefer loose-leaf paper over bound notebooks, a binder with subject dividers keeps handouts, printed slides, and written notes together in one place, and makes it easy to pull pages out for focused review sessions without hauling the whole binder around.
A dedicated pencil case or pouch. It sounds minor, but with this many small supplies in rotation, highlighters, pens, index cards, flags, having one bag that keeps them all together (and easy to restock) saves a surprising amount of time compared to digging through a backpack before every class.
For Digital Note-Takers
A large number of students, especially those balancing online coursework, prefer typing or digital handwriting over paper. Here's what tends to come up most.
GoodNotes or Notability. These are the two most commonly used apps among students who take handwritten notes on a tablet. Both let you write by hand, highlight, organize notes into folders by course, and search your handwriting later, which paper notebooks obviously can't do. Notability's audio-recording feature (which syncs your recording to the exact moment you were writing) is especially popular for lecture-heavy courses where professors talk fast, so you can go back and replay exactly what was said at a confusing point in your notes. GoodNotes tends to be favored for its clean template options and easy PDF annotation, useful for marking up lecture slides or textbook chapters directly. Other options worth knowing about include Noteshelf and Xodo, both similar PDF-annotation and handwriting apps with slightly different feature sets and price points.
OneNote. A strong option for students who prefer typing over handwriting, or who want notes organized in an easily searchable, tabbed-notebook structure across a laptop and phone. It also syncs well across devices, which helps if you switch between typing on a laptop during lecture and reviewing on a phone or tablet later. Notion and Evernote are similar alternatives, better suited to students who like linking notes together, adding checklists, or building a more customized notes system beyond simple tabs and folders.
A tablet with a stylus. For students going the GoodNotes/Notability route, an iPad or similar tablet with a stylus is typically the setup of choice, since it lets you combine handwriting, typed text, and imported lecture slides in one place, without carrying a separate stack of notebooks and printed handouts.
Digital flashcard apps. Quizlet is by far the most widely used, largely because it's easy to search for decks other students (sometimes from the exact same textbook or program) have already built for terminology, drug names, and anatomy, so you're not always starting from scratch. Anki is a favorite among students who want more control, its spaced-repetition algorithm automatically resurfaces cards you're struggling with more often than ones you already know, which many find more efficient than flipping through a full deck every time. Brainscape is another option built specifically around confidence-based repetition, where you rate how well you know each card and it adjusts what you see next accordingly. This is especially valuable for online students without easy access to in-person study groups, since these apps let you study from decks built by other students, or share your own decks with classmates you've connected with online.
Cloud storage or a synced note system. Whether it's iCloud, Google Drive, or an app's built-in sync, having notes automatically backed up and accessible across devices matters more in this program than people expect, losing a semester's worth of terminology notes to a crashed laptop is a genuinely stressful setback to avoid.
A second screen or split-screen setup. Some students studying digitally find it helpful to have lecture slides open on one side and their note-taking app open on the other, whether that's an actual second monitor or just split-screening a tablet, so they're not constantly switching back and forth between apps mid-lecture.
It Doesn't Have to Be One or the Other
Plenty of students land somewhere in the middle: typed or digital notes for lecture-heavy content, paper and highlighters for anatomy diagrams or hands-on lab review. There's no single "correct" system, only the one that actually gets used consistently once the semester gets busy.
Beyond Note-Taking: Other Favorites
A few more things that come up often once labs and clinicals enter the picture, not strictly study supplies, but things students consistently say they're glad they had.
A planner or academic agenda. Beyond a digital calendar, a lot of students like having a physical planner specifically for assignment due dates, quiz dates, and lab requirements, something they can flip open at a glance without unlocking a phone or laptop.
A badge reel. Once clinicals start, a retractable badge reel keeps your student ID or name badge accessible without digging through pockets, and it's a small item students often personalize since it's one of the few "fun" accessories allowed with scrubs.
Comfortable, non-slip shoes and compression socks. Once lab and clinical hours pick up, students are often on their feet far longer than expected, and supportive shoes plus compression socks are frequently mentioned as the difference between an okay day and a genuinely exhausting one.
A reusable water bottle. It sounds minor, but long lecture blocks and clinical shifts leave little time for breaks, and having water on hand consistently is something students say they underestimated the importance of early on.
A label maker or sticky labels. Useful for organizing binders, supply kits, and personal equipment, especially once you're sharing lab or clinical spaces with classmates and need your things clearly marked.
A small whiteboard. Some students keep a mini whiteboard specifically for drilling terminology or drug names out loud, writing a term, quizzing themselves, then wiping it clean rather than using up paper for repetitive practice.
At the end of the day, none of these supplies do the studying for you, they just remove the small frictions that make studying harder than it needs to be: ink bleeding through a page, a lost flashcard deck, a badge you can't find before clinicals start. The right setup won't make this program easy, but it can make the day-to-day of it a little smoother, and sometimes that's exactly what you need to keep showing up.
What's your note-taking setup, paper, digital, or a mix of both? I'd love to hear what's worked for you.
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