What does an associate veterinarian do?
An associate veterinarian specializes in providing medical care and treatment to animals. One may work part-time or full-time at a veterinary clinic, together with practice owners, assistants, and veterinary technicians. An associate veterinarian's responsibilities primarily revolve around examining animals to diagnose any injuries or diseases, performing surgeries, and administering or prescribing medication. Other responsibilities include discussing the pets' condition to owners, ensuring to relay the necessary care and welfare advice needed during treatment, or after surgery. Moreover, an associate veterinarian may also euthanize, spay, neuter, and even perform dental procedures to animals.
Associate veterinarian responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real associate veterinarian resumes:
- Educate clients on their pet's medical conditions and enable owners to manage their pet's diseases with appropriate home care.
- Manage client concerns and communicate important details about quality pet care.
- Manage wildlife rehabilitation program for native species, including state and federal rehabilitation licenses for the practice.
- Discuss plans for bringing in acupuncture and rehabilitation practice.
- Expand HomeVet services from house calls to relief veterinary medical services in Sarasota andManatee counties.
- Attend equine patients, mentore high school students, veterinary assistant students, and veterinary technology students
- Evaluate patients to determine a course of action working predominately with small animals and exotic companion mammals.
- Manage wildlife rehabilitation program for native species, including state and federal rehabilitation licenses for the practice.
- Supervise laboratory testing, reagent selection and flock management staff for in-house SPF poultry operation.f.
- Expand HomeVet services from house calls to relief veterinary medical services in Sarasota andManatee counties.
Associate veterinarian skills and personality traits
We calculated that 40% of Associate Veterinarians are proficient in PET, Patients, and Private Practice. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Decision-making skills.
We break down the percentage of Associate Veterinarians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PET, 40%
Used evidence-based medicine, education, and experience to provide quality care, diagnoses and treatment services for every pet seen.
- Patients, 16%
Evaluated patients to determine a course of action working predominately with small animals and exotic companion mammals.
- Private Practice, 14%
Full time associate in a small animal private practice of veterinary medicine.
- DVM, 5%
Worked at various small animal practices in Indiana after obtaining DVM degree
- Medical Care, 2%
Performed general medicine and surgery in an equine practice providing routine and emergency medical care.
- Exceptional Client, 2%
Focused on providing exceptional client communication and encouraged improvement practice-wide in this area.
Most associate veterinarians use their skills in "pet," "patients," and "private practice" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential associate veterinarian responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an associate veterinarian to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "strong communication skills are essential for veterinarians, who must be able to discuss their recommendations and explain treatment options to animal owners and give instructions to their staff." Additionally, an associate veterinarian resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "maintained accurate and thorough medical records for every patient, including summaries of client communications. "
Compassion. Many associate veterinarian duties rely on compassion. "veterinarians must be compassionate when working with animals and their owners," so an associate veterinarian will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways associate veterinarian responsibilities rely on compassion: "utilize client communication skills to accurately and compassionately develop these plans with the client, patient and finances in mind. "
Decision-making skills. This is an important skill for associate veterinarians to perform their duties. For an example of how associate veterinarian responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "veterinarians must decide the correct method for treating the injuries and illnesses of animals." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an associate veterinarian: "educated owners on treatment options and gave guidance when making treatment decisions. ".
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what associate veterinarians do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to associate veterinarian responsibilities because "veterinarians need strong problem-solving skills because they must figure out what is ailing animals." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical associate veterinarian tasks: "skilled at client communication and client conflict resolution. "
The three companies that hire the most associate veterinarians are:
- VCA Animal Hospitals149 associate veterinarians jobs
- Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice147 associate veterinarians jobs
- National Veterinary Associates21 associate veterinarians jobs
Compare different associate veterinarians
Associate veterinarian vs. Animal care specialist
Animal Care Specialists are responsible for caring for an animal's health and safety. Their duties include grooming and feeding animals, cleaning and disinfecting living quarters, perform a physical examination, administer medication and vaccinations, and deliver post-operative assistance. They also arrange for adoptions as well as participate in animal rescues. An animal care specialist working in laboratories may collect blood samples, conduct lab tests, and record results. They help answer phone calls and administer individual queries.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an associate veterinarian are more likely to require skills like "patients," "private practice," "compassion," and "dvm." On the other hand, a job as an animal care specialist requires skills like "animal handling," "quality customer service," "animal husbandry," and "animal shelter." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Animal care specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than associate veterinarians. In fact, animal care specialists are 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 40.7% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Associate veterinarian vs. Animal technician
An animal technician is responsible for ensuring the animals' welfare under the supervision and guidance of a licensed veterinarian. Animal technicians maintain an organized record of animal information, assisting in medical surgeries and procedures, administering medications, collecting laboratory samples, and sending examination reports to the animal owners. They also keep the cages clean, inspecting the clinic's tools and equipment, and sterilizing laboratory materials to avoid contamination. An animal technician must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in responding to the owners' inquiries and concerns and monitoring the animals' conditions.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real associate veterinarian resumes. While associate veterinarian responsibilities can utilize skills like "private practice," "compassion," "dvm," and "digital x ray," animal technicians use skills like "animal handling," "autoclaves," "euthanasia," and "laboratory animal care."
Animal technicians may earn a lower salary than associate veterinarians, but animal technicians earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $41,499. On the other hand, associate veterinarians receive higher pay in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $93,899.In general, animal technicians achieve similar levels of education than associate veterinarians. They're 1.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 40.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Associate veterinarian vs. Veterinary epidemiologist
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an associate veterinarian is likely to be skilled in "pet," "patients," "private practice," and "compassion," while a typical veterinary epidemiologist is skilled in "needs assessment," "statistical analysis," "disease surveillance," and "sas."
When it comes to education, veterinary epidemiologists tend to earn higher degree levels compared to associate veterinarians. In fact, they're 34.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 21.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Associate veterinarian vs. Veterinary medicine scientist
Types of associate veterinarian
Updated January 8, 2025
