What does an emergency veterinarian do?
An emergency veterinarian is responsible for providing quality care services for animals at veterinary clinics and hospitals. Emergency veterinarians diagnose the animal's condition and administer treatment plans and medications. They also coordinate with other veterinarians to claim the animal's initial medical records and history. An emergency veterinarian performs immediate surgery as needed and ensure the stability of the animals' vital signs, requiring them to have extensive knowledge of animal care of various species or area of interest.
Emergency veterinarian responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real emergency veterinarian resumes:
- Receive emergency and referral cases, manage hospitalized surgical and internal medicine patients, and collaborate with general practitioners and specialists.
- Train local first responders on the basics of pet CPR.
- Examine, diagnose and treat a variety of ailments on pet animals, ranging from rabbits to reptiles.
- Provide minor wind care including local anesthesia and suturing.
- Monitor in-hospital patients and work with specialists to maintain patients' health post-procedure or during ongoing hospitalization.
- Receive emergency and referral cases, manage hospitalized surgical and internal medicine patients, and collaborate with general practitioners and specialists.
- Expand HomeVet services from house calls to relief veterinary medical services in Sarasota andManatee counties.
Emergency veterinarian skills and personality traits
We calculated that 35% of Emergency Veterinarians are proficient in PET, Patients, and Emergency Medicine. They’re also known for soft skills such as Decision-making skills, Communication skills, and Compassion.
We break down the percentage of Emergency Veterinarians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PET, 35%
Examined, diagnosed and treated a variety of ailments on pet animals, ranging from rabbits to reptiles.
- Patients, 26%
Received emergency and referral cases, managed hospitalized surgical and internal medicine patients, and collaborated with general practitioners and specialists.
- Emergency Medicine, 15%
Mentored new graduate regarding her surgical skills, client skills, and confidence in emergency medicine.
- DVM, 6%
Worked at various small animal practices in Indiana after obtaining DVM degree
- Soft Tissue, 4%
Provided Emergent care for critically ill pets, general internal medicine, basic ultrasound and soft tissue surgical services.
- Emergency Care, 3%
Performed critical and emergency care including x-ray, ultrasound, CT, blood pressure check and other diagnostics.
Common skills that an emergency veterinarian uses to do their job include "pet," "patients," and "emergency medicine." You can find details on the most important emergency veterinarian responsibilities below.
Decision-making skills. One of the key soft skills for an emergency veterinarian to have is decision-making skills. You can see how this relates to what emergency veterinarians do because "veterinarians must decide the correct method for treating the injuries and illnesses of animals." Additionally, an emergency veterinarian resume shows how emergency veterinarians use decision-making skills: "averaged 35 patients a day by learning to effectively manage time and make quick decisions. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform emergency veterinarian duties is communication skills. Emergency veterinarians responsibilities require that "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." Emergency veterinarians also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "triaged cases, created estimates, client communication, primary case management, monitored critical medical and surgical cases, performed surgeries"
Compassion. This is an important skill for emergency veterinarians to perform their duties. For an example of how emergency veterinarian responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "veterinarians must be compassionate when working with animals and their owners." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an emergency veterinarian: "practiced high-quality and compassionate medicine in a general private practice setting. ".
Problem-solving skills. For certain emergency veterinarian responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of an emergency veterinarian rely on this skill, as "veterinarians need strong problem-solving skills because they must figure out what is ailing animals." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what emergency veterinarians do: "skilled at client communication and client conflict resolution. "
The three companies that hire the most emergency veterinarians are:
- BluePearl Vet206 emergency veterinarians jobs
- Ethos Veterinary Health55 emergency veterinarians jobs
- National Veterinary Associates34 emergency veterinarians jobs
Compare different emergency veterinarians
Emergency 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 emergency veterinarian are more likely to require skills like "patients," "emergency medicine," "endoscopy," 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 emergency veterinarians. In fact, animal care specialists are 4.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 36.4% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Emergency veterinarian vs. Veterinary epidemiologist
A veterinary technician assistant is primarily in charge of performing support tasks in a veterinary hospital or clinic. Their responsibilities include administering medication to animals in adherence to the veterinarian's directives and performing basic care tasks such as feeding, bathing, and walking animals. They may also clean cages, sterilize equipment, prepare and process documents, and answer calls and inquiries. Furthermore, as a veterinary technician assistant, it is essential to monitor the behavior of animals, reporting to the veterinarian or technician should there be any problems.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real emergency veterinarian resumes. While emergency veterinarian responsibilities can utilize skills like "pet," "patients," "emergency medicine," and "endoscopy," veterinary epidemiologists use skills like "needs assessment," "statistical analysis," "disease surveillance," and "sas."
In general, veterinary epidemiologists achieve higher levels of education than emergency veterinarians. They're 32.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 36.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for emergency veterinarians in the next 3-5 years?
John Seyjagat
Executive Director, ZAA - Zoological Association of America
Emergency veterinarian vs. Veterinary medicine scientist
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an emergency veterinarian is likely to be skilled in "pet," "patients," "emergency medicine," and "endoscopy," while a typical veterinary medicine scientist is skilled in "clinical development," "data analysis," "clinical trials," and "drug discovery."
Veterinary medicine scientists typically earn higher educational levels compared to emergency veterinarians. Specifically, they're 5.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 15.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Emergency veterinarian vs. Veterinary technician assistant
Types of emergency veterinarian
Updated January 8, 2025
