What does a veterinarian do?
Veterinarians are responsible for diagnosing the injuries and illnesses of animals through a variety of procedures. Veterinarians often perform vaccinations to protect animals from diseases, but they can also be involved with an animal's dental health as well. Some other duties include prescribing medication, performing surgical procedures, and dressing wounds. Veterinarians are concerned with all aspects of an animal's well-being, which inclues emergency procedures as well as long-term preventative healthcare. Veterinarians are also known as "vets," and most conduct their work in private clinics.
Veterinarian responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real veterinarian resumes:
- Manage wildlife rehabilitation program for native species, including state and federal rehabilitation licenses for the practice.
- Advise researchers on animal surgery protocols for NIH and NSF grant proposals
- Support community organizations/humane society organizations in their rabies, immunization, spay and neuter and pet adoption programs.
- Work as a general DVM.
- Full service hospital, USDA accreditation
- Perform surgery using CO2 laser.
- Scan patient records into EMR.
- Skil with CO2 laser for surgeries.
- Work as an associate in a high volume AAHA accredit hospital.
- Develop and conduct facility food safety and SSOP training for management team.
- Monitor animal use protocols and facilities to ensure NIH standards are met.
- Present poultry research studies at national veterinary scientific meetings (AVMA annual meeting )
- Develop and conduct FSIS weekly food safety meetings between FSIS and the establishment.
- Involve in getting the practice ready for its AAHA inspection, which it pass.
- Prepare study protocols and reports for submission to USDA in support of licensure of biologics.
Veterinarian skills and personality traits
We calculated that 38% of Veterinarians are proficient in PET, Customer Service, and Diagnostic Tests. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Decision-making skills.
We break down the percentage of Veterinarians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PET, 38%
Supported community organizations/humane society organizations in their rabies, immunization, spay and neuter and pet adoption programs.
- Customer Service, 9%
Created presentations for internal sales, product management, and technical customer service staff outlining product regulations and technical information.
- Diagnostic Tests, 6%
Provided regulatory work such as herd and individual health certificates and diagnostic testing and vaccinations on various livestock species.
- Preventative Care, 5%
Practiced high quality medicine, anesthesia, dentistry, and surgery in a practice focused on client communication/experience and preventative care.
- Blood Draws, 5%
Performed physical exams, vaccinations, microchip placements, and blood draws on animals.
- Client Communication, 4%
Maintain accurate medical records, practice efficient client communication and advocate for ethical treatment of animals.
Most veterinarians use their skills in "pet," "customer service," and "diagnostic tests" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential veterinarian responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a 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, a veterinarian resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "provided care for an extremely varied and high volume caseload while developing excellent client communication and interpersonal skills. "
Compassion. Many veterinarian duties rely on compassion. "veterinarians must be compassionate when working with animals and their owners," so a veterinarian will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways veterinarian responsibilities rely on compassion: "practice high-quality and compassionate medicine with an emphasis on client communication. "
Decision-making skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of veterinarians is decision-making skills. This skill is critical to many everyday veterinarian duties, as "veterinarians must decide the correct method for treating the injuries and illnesses of animals." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "obtained thorough medical histories, make decisions on diagnostic testing, work-up and schedule surgical cases"
Problem-solving skills. For certain veterinarian responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a 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 veterinarians do: "skilled at client communication and client conflict resolution. "
The three companies that hire the most veterinarians are:
- Banfield Pet Hospital1,603 veterinarians jobs
- Vetco Clinics1,470 veterinarians jobs
- BluePearl Vet398 veterinarians jobs
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Compare different veterinarians
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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between veterinarians and animal care specialist. For instance, veterinarian responsibilities require skills such as "customer service," "diagnostic tests," "preventative care," and "client communication." Whereas a animal care specialist is skilled in "quality customer service," "animal husbandry," "animal shelter," and "physical examinations." This is part of what separates the two careers.
The education levels that animal care specialists earn slightly differ from veterinarians. In particular, animal care specialists are 4.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a veterinarian. Additionally, they're 31.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Veterinarian vs. Laboratory animal care veterinarian
A Veterinary Medicine Doctor is responsible for studying animal nature, diagnosing animal illnesses, and developing treatment plans and medications. They analyze an extensive scope of animal conditions to identify care programs that would keep them healthy. They also supervise laboratory procedures and conduct tests by acquiring specimens for investigation. A veterinary medicine doctor must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in coordinating with animal owners, responding to their inquiries and concerns, and resolving their issues.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that veterinarian responsibilities requires skills like "pet," "customer service," "diagnostic tests," and "preventative care." But a laboratory animal care veterinarian might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "research animals," "husbandry," "jan," and "vital signs."
In general, laboratory animal care veterinarians achieve higher levels of education than veterinarians. They're 5.1% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 31.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for veterinarians in the next 3-5 years?
John Seyjagat
Executive Director, ZAA - Zoological Association of America
Veterinarian vs. Doctor of veterinary medicine
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from veterinarian resumes include skills like "customer service," "preventative care," "blood draws," and "dvm," whereas a doctor of veterinary medicine is more likely to list skills in "diabetes," "pain management," "ekg," and "public health. "
Doctors of veterinary medicine earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $156,143. Veterinarians earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $109,036.When it comes to education, doctors of veterinary medicine tend to earn similar degree levels compared to veterinarians. In fact, they're 3.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 27.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Veterinarian vs. Veterinary medicine scientist
Types of veterinarian
Updated January 8, 2025
