What does a veterinary pathologist do?
Veterinary pathologist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real veterinary pathologist resumes:
- Supervise and manage pathology, microbiology and biochemistry laboratory.
- Assist histology and necropsy laboratories attending client's needs by investigating and establishing new techniques and improving current ones.
- Plan, direct and conduct rehabilitation treatment programs.
Veterinary pathologist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Veterinary Pathologists are proficient in FDA, Experimental Design, and Clinical Pathology. They’re also known for soft skills such as Decision-making skills, Manual dexterity, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Veterinary Pathologists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- FDA, 19%
Participate in FDA submissions, plan 510k and PMA submissions.
- Experimental Design, 17%
Provide professional consultation to investigators on experimental design and procedures.
- Clinical Pathology, 16%
Research on all new studies and findings in clinical pathology, and educate coworkers on new educational programs.
- GLP, 15%
Employed as a veterinary pathologist in the Division of Drug Safety working on the development of novel therapeutics in GLP environment.
- Biotechnology, 14%
Designed and reviewed pathology and toxicology research submitted for pesticide registrations and biotechnology working groups.
- Peer Review, 13%
Study design, method development, and peer review.
Common skills that a veterinary pathologist uses to do their job include "fda," "experimental design," and "clinical pathology." You can find details on the most important veterinary pathologist responsibilities below.
Decision-making skills. One of the key soft skills for a veterinary pathologist to have is decision-making skills. You can see how this relates to what veterinary pathologists do because "veterinarians must decide the correct method for treating the injuries and illnesses of animals." Additionally, a veterinary pathologist resume shows how veterinary pathologists use decision-making skills: "have a strong understanding of immunology and possess background knowledge to make competenteducated decisions in blood banking. "
Manual dexterity. Another essential skill to perform veterinary pathologist duties is manual dexterity. Veterinary pathologists responsibilities require that "veterinarians must control their hand movements and be precise when treating injuries and performing surgery." Veterinary pathologists also use manual dexterity in their role according to a real resume snippet: "gel electrophoresis manual elisa and dsx instrumentation (elisa), platelet aggregation testing"
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of veterinary pathologists is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday veterinary pathologist duties, as "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." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provide speech services to patients who use alternative augmentative communication. "
The three companies that hire the most veterinary pathologists are:
- Charles River Labs20 veterinary pathologists jobs
- Charles River Center13 veterinary pathologists jobs
- Fred Hutch2 veterinary pathologists jobs
Compare different veterinary pathologists
Veterinary pathologist vs. Laboratory animal care veterinarian
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 a veterinary pathologist are more likely to require skills like "fda," "experimental design," "clinical pathology," and "glp." On the other hand, a job as a laboratory animal care veterinarian requires skills like "research animals," "husbandry," "jan," and "vital signs." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Laboratory animal care veterinarians tend to reach similar levels of education than veterinary pathologists. In fact, laboratory animal care veterinarians are 4.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.8% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Veterinary pathologist vs. Animal care specialist
Public Health Veterinarians require participation in a public health program that leads to a master's degree in public health with a focus on veterinarian medicine, should this be their career choice. Earning an average of $76K per year, it is a position that requires a great deal of compassion, as well as manual dexterity, and decision-making, interpersonal, problem-solving, and management skills. They are often needed to consulting with physicians, emergency rooms, legislators, local officials, schools, health departments, and the public on disease control and preventative measures of diseases spread by animals.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that veterinary pathologist responsibilities requires skills like "fda," "experimental design," "clinical pathology," and "glp." But an animal care specialist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "pet," "animal handling," "quality customer service," and "animal husbandry."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Animal care specialists tend to reach lower levels of education than veterinary pathologists. In fact, they're 14.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Veterinary pathologist vs. Public health veterinarian
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, veterinary pathologists are more likely to have skills like "fda," "experimental design," "clinical pathology," and "glp." But a public health veterinarian is more likely to have skills like "disciplinary actions," "plant management," "eeo," and "training programs."
Most public health veterinarians achieve a similar degree level compared to veterinary pathologists. For example, they're 3.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 8.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Veterinary pathologist vs. Small animal veterinarian
Types of veterinary pathologist
Updated January 8, 2025
