Veterinarians
Diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals. Includes veterinarians who conduct research and development, inspect livestock, or care for pets and companion animals.
Also known as: Animal Anatomist, Animal Chiropractor, Animal Doctor, Animal Pathologist, Animal Physiologist, Animal Surgeon, Companion Animal Practitioner, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Projected growth, 2024–2034 (Much faster than average)
What You'd Do
- Examine animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries.
- Treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery.
- Inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper.
- Collect body tissue, feces, blood, urine, or other body fluids for examination and analysis.
- Operate diagnostic equipment, such as radiographic or ultrasound equipment, and interpret the resulting images.
- Educate the public about diseases that can be spread from animals to humans.
- Train or supervise workers who handle or care for animals.
- Euthanize animals.
- Conduct postmortem studies and analyses to determine the causes of animals' deaths.
- Plan or execute animal nutrition or reproduction programs.
- Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options.
- Attend lectures, conferences, or continuing education courses.
- Perform administrative or business management tasks, such as scheduling appointments, accepting payments from clients, budgeting, or maintaining business records.
- Counsel clients about the deaths of their pets or about euthanasia decisions for their pets.
- Provide care to a wide range of animals or specialize in a particular species, such as horses or exotic birds.
- Establish or conduct quarantine or testing procedures that prevent the spread of diseases to other animals or to humans and that comply with applicable government regulations.
- Direct the overall operations of animal hospitals, clinics, or mobile services to farms.
- Specialize in a particular type of treatment, such as dentistry, pathology, nutrition, surgery, microbiology, or internal medicine.
- Inspect and test horses, sheep, poultry, or other animals to detect the presence of communicable diseases.
- Research diseases to which animals could be susceptible.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
Software and tools commonly used in this role
In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work
Related Careers
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.