Career profile for Veterinarian

What does a Veterinarian do?

Veterinarians diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals.

In addition, Veterinarians includes veterinarians who conduct research and development, inspect livestock, or care for pets and companion animals.

What kind of tasks does a Veterinarian perform regularly?

Veterinarians are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

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.
Examine animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries.
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.
Counsel clients about the deaths of their pets or about euthanasia decisions for their pets.
Euthanize animals.
Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options.
Attend lectures, conferences, or continuing education courses.
Train or supervise workers who handle or care for animals.
Perform administrative or business management tasks, such as scheduling appointments, accepting payments from clients, budgeting, or maintaining business records.
Plan or execute animal nutrition or reproduction programs.
Conduct postmortem studies and analyses to determine the causes of animals' deaths.

The above responsibilities are specific to Veterinarians. More generally, Veterinarians are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Making Decisions and Solving Problems		Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge		Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events		Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Documenting/Recording Information		Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Documenting/Recording Information

Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

What is a Veterinarian salary?

The median salary for a Veterinarian is $99,250, and the average salary is $108,350. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Veterinarian salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Veterinarians earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Veterinarians earn less than $60,690 per year, 25% earn less than $79,430, 75% earn less than $126,260, and 90% earn less than $164,490.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Veterinarians is expected to change by 16.7%, and there should be roughly 4,400 open positions for Veterinarians every year.

Median annual salary: $99,250
Typical salary range: $60,690 - $164,490
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 16.7%

What personality traits are common among Veterinarians?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Veterinarian are usually higher in their Investigative and Realistic interests.

Veterinarians typically have very strong Investigative interests. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Also, Veterinarians typically have strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Veterinarian tend to value Achievement, Independence, and Recognition.

Most importantly, Veterinarians very strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Second, Veterinarians very strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Lastly, Veterinarians very strongly value Recognition. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Veterinarians must consistently demonstrate qualities such as integrity, attention to detail, and analytical thinking.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Veterinarians, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Analytical Thinking		Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Stress Tolerance		Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Analytical Thinking

Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.

Stress Tolerance

Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

What education and training do Veterinarians need?

Many Veterinarians have earned a graduate degree. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a doctoral degree, such as a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D..

Veterinarians may need some on-the-job training, but most candidates will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Educational degrees among Veterinarians

2.5% earned a Master's degree
97.5% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Veterinarians

Veterinarians may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as biology, medicine and dentistry, or customer and personal service knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Veterinarians might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Biology		Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Medicine and Dentistry		Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Mathematics		Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Education and Training		Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Biology

Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Medicine and Dentistry

Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Mathematics

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Education and Training

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Important Abilities needed by Veterinarians

Veterinarians must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Veterinarians need abilities such as oral comprehension, written comprehension, and oral expression in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Veterinarians, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension		The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning		The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Deductive Reasoning

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Critical Skills needed by Veterinarians

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Veterinarians frequently use skills like reading comprehension, active listening, and active learning to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Veterinarians, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Reading Comprehension		Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Active Learning		Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Science		Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Active Learning

Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Science

Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

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