Description
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.
- • 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.
- • Provide care to a wide range of animals or specialize in a particular species, such as horses or exotic birds.
- • Euthanize animals.
- • 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.
- • Conduct postmortem studies and analyses to determine the causes of animals' deaths.
- • 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.
- • Plan or execute animal nutrition or reproduction programs.
- • Research diseases to which animals could be susceptible.
- • Determine the effects of drug therapies, antibiotics, or new surgical techniques by testing them on animals.
- • 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.
Related specializations
Interview options
Interview options
Interviewee gender
Interviewee accent
Interview time
Related Pathways
Agriculture
View
Source
Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
Learn more
Sources & Standards:
This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
