Veterinarian

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.

O*NET reports this occupation under titles such as: Companion Animal Practitioner; Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM); Emergency Veterinarian (Emergency Vet); Large Animal Veterinarian (Large Animal Vet); Mixed Animal Veterinarian (Mixed Animal Vet); Small Animal Veterinarian (Small Animal Vet); Veterinary Medicine Doctor (DVM); Veterinary Surgeon (Vet Surgeon); Veterinary Surgical Specialist (Vet Surgical Specialist); Zoo Veterinarian (Zoo Vet)

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.
• Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options.
• Euthanize animals.
• 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.

Knowledge

• Biology
• Medicine and Dentistry
• Customer and Personal Service
• English Language
• Mathematics
• Education and Training
• Chemistry
• Administration and Management
• Personnel and Human Resources
• Psychology

Skills

• Reading Comprehension
• Active Listening
• Active Learning
• Speaking
• Science
• Critical Thinking
• Writing
• Monitoring
• Mathematics
• Learning Strategies

Abilities

• Oral Comprehension
• Written Comprehension
• Oral Expression
• Problem Sensitivity
• Deductive Reasoning
• Inductive Reasoning
• Near Vision
• Information Ordering
• Written Expression
• Speech Recognition
• Speech Clarity
• Category Flexibility
• Flexibility of Closure
• Mathematical Reasoning
• Selective Attention
• Finger Dexterity
• Fluency of Ideas
• Originality
• Number Facility
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
• Manual Dexterity
• Control Precision
• Far Vision