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.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Active Learning
- Speaking
- Science
- Critical Thinking
- Complex Problem Solving
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Biology
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Education and Training
- Chemistry
- Personnel and Human Resources
What the work involves
- 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.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Investigative, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Doctoral Degree (79.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (25.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (28.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Veterinarians is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 90% of occupations compared | 86% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 94% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 94% of occupations compared | 82% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 94% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 76% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 88% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 86% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 91% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 14.17%
- Constant contact with others: 85.83%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 6.73%
- Very important: 22.01%
- Extremely important: 71.26%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 17.75%
- Extremely important: 82.25%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 24.14%
- A lot of freedom: 75.86%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 11.84%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 4.31%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.15%
- Every day: 60.7%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.19%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.05%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 45.17%
- Every day: 16.59%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.67%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 36.57%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 40.21%
- Every day: 14.55%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 10.96%
- Fairly serious: 6.73%
- Serious: 3.33%
- Very serious: 20.54%
- Extremely serious: 58.45%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
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O*NET-SOC 29-1131.00 · SOC 29-1131 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8