Salary and Outlook
According to the US Department of Labor, there are 86,300 people employed as veterinarians in
the United States.
The median annual salary is $100,370.
Entry level employees earn approximately $60,760 per year and senior employees earn approximately $165,600
per year.
Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.
Job Duties
- Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options.
- Drive mobile clinic vans to farms so that health problems can be treated or prevented.
- Euthanize animals.
- Attend lectures, conferences, or continuing education courses.
- Train or supervise workers who handle or care for animals.
- 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.
- 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.
- Specialize in a particular type of treatment, such as dentistry, pathology, nutrition, surgery, microbiology, or internal medicine.
- Direct the overall operations of animal hospitals, clinics, or mobile services to farms.
- Inspect and test horses, sheep, poultry, or other animals to detect the presence of communicable diseases.
- 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.
- Research diseases to which animals could be susceptible.
- Provide care to a wide range of animals or specialize in a particular species, such as horses or exotic birds.
- Determine the effects of drug therapies, antibiotics, or new surgical techniques by testing them on animals.
- Inspect animal housing facilities to determine their cleanliness and adequacy.