What is a Veterinarian?

A veterinarian is a physician who has been educated and trained by an accredited institution to diagnose and treat diseases and injuries in animals. Veterinarians care for companion animals (e.g., dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, rabbits), horses, production animals (e.g., dairy and beef cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry), aquatic, and zoo animals. Veterinarians vaccinate, administer medication, perform surgeries, and provide general health care for animals.

Your veterinarian can advise you on every aspect of your animal's health, including diet and exercise, interaction with other animals and family members, preventive measures to ensure your animal's health, and ways to address illness and injury. Veterinarians are critical in preventing the transmission of animal diseases to people, and by maintaining the health of food animals, keep our food supply clean and safe.

Veterinarians may perform biomedical research (i.e., genomics, cellular mechanisms, cancer biology) and/or serve as faculty at colleges or universities.

Today’s veterinarians are the only doctors educated to protect the health of both animals and people. They work hard to address the health needs of every species of animal and they also play a critical role in environmental protection, food safety, animal welfare and public health. 

Consumer surveys consistently rank veterinarians among the most respected professionals in America. Currently, there are more than 90,000 veterinarians in the United States and the profession is growing annually.