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DVM Degree: Veterinary Medicine Career Paths
Apr 08, 2025
After earning a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from an accredited veterinary school such as Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (Ross Vet), most vets go into private practice, but that isn’t the only veterinary career path available — nearly 50 veterinary specialties1 are open to DVMs. They can choose to impact public health, participate in groundbreaking research, teach future veterinarians, work for animal rights organizations, or perform various other duties in numerous fields and industries. Veterinary careers can be much more than just caring for animals — but animal health and well-being, of course, remain the main focus of nearly all vet jobs.
1There are nearly 50 veterinary specialties according to the AVMA as of Feb 2025.
What Other Jobs Can You Get as a Veterinarian?
Clinical Veterinary Jobs
When most people think of becoming a vet, the first image that comes to mind is the DVM that pet owners regularly see for animal wellness checks or medical issues. These clinical vet careers allow you to provide hands-on care to animals as either a general practitioner (GP) or a specialist. In fact, 71% of clinical veterinarians are GPs who care for companion animals like cats, dogs, and other household pets. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS), May 2023 Occupational Employment and Wages reports the average annual salary range for veterinarians to be between $72,360 and $155,230.2
2Based on national 10th to 75th percentile figures from the BLS. No guarantee is made that a person who enrolls in the medical program will obtain a job or will earn the stated salaries.
Specialist clinical veterinarians may complete extra schooling and training to care for exotic animals, horses, livestock, and poultry, or perhaps laboratory, marine, or zoo animals. Companion animal GPs commonly work in small clinics or animal hospitals; specialists often travel to see animals where they live, visiting aquariums, farms, laboratories, markets, refuges, zoos, and other locations.
Some clinical DVMs choose to specialize further, focusing on defined groups of patients, diseases, skills, or care philosophies. Specialists may concentrate entirely on an individual species like cats; groups of animals, such as aquatic and marine animals; certain types of treatment — animal sports medicine and rehabilitation, for example; or specialty fields such as acupuncture, behavioral medicine, dermatology, cardiology, dentistry, radiology, radiation oncology, nutrition, oncology, ophthalmology, surgery, theriogenology, or zoological medicine.
Government Veterinary Jobs
After earning a DVM degree, veterinarians may choose to pursue a job at the local, state, or federal government level. Look around your own city or county and you may find vets who work in public shelters, animal care and control, and police and fire departments. State-level veterinary careers may allow you to work for parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and for both animal and human public health departments.
Federal governments employ many veterinarians, particularly in the United States, where the Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service is the country’s second largest employer of veterinarians. Vets and DVM-trained epidemiological researchers ensure that food animals are kept healthy and treated humanely and that all meat, poultry, milk, eggs, and other animal food products are safe to consume.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employs DVMs in the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) as part of its mission to protect human and animal health. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) employs veterinarians through their Division of Veterinary Resources (DVR) to facilitate veterinary research, provide critical care, assist with health evaluations when animals are in quarantine, and much more.
Animals and humans share many of the same diseases, creating a need for DVM scientists. Veterinary research efforts can help keep the public safe, especially considering the increasing prevalence of zoonotic diseases that spread between animals and humans, like Ebola (which humans can catch from infected bats or nonhuman primates) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) (which transmits from camels to humans).
Veterinarians serving in the military provide care for dogs, horses, and other working animals, as well as food animals and soldiers’ pets. Military DVMs may also help rebuild and improve animal care systems in underdeveloped and war-damaged countries; help control animal-borne and foodborne diseases; or participate in biomedical research and development. The U.S. Army Veterinary Corps provides animal services to all branches of the military; the Air Force Civilian Service employs many veterinarians; the Marine Corps has its own Veterinary Treatment Facility; and the U.S. Navy needs vets for its Marine Mammal Program.
Private Sector Veterinary Jobs
Private sector veterinarians work for corporations, individual companies or industries, or nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Depending on the employer, the veterinarian’s job may be to care for animals, lobby for the humane treatment and protection of animals, oversee animal research, or perform any other animal-related service. Corporate animal hospital groups and emergency services may hire many veterinarians, as do companies that use animal-related products or perform research or testing. Nonprofit and NGO employers include the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF®), to name a few.
The American Veterinary Medical Association® (AVMA®), the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC™), state veterinary associations, veterinary diagnostic labs, international animal health agencies, and veterinary practice publications and publishers also have many career opportunities open to DVMs.
Academic Veterinary Careers
As long as there are veterinarians, there must also be veterinary schools filled with DVMs — some of which have earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree as well — who teach the art and science of veterinary medicine. The AVMA Council on Education® (AVMA COE®) , including Ross Vet, whose faculty comprises numerous experienced DVMs and PhDs. DVM-PhDs teach courses or perform research, laboratory, or other services at numerous non-veterinary universities and colleges as well.
As you can see, careers with a veterinary degree are wide reaching, with many diverse pathways to a meaningful career. At Ross Vet, we give our students a solid academic and clinical foundation to help them excel in the veterinary career path of their choice. Ross Vet provides an accelerated, broad-based curriculum that integrates classroom study, research, and hands-on training. If you think veterinary school may be for you, request information to learn more about Ross Vet. Review the admission requirements and take the next step on your path to becoming a veterinarian. Apply for admission to Ross Vet today!
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The information and material contained in this article and on this website are for informational purposes only and should not be considered, or used in place of, professional medical advice. Please speak with a licensed medical provider for specific questions or concerns. Ross Vet is not responsible for the information maintained or provided on third-party websites or external links.
