General veterinarian
Also called family vet, general vet, comprehensive vet
General veterinarians are professionals with a comprehensive scientific education. They have the authority to carry out, in an independent, ethical and personally responsible capacity, all aspects of veterinary medicine, in the interest of the health and welfare of animals and public health in accordance with national and international legislation. The generalist veterinarian can work with any species, however they may choose to work with a single species or types such as equine, companion or production animals.
What you'd do
Veterinarians · ILO- Determining the presence and nature of abnormal conditions by physical examination, laboratory testing and through diagnostic imaging techniques including radiography and ultrasound
- Treating animals medically and surgically, and administering and prescribing drugs, analgesics, and general and local anaesthetics
- Performing surgery, dressing wounds and setting broken bones
- Rendering obstetric and dental services to animals
- Participating in programmes designed to prevent the occurrence and spread of animal diseases
- Inoculating animals against, and testing for, infectious diseases and notifying authorities of outbreaks of infectious animal diseases
- Performing autopsies to determine cause of death
- Advising clients on health, nutrition and feeding, hygiene, breeding and care of animals
- Providing euthanasia services for animals
- Indoors and outdoors
- A mix of sitting and standing
- Lots of contact with people, including the public
- Good freedom to decide
- Often more than 40 hours a week
- Deadlines most weeks
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospects11 EU countries are short of veterinarians now, and many jobs will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
Well above averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,800 a month (Bulgaria) to €9,700 (Luxembourg), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among professionals in the EU, women earn 21% less per hour than men. Professionals · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Usually a degreeA degree in veterinary is the usual route.
330 institutions in the EU offer agriculture bachelor's degrees. Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could help with only small parts of the tasks.
Average task score 0.14 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 9 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for veterinarians. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).