What character traits do veterinarians need?

Answer 1

In general, veterinarians need a high level of self-confidence - they are the professional and even if they aren't entirely sure of what is happening or what the proper next step is, they need to trust themselves to make a decision and to present both positive and negative information to the owners.

Veterinarians also need good self-discipline and self-management. Particularly in private practice, veterinarians work fairly autonomously, so they have to self-supervise to ensure they are both providing good quality service and are being good employees of the clinic.

Other useful traits include good communication abilities (active listening, demonstrate empathy, reflective statements and seek clarification), leadership and resilence.

Answer 2

A veterinarian needs to be emotionally resilent - he/she will often have to handle euthanizing a beloved pet then going to the next appointment with a family bubbling over with happiness at their new puppy or kitten. Veterinarians often have a more dominant personality, in that they are take-charge people rather than follow-along people. Other than that, veterinarians have pretty much every personality type you can imagine.