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This thesis comprises three chapters about musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) in veterinarians. Two of these chapters have been submitted to peer reviewed journals and one is in preparation for submission. The first chapter describes the prevalence and risk factors associated with MSD in New Zealand veterinarians. The second chapter is a paper on the tasks considered by veterinarians to cause MSD. The third chapter is a review of published literature on musculoskeletal problems (MSP) in veterinarians. The first chapter in this thesis describes a cross-sectional study of 867 New Zealand veterinarians. We used a modified Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire to enquire about the presence or absence of MSD, whether this affected normal activities and if MSD necessitated absenteeism from work. Additional questions enquired about work activities, psychosocial factors and workload. The overall period prevalence of MSD was 96%. Normal activities were affected in 67% and 18% of participants reported that they had been absent from work due to MSD. Factors associated with the presence of MSD requiring time off work for clinical veterinarians included 10 year increases in age (odds ratio (OR) 1.26, 95% CI 1.05 - 1.52), work involving awkward grip and hand movements 100% of time (OR 12.91, 95% CI 3.46 – 84.21) and those who were dissatisfied with the level and difficulty of their work (OR 2.72, 95% CI 1.11 - 6.56). In the second chapter in this thesis, veterinarians were asked to indicate tasks that they considered ‘most likely to lead to musculoskeletal aches and pains’ and ‘why these tasks were likely to be the most risky’. They were also asked to suggest ‘any solutions that they applied or knew of’ to reduce musculoskeletal aches and pains. They identified the following tasks: lifting, surgery, rectal palpations and animal handling. Their reasons were primarily related to physical risk factors. Few identified psychosocial risk factors. The most common suggested solutions involv