AVMA to seek specialty pay for boarded veterinarians in federal government

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The AVMA, through its Governmental Relations Division, will pursue specialty pay for all veterinarians who work for the federal government and are certified by an AVMA-recognized specialty organization. The Executive Board authorized this initiative.

Specialty pay was recently authorized for boarded veterinarians in the Department of Defense and US Public Health Service. Given that precedent, the AVMA Legislative Advisory Committee recommended seeking legislation to authorize specialty pay for all boarded veterinarians employed by the federal government, rather than requesting the benefit on a department-by department basis.

If successful, the bill could increase membership in many AVMA specialty organizations, provide support for the "Improvement in Government" initiative started during the Clinton administration, and improve the level of expertise in the USDA-FSIS.