September 01, 2021

The American Association of Veterinary State Boards launched Veterinary Care Elite earlier this year. The program stores all qualifications and accomplishments for veterinary technicians with easy accessibility.

The Veterinary Care Elite program also acts as a concierge service for licensure and includes regulation maps and information related to requirements in other jurisdictions in case an enrollee wants to become licensed in other areas. The AAVSB collects, verifies, and stores participants’ qualifications.

“Veterinary Care Elite validates and recognizes the regulated veterinary technicians who have met the profession’s highest standards as set by the AAVSB’s Member Boards,” said Dr. Roger Redman, AAVSB president, in a press release. “The AAVSB will do that by verifying their education, regulation credentials, and professional conduct, affirming its belief that a robust and efficient regulatory process will support and advance the veterinary profession.”

The collected information is housed in the Veterinary Information Verifying Agency, a database of licensing information established by the AAVSB member boards.

Jim Penrod, the executive director of AAVSB, said the program will hopefully solve some mobility problems and will allow other AAVSB member boards to expedite reviews of licensing applications.

“We think it solves one of the problems we’ve seen with veterinary technicians,” Penrod said. He added that this is a simple way for veterinary technicians to stand out in a veterinary hospital as it demonstrates a gold standard to employers.

Veterinary technicians, depending on the state, can hold the titles of registered veterinary technician, licensed veterinary technician, certified veterinary technician, or licensed veterinary medical technician. This usually means a veterinary technician has graduated from an AVMA Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities–accredited program and passed an examination such as the Veterinary Technician National Exam, among other things. There can also be other ways of obtaining licensure, such as documented hours of experience.

Most states regulate the credentialing of veterinary technicians, but several do not, consisting of Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming, according to the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America. These states recognize private certifications from veterinary medical or technician associations that individuals may pursue.

NAVTA leaders have been working to standardize veterinary technician credentials. In particular, license portability has been a concern they’ve tried to address.

Additional benefits of the Veterinary Care Elite program include a complete professional profile, an account to easily search and track continuing education, and access to information for licensure and regulation questions.

The program initially opened in the U.S. as a pilot in April to VTNE applicants who were graduating from an accredited program, but will open to all credentialed veterinary technicians in all AAVSB member board jurisdictions this fall.

The AAVSB also plans to provide a similar program to veterinarians in the future, which will likely be released next year.