Apply For Veterinarian Accreditation

As a state licensed Veterinarian, you can apply to be federally accredited so that you can perform regulatory work. You can be federally accredited in every state in which you are licensed to practice. Prior to applying, you must complete Core Orientation and have your attendance to the Core Orientation certified by the AVIC office, which is done in the VSPS.  ALSO you must provide your Date of Birth to the AVIC/NVAP office before VSPS will allow applying for state accreditation on-line.

To apply, you provide the limited amount of professional and practice information that is needed for the accreditation application. Prior to approval by the state and AVIC office, you must complete all state-specific requirements and training.

For initial accreditation (first application), the completed application (VS 1-36A) is generated by VSPS and printed. You should verify all information provided at this time.  You must sign and submit the hard copy form of the application for approval by the state and AVIC office. Once approved, you will be certified as federally accredited in the specified state within VSPS.  You must sign and submit the hard copy of the application for approval by the state and AVIC office. Once approved, you will be certified as federally accredited in the specified state within VSPS.  See Apply for Accreditation.

To become accredited in additional states, you are not required to submit a signed application (VS 1-36A) for accreditation; however, your accreditation request (supplemental application) must be approved by the state and AVIC office before you become federally accredited in the state.  See Apply_other_states.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Initial accreditation

1. Complete and submit on-line the VS Form 1-36A, Application for Veterinary Accreditation.  The form includes a certification that the veterinarian is able to perform the 16 tasks (POPUP-A) required of an accredited veterinarian.

2. Sign, date, and submit the application (entire form) to the appropriate Area Office.  The Area Office address can be accessed at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/area_offices.htm  (Note: The application will not be processed until a hard copy of the application has been received.)

The VS Area Veterinarian-In-Charge (AVIC) and the respective State Animal Health Official (SAHO) will evaluate the application to determine if the applicant meets the following requirements:

• The applicant is a graduate with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine or an equivalent degree (any degree that qualifies the holder to be licensed by a state to practice veterinary medicine) from an accredited college of veterinary medicine.

• The applicant is licensed or legally able to practice veterinary medicine in the state in which the veterinarian wishes to perform accredited duties.

• The applicant attended a core orientation.

• The applicant has completed a state specific orientation if required by the Area Veterinarian in Charge (AVIC) in cooperation with the State Animal Health Official (SAHO).

Additional State Accreditations:

The following guidelines pertain to veterinarians that are currently accredited in another state:

1. Complete and submit on-line the VS Form 1-36B, Application for Veterinary Accreditation Authorization in a new state.

2. Print, sign, date, and submit the application (entire form) to the appropriate Area Office.  The Area Office address can be accessed at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/area_offices.htm  (Note: The application will not be processed until a hard copy of the application has been received.)

The Area Offices evaluates the application to determines if the applicant meets the following criteria:

• The Veterinarian is licensed or legally able to practice veterinary medicine in the state in which the Veterinarian wishes to perform additional accredited duties.

• The Veterinarian has completed a state specific orientation if required by the Area Veterinarian in Charge (AVIC) in cooperation with the State Animal Health Official (SAHO).

NOTE:  Accreditation duties should not be performed until written notification from the AVIC.

Applying For Veterinarian Accreditation:

NOTES:

• Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

• Phone numbers: VSPS will default to the US country code of (1), if you are entering a non-US number you must enter in the corresponding country code.  When a country code has the number of 1 the number following must contain 10 digits.

• To select (or un-select) multiple fields, press <Ctrl> on the keyboard while selecting the fields.

• Button Functionality:  Click (Apply) when all required information is complete and you are ready to Apply for Veterinarian Accreditation; click (Save) to save your entries but all required fields in all tabs must be complete; click (Cancel) to stop and return to the Vet Accreditation Module.

To apply for veterinarian accreditation (first time):

1. On the VSPS Home page, log on to VSPS.

2. Click Vet Accreditation from the left menu.  The Vet Accreditation Module page displays.

3. Click Apply For.  The Accreditation Application page displays.

4. State Details:

• *Accreditation State - From the drop-down menu select the state for which you are applying.

• License Type - From the drop-down menu select the license type.

• *State Licence - Enter in your license number for this state.

• Regulatory Status - This is a yes/no toggle.  The differences are:

1. Yes - means that the applicant is given the authorized title of Veterinarian even though they may not be a schooled or licensed Veterinarian.  Usually being someone in the education or some capacity of a regulatory field.  If yes is selected the following is required:

1. *Regulatory Type - From the drop-down menu, select the regulatory type for which you qualify.

2. *Regulatory End Date - Enter the date, or click and select the date, for which your current period of performance ends.

2. No - means that the applicant is expecting to be a practicing Veterinarian request state accreditation.

• Business Address:                          

• *Business Name -

• *Address 1 - Enter the business address.

• Address 2 - Continue with address, if necessary.

• *City - Type city name of primary business address.

• *State - From the drop-down list, select the state of the business address.

• *Postal Code - Type the postal zip code for the business address.

• *County - VSPS will auto-populate this field IF it can validate the state with the postal code.  If this field is left blank, VSPS has failed to be able to validate and you need to click , VSPS will bring up a list of counties for the state selected with best guess at the top of the list, you need to click on that county though in order to confirm.  This may happen if you have a county that resides in two states, or if you have one postal code that has two counties.

• *Country - From the drop-down list, select the country.

• *Phone - Enter the business telephone number.

4. Click (Apply).

To Apply For Veterinarian Accreditation in Other States:

To apply for veterinarian accreditation in another state:

1. On the VSPS Home page, log on to VSPS.

2. Click Vet Accreditation from the left menu.  The Vet Accreditation Module page displays.

3. Click Apply For.  Repeat steps beginning with #3 above paying particular attention to providing correct information and address for the new/other state.