Indiana Board of Veterinary Medicine License Requirements

To meet Indiana veterinary license requirements, you need a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from a program accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association, passing scores on both the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination and Indiana’s written jurisprudence exam, and an approved application filed with the Indiana Board of Veterinary Medicine along with a $150 fee.¹ After that, the license runs on a two-year cycle tied to continuing education and a renewal fee.

Education: The DVM Degree

The baseline is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from an AVMA-accredited program. Indiana will not consider applicants who graduated from unaccredited domestic programs without additional credentialing, and graduates of foreign veterinary schools that aren’t AVMA-accredited have a separate pathway described further down.

Examinations

Two exams stand between a DVM and an Indiana license.

The first is the NAVLE, the national entry-level competency exam used across the United States. If you already passed the NAVLE in another state, you do not need to retake it for Indiana. The Board also accepts the older National Board Examination paired with the Clinical Competency Test as an alternative for applicants who took those exams before the NAVLE became standard.²

The second is a written jurisprudence exam covering Indiana veterinary law. A score of 75 or above is required to pass. If you fail only one of the two exams, you retake only the one you failed.²

Application and Fee

Your application needs proof of the DVM degree, your exam scores, and the completed application form. The fee is $150, and the same fee applies whether you’re applying by examination or by reciprocity from another state.¹

If You Graduated From a Foreign Veterinary School

Graduates of veterinary programs outside the United States or Canada that are not AVMA-accredited must earn ECFVG certification before Indiana will consider the license application. The Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates, run by the AVMA, evaluates whether international graduates meet standards equivalent to accredited U.S. programs.

ECFVG certification has four steps:

Registration and proof of graduation. You must be a graduate of an ECFVG-listed school holding a degree that allows unrestricted veterinary practice in your home country. Fees total $1,600: a $700 application fee plus a $900 quality assurance program fee. A notarized application form must be received within 10 calendar days of online submission.
English language ability.
Basic and clinical sciences knowledge, assessed in writing.
Clinical skills assessment, a hands-on evaluation.

While working toward ECFVG certification, Indiana law lets you practice under the direct supervision of Purdue University veterinary faculty or an Indiana-licensed veterinarian without holding your own license.³⁴ A similar pathway runs through PAVE certification.

Renewal and Continuing Education

Indiana licenses run on a two-year cycle, renewing on October 15 of each odd-numbered year. Each cycle requires 40 clock hours of continuing education. Hours do not carry over from one renewal period to the next, so pacing your coursework across both years is the sensible approach.⁵

Continuing education is not required during the year your initial license is issued. Every renewal after that depends on the full 40 hours. The renewal fee for an unexpired license is $100.¹

Many courses accepted in Indiana carry RACE approval from the American Association of Veterinary State Boards, which reviews and certifies continuing education providers on a two-year cycle. Confirm a course satisfies Indiana’s requirements before assuming RACE approval alone is enough; the Board sets its own standards for acceptable content.

USDA Accreditation for Health Certificates

An Indiana license does not, by itself, let you issue USDA-endorsed health certificates for animals traveling across state lines or internationally. That requires a separate federal credential through the USDA’s National Veterinary Accreditation Program. The program is voluntary and state-specific, so accreditation in Indiana does not carry over if you later practice in another state.⁶

When a destination country requires a USDA-endorsed health certificate, only a USDA-accredited veterinarian can complete, sign, and date it, then submit it through the Veterinary Export Health Certification System or hand it to the owner for submission.⁶ If your practice touches interstate or international animal travel, the accreditation is effectively mandatory in practice.

Who Doesn’t Need an Indiana License

Indiana defines veterinary practice broadly: diagnosing, treating, correcting, or preventing disease or injury in animals; prescribing or dispensing drugs; performing surgery or dental procedures; certifying an animal’s health; and reproductive diagnostics like pregnancy or fertility testing all count. So does holding yourself out as a provider of veterinary care through titles, letters, or words that would lead a reasonable person to that conclusion.⁷

Several categories can perform veterinary-related work without an Indiana license, each with conditions attached:

Veterinarians on the faculty of Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine performing their regular duties, and veterinarians employed by the state animal disease diagnostic laboratory.
Military veterinary medical officers and veterinarians employed by federal, state, or local agencies working within the scope of their official duties.
Students enrolled in an accredited veterinary program performing duties assigned by Purdue faculty or working under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian.
Veterinarians licensed in another state or country who are consulting with an Indiana-licensed veterinarian.
An owner, contract operator, or their regular employee caring for and treating their own animals. The exemption disappears if ownership was transferred specifically to avoid the licensing requirement.
Graduates of foreign veterinary colleges working toward ECFVG or PAVE certification under the direct supervision of Purdue faculty or an Indiana-licensed veterinarian.
Paramedics and EMTs who provide care or transportation to an injured operational canine in the course of their duties.

Guest lecturers at Purdue or at continuing education events and researchers conducting federally compliant animal experiments are also exempt. Administering treatment at the direction of and under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian, and equine massage therapy, fall outside the statutory definition of veterinary practice.⁴⁷

Practicing Without a License

Anyone who knowingly practices veterinary medicine in Indiana without a license or special permit commits a Class A misdemeanor. The same charge applies to supplying false information on a license application.⁸ A Class A misdemeanor in Indiana carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. The “knowingly” standard requires the prosecution to show the person was aware they were performing acts that constitute veterinary practice, not that they knew a license was needed.

1
Indiana Board of Veterinary Medicine. DVM Fee Schedule
2
Legal Information Institute. 888 IAC 1.1-6-3 – Examination Scores
3
American Veterinary Medical Association. Steps of the ECFVG Certification Program
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 25-38.1-3-1 – License and Permit Requirements
5
Legal Information Institute. 888 IAC 1.1-10-1 – Continuing Education Requirements
6
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Pet Travel Process Overview
7
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 25-38.1-1-12 – Practice of Veterinary Medicine
8
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 25-38.1-4-10 – Offenses; Practice Without a License