Tennessee Veterinary License: Requirements, NAVLE, and Renewal

To get a veterinary license in Tennessee, you need a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from an AVMA-accredited school, a passing NAVLE score from within the last five years, a clean fingerprint-based background check, and a notarized application with a $135 fee for the exam route or $285 for reciprocity.¹ Once you’re licensed, Tennessee veterinary license requirements continue: 20 hours of continuing education every calendar year and renewal every 24 months.

The Degree You Need

Your veterinary degree must come from a school accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education, and the official transcript showing the degree has been conferred has to be sent directly from the school to the Board.¹ If the school sends it to you and you forward it along, your application stalls. The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine is the only AVMA-accredited program in the state, but graduates of any accredited school qualify on the same terms.²

Tennessee does not require an internship or residency for general licensure. Those are only necessary if you want to pursue a specialty.

If You Graduated From a School Outside the U.S. or Canada

Graduates of veterinary schools outside the United States or Canada that lack AVMA accreditation have to complete either the Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) program or the Program for the Assessment of Veterinary Education Equivalence (PAVE) before Tennessee will consider the application.³

Budget accordingly. The ECFVG application fee alone is $1,600 (a $700 program fee plus a $900 quality assurance fee). The Basic and Clinical Sciences Examination is $250, and the Clinical Proficiency Exam is $12,804. Total exam-related fees exceed $14,600 before travel or study materials. Candidates who don’t finish within two years pay a $120 reregistration fee to stay active.⁴

Passing the NAVLE

The North American Veterinary Licensing Examination is Tennessee’s sole licensing exam. There is no separate state jurisprudence exam. Your official NAVLE score has to be sent directly from the American Association of Veterinary State Boards to the Board’s office,¹ and it must have been passed within the five years before you apply.⁵ An older score means retaking the exam.

The NAVLE is 360 multiple-choice questions covering clinical diagnosis, treatment, and animal health, with a minimum passing score of 425. It’s offered during three testing windows per year. For 2026, the windows run March 1–21, July 13–August 8, and October 12–November 14, and you have to register through the ICVA well before each window opens.⁶ Applicants who still hold older scores from the National Board Examination and Clinical Competency Test (the NAVLE’s predecessors) can submit those instead.¹

What Goes in the Application

The exam-route application fee is $135, it’s nonrefundable regardless of the outcome, and the form must be notarized. Tennessee law requires your Social Security number on it; without the SSN, the application is incomplete.¹ Along with the form and fee, you need to submit:

Two signed passport-style photos.
Proof of U.S. or Canadian citizenship, or evidence that you’re legally authorized to live in the United States (birth certificate, naturalization papers, or current visa documentation).
Official transcripts sent directly from your veterinary school to the Board.
Licensure verification from every other state where you hold or have held a veterinary license, sent directly from those states.
Your official NAVLE score, sent directly from the AAVSB.
A completed Mandatory Practitioner Profile, which you’re required by law to keep updated within 30 days of any change for as long as your license is active.
Results from a fingerprint-based criminal background check.

For the background check, Tennessee uses IdentoGO for electronic fingerprint submission. You have two weeks from registering to get your prints scanned, or you have to re-register and pay the $37.15 processing fee again.⁷ The search runs through both the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. If the FBI’s system cannot read your prints after two attempts, it switches to a name-based search to supplement the TBI fingerprint results.⁸ Results go straight to the Board. A record doesn’t automatically disqualify you; the Board weighs the nature of the offense, how recent it is, and its relevance to veterinary practice, with fraud, drug offenses, and animal cruelty drawing the heaviest scrutiny.

The Board reviews completed applications and may ask you to come in for an interview before deciding. Incomplete applications aren’t processed, and a single missing item will hold everything up.⁹

If You’re Already Licensed in Another State

You can apply by reciprocity instead of the exam route. The fee is $285, and in addition to the standard documents you have to show:

Active practice for at least three of the previous five years, averaging at least 25 hours per week.
At least 60 hours of continuing education over the previous five years. Forty-five of those hours must cover medical and surgical care; the remaining 15 can address other professional topics. No more than 30 can come from multimedia formats.
A passing NAVLE score (older NBE/CCT scores are also accepted).
A Certificate of Endorsement (or equivalent) from every state where you’ve been licensed.

Reciprocity applicants also have to disclose any criminal convictions (DUI counts and is not treated as a minor traffic violation), any license discipline in another state, and any malpractice actions, whether settled, final, or pending.¹⁰

Keeping the License: Renewal and CE

Tennessee veterinary licenses expire on a 24-month cycle, with the expiration date printed on your license certificate. The Board sends a courtesy renewal notice, but the license lapses whether you receive it or not, and knowing the date is on you.¹¹ Late renewal means paying past-due fees plus a late penalty, and your ability to practice may be restricted until the license is reinstated.

Continuing education runs on a different clock than renewal. You owe 20 hours every calendar year, not 40 hours per renewal cycle. Fifteen of those 20 hours each year must relate directly to the medical and surgical care of animals; the remaining five can cover other professional topics such as practice management or regulatory programs. No more than 10 hours per year can come from multimedia formats like online courses or webinars. Across each two-year renewal period, at least two of your total hours must cover regulatory issues, controlled substances, or professional ethics. Courses approved through the AAVSB’s Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) satisfy the Board’s standards.¹²

Credentials the License Alone Doesn’t Cover

A Tennessee veterinary license lets you practice, but several common activities need separate authorization on top of it.

To prescribe or dispense controlled substances, you need a federal DEA registration (submitted on DEA Form 224) that renews every three years and is tied to a specific practice location. Tennessee also requires veterinarians who prescribe controlled substances for more than five days of treatment to register with the state’s Controlled Substance Monitoring Database and submit dispensing information at least once every 14 days.¹³ Vets who never prescribe in amounts intended for more than five days of treatment are exempt from CSMD registration.

To sign interstate health certificates, conduct federal disease testing, or participate in USDA animal health programs, you need accreditation through the USDA’s National Veterinary Accreditation Program, which involves online Initial Accreditation Training (you need an 80 percent passing score on each of the 14 module quizzes), an in-person Orientation Program, and submission of VS Form 1-36A to your state’s NVAP Coordinator within three years of the Orientation.¹⁴ Accreditation then renews every three years with supplemental training units.¹⁵

Any facility where you practice, whether a permanent clinic or a mobile unit, must hold a premises permit from the Board, which arranges an inspection of sanitary conditions, recordkeeping, equipment, and surgical areas before issuing it.¹⁶ If you’re already a licensed veterinarian applying for the premises permit, there’s no separate application fee, only the inspection fee. Government facilities, private employers treating only their own animals, and licensed research facilities are exempt.

If Your Application Is Denied

You have 30 days from receiving a denial notice to request a contested case hearing in writing.⁹ The denial letter has to spell out the specific reasons, the statutory authority, and your hearing rights.¹⁷ One catch: a hearing is only available when the denial rests on subjective or discretionary criteria. Denial for a purely objective reason, such as not having passed the NAVLE, won’t get a hearing unless there’s a genuine factual or legal dispute about whether the criterion was actually met.

If the hearing upholds the denial, you can file a petition for judicial review in chancery court within 60 days of the Board’s final order. Venue is the chancery court nearest your residence, the court nearest where the dispute arose, or the chancery court of Davidson County, whichever you prefer. The court reviews the administrative record without a jury and looks at whether the Board followed proper procedures and whether its decision was supported by substantial evidence.¹⁸

1
Tennessee Department of Health. Instructions for Licensure as a Veterinarian
2
University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Accreditation
3
American Veterinary Medical Association. Steps of the ECFVG Certification Program
4
American Veterinary Medical Association. Fees and Costs
5
Legal Information Institute. Tennessee Comp R and Regs 1730-01-.04 – Qualifications for Licensure
6
International Council for Veterinary Assessment. NAVLE
7
Tennessee Department of Health. Tennessee Department of Health Professional Boards
8
Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners – Criminal Background Check Policy
9
Legal Information Institute. Tennessee Comp R and Regs 1730-01-.07 – Application Review, Approval, Denial, Interviews
10
Legal Information Institute. Tennessee Comp R and Regs 1730-01-.05 – Procedures for Licensure
11
Tennessee Department of Health. Veterinary Board Frequently Asked Questions
12
Tennessee Department of Health. Continuing Education – Veterinary
13
Justia Law. Tennessee Code 53-10-305 – Submission of Information
14
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP – How Do I Become Accredited
15
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP Training Modules for Accreditation Renewal
16
Legal Information Institute. Tennessee Comp R and Regs 1730-02-.02 – Veterinary Facility
17
Justia Law. Tennessee Code 63-12-125 – Administrative Procedures
18
Justia Law. Tennessee Code 4-5-322 – Judicial Review