HB91: HB91 Professions and businesses; licensure for graduates of foreign colleges or schools of veterinary medicine who are board certified in a specialty; provide

Currently, Georgia law requires veterinarians to be licensed based on graduating from an accredited veterinary college or holding an ECFVG or PAVE certificate, plus passing a board exam. This bill adds a new path to licensure for graduates of foreign veterinary schools who have completed a residency or similar training program of two or more years and earned board certification in a veterinary specialty recognized by groups such as the American Veterinary Medical Association. Under this new path, the veterinarian would only be allowed to practice within their certified specialty; practicing outside it would count as practicing without a license under existing Georgia law. The bill also adds an exemption letting these specialty-licensed veterinarians teach or give demonstrations in their specialty area at accredited veterinary schools as part of continuing education, without that teaching counting as unlicensed practice. The changes would take effect immediately once signed by the Governor or otherwise become law.

• Creates a new licensing path for foreign veterinary school graduates who complete a two-plus-year residency and earn specialty board certification.
• Restricts veterinarians licensed under this new path to practicing only within their certified specialty area.
• Declares that practicing outside the certified specialty by someone licensed this way violates existing unlicensed-practice provisions (O.C.G.A. §§ 43-50-30 and 43-50-45).
• Adds an exemption allowing these specialty-licensed veterinarians to teach, lecture, or give demonstrations in their specialty at accredited veterinary schools during continuing education courses.
• Keeps the existing licensing requirements (age 18, good moral character, exam, fee) in place for all applicants.

Foreign-trained veterinarians seeking Georgia licensure, especially those with specialty board certification; the state veterinary licensing board; veterinary schools that host continuing education courses; and Georgia pet owners and livestock producers who may gain access to specialty veterinary care.

The bill opens a route to Georgia licensure for specialty-trained veterinarians who trained abroad, potentially increasing access to specialized veterinary care such as surgery or dermatology, while limiting those veterinarians to practicing only within their certified specialty.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 43-50-31 to add a licensing pathway for foreign veterinary school graduates with a residency of two or more years and specialty board certification.
• Section 1 limits such licensees to practicing only in their certified specialty, treating other practice as a violation of O.C.G.A. §§ 43-50-30(a) and 43-50-45(a).
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 43-50-44 to exempt these specialty-licensed veterinarians from unlicensed-practice rules when teaching or demonstrating in their specialty at accredited veterinary schools.
• Section 3 makes the Act effective immediately upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-03-04Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-03House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-03-03House Third Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
5. 2025-02-26House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
6. 2025-02-12House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
7. 2025-01-27House Second Readers (House)
8. 2025-01-17House First Readers (House)

• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-045)Primary sponsor
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-004)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 3, 2025

   169 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #139

• veterinary licensing
• medical licensing
• foreign-trained professionals
• animal health