HB 91: Professions and businesses; licensure for graduates of foreign colleges or schools of veterinary medicine who are board certified in a specialty; provide

Under current Georgia law, becoming a licensed veterinarian generally requires graduating from an accredited veterinary school (or holding an ECFVG or PAVE certificate) and passing a board-approved exam. This bill adds a second path specifically for graduates of foreign veterinary schools. Those applicants could instead submit a transcript showing completion of their veterinary education, along with proof from an ECFVG certificate, PAVE certificate, or another document the board accepts, and show they completed a residency or similar training program of two or more years and received board certification in a veterinary specialty recognized by groups such as the American Veterinary Medical Association. A veterinarian licensed this way could only practice in the specific specialty they are certified in; practicing outside that specialty would violate Georgia's veterinary licensing law (O.C.G.A. § 43-50-30 and § 43-50-45). The bill also lets these specialty-licensed veterinarians lecture or give demonstrations in their specialty at accredited veterinary schools without needing a separate exemption. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law.

• Creates a new licensing path for foreign veterinary school graduates who hold board certification in a recognized veterinary specialty and completed a residency of two or more years.
• Restricts veterinarians licensed under this new path to practicing only within their certified specialty, treating any broader practice as a violation of Georgia's veterinary licensing law.
• Requires these applicants to submit a transcript plus an ECFVG certificate, PAVE certificate, or another board-approved document proving completion of their foreign veterinary education.
• Adds an exemption allowing specialty-licensed veterinarians to lecture, teach, or demonstrate within their specialty at accredited veterinary schools without a separate license requirement.
• Leaves the existing licensing path (accredited school plus board exam) in place as an alternative for other applicants.

Graduates of foreign veterinary schools seeking to practice in Georgia, the Georgia State Board of Veterinary Medicine that reviews applications, accredited veterinary schools where specialty-licensed veterinarians may teach, and existing licensed veterinarians who currently hold a monopoly on full-scope practice.

Foreign-trained veterinarians with specialty board certification would gain a new way to become licensed in Georgia without retaking the standard board exam, but they would be limited to practicing only in their certified specialty, which could expand access to specialized veterinary care while keeping general practice restricted to traditionally licensed veterinarians.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 43-50-31 to add a subparagraph (a)(2)(B) letting foreign veterinary school graduates with specialty board certification and a two-year residency apply for licensure.
• Section 1 specifies that such licensees may only practice in their certified specialty, and any other practice violates O.C.G.A. §§ 43-50-30(a) and 43-50-45(a).
• Section 1 requires applicants under this path to submit an education transcript plus an ECFVG certificate, PAVE certificate, or other board-approved proof of completion.
• Section 2 amends the exemptions in O.C.G.A. § 43-50-44 to let specialty-licensed veterinarians teach or demonstrate within their specialty at accredited veterinary schools.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law without his 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-45)Primary sponsor
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-4)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-11)
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 3, 2025

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

   PASSAGE: House Vote #139

• veterinary licensing
• foreign professional credentials
• medical licensing
• occupational regulation