How to Become a Veterinarian or Vet Tech in Ohio

Licenses covered

• Veterinarian (DVM)
• Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT)

Veterinary Medical Board by the numbers

These figures are ours, not the board's — we computed them from the full State of Ohio licence file so you can see this board in context rather than one record at a time. Data as of September 2026.

Only 68.6% of the 15,843 licences this board has on record are currently active — the other 31.4% belong to people who retired, moved, changed careers, or simply let a credential lapse. That gap is the single best reason to verify a licence rather than assume a name in a database means somebody may practise today.

Most common licence types

When a licence from this board is not active, the most common reason recorded is expired (3,138 records), followed by lapsed (1,677). Our status dictionary explains what each label actually means.

2.08% of this board's licences carry a recorded board action (330 of 15,843), against about 1.6% across all Ohio professions. A board action covers everything from an administrative consent agreement to revocation, and it is cumulative over a licence's whole life — see how we measured that before reading much into it.

Computed by OhioLicenseCheck from the State of Ohio eLicense dataset (issued licences only; application records excluded). Refreshed daily.

Why choose this path

• Veterinarian demand currently outstrips supply — new grads field multiple offers
• RVT track reaches licensed clinical work in two years
• Companion, equine, farm, shelter, and regulatory medicine offer varied careers
• Corporate consolidators and independent ownership both create strong DVM economics
• Ohio State’s vet school keeps elite training in-state

Path to the license

1. 1

   For DVM: build a competitive application

   Strong sciences plus documented animal and veterinary experience hours; admissions are more competitive than medical school by seat count.

2. 2

   Complete the DVM and pass the NAVLE

   Four years of veterinary school and the national licensing exam.

3. 3

   For RVT: complete an AVMA-accredited associate program

   Then pass the VTNE for Ohio registration — Columbus State, Cuyahoga CC, and UC Blue Ash run accredited programs.

4. 4

   License through the Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board

   Renew on the two-year cycle with CE; a lapsed DVM license halts prescribing immediately.

Pay and outlook

BLS puts veterinarians’ national median around $120,000, and Ohio associate DVMs typically start near $100,000 with production-based pay pushing higher; practice owners and specialists exceed it. RVT pay ($35,000–48,000 in Ohio) lags the skill level — though emergency and specialty hospitals pay at the top of that band.

Veterinary demand projections remain among the strongest in healthcare-adjacent fields.

Where Ohioans train

Schools listed are well-known examples, not endorsements — always compare accreditation, cost, and outcomes.

Official links & resources

• Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board
• AVMA
• ICVA (NAVLE)
• BLS Outlook: Veterinarians