When searching for a veterinarian or reading one of your veterinarian’s business cards, you may come across quite a list of abbreviations for veterinary credentials. These abbreviations are worth knowing and understanding, because they can show you what special training and skills a veterinarian has to offer you and your pet. So if it seems like your veterinarian has the whole alphabet following her name, you can use this key to help you decode it all.

DVM
This degree stands for doctor of veterinary medicine. People with DVM degrees have graduated from US veterinary schools and earned a doctorate, which is required to practice veerinary medicine. Most veterinarians in the US are DVMs.

VMD
This is a doctoral degree just like the DVM, but it comes from the University of Pennsylvania. The university calls its degree a veterinary medical doctorate and abbreviates it as such.

Diplomate
After earning their veterinary doctoral degrees, some veterinarians go on to do more extensive work in a specialty. They may do scientific research, earning a Master of Science degree (MS) or another doctorate (PhD). Or, they may become certified by a specialty board. To become certified, veterinarians need to become educated in a specialty, pass a qualifying examination, and meet any of the board’s other requirements for acceptance into the specialty college. Once they’ve done all this, they become diplomates of the specialty board.

Board-certified specialists show their diplomate status with the abbreviation dipl. and the name of the organization (dipl. ABVP) or, more commonly, with the capital letter D before the name of the organization (DABVP). If your pet has a complicated or difficult health problem, your veterinarian may refer you to a diplomate of one of the following organizations.

• ABVP-American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. These are veterinarians with expertise in clinical practice.

• ACT-American College of Theriogenologists. These veterinarians specialize in reproductive medicine.

• ACVA-American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists

• ACVB-American College of Veterinary Behaviorists

• ACVD-American College of Veterinary Dermatology

• ACVECC-American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care

• ACVIM-American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. This college includes veterinarians in the specialties of internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, and oncology.

• ACVPM-American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine

• ACVN-American College of Veterinary Nutrition

• ACVR-American College of Veterinary Radiology

• ACVS-American College of Veterinary Surgeons

• ACVO-American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists

• AVDC-American Veterinary Dental College

Supplemental/Alternative Medical Credentials

• CH-Certified Herbalist

• DC-Doctor of Chiropractic

• ND-Doctor of Naturopathy

• CVA-Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Practice Manager

A veterinary practice manager runs the business side of an animal hospital. Their job duties include: hiring staff members, deciding the practice’s budget, ordering supplies, finding ways to improve quality, managing equipment and building repairs, and making sure pet owners are happy. Like other professionals working in a veterinary hospital, practice managers can earn a certification. The credential they can earn is CVPM or certified veterinary practice manager.    

Technicians

You may notice that the veterinary technicians at your animal hospital have credentials after their names as well. The initials CVT, RVT, and LVT-which stand for certified veterinary technician, registered veterinary technician, and licensed veterinary technician-all signify that a technician has earned a degree from an accredited veterinary technician school.

If you haven’t memorized these credentials, don’t worry. There are a wide range of specialty fields in veterinary medicine, and you don’t need to know them all. If your pet should happen to need specialized care, your veterinarian knows how to find the person best trained to help you.