The benchmarks set to ensure that Veterinary Technician Specialists (Clinical Practice) are exceptional technicians in clinical practice will include five years of experience, demonstration of involvement in and management of challenging cases, and advanced educational knowledge gained through formal continuing education. Finally a VTS (Clinical Practice) will demonstrate they are capable of providing a level of clinical practice that is clearly superior to the general veterinary technician by successfully passing the comprehensive examination.
Important Application Change Update!
AVTCP is going BACK to a January-January Calendar Year Application Year!
Because of our new partnership with South West Veterinary Symposium, we are finally able to return to a more traditional application year. This means that starting January 1, 2026 we begin our NEW application year.
For applicants who have already had their Pre-Application accepted for the July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 application year, you have the luxury of an extra 6 months to complete your final application! We will honor skills, logs, and reports starting July 1, 2024 through the due date which is now December 31st, 2025. Please continue to work from the final applications posted on your specialty's page of this website.
For applicants looking to apply in 2026, your pre-application will be due November 1st, 2025. Please use the Application Packets posted on this page.
For applicants who have already had their Pre-Application accepted for the July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 application year, you have the luxury of an extra 6 months to complete your final application! We will honor skills, logs, and reports starting July 1, 2024 through the due date which is now December 31st, 2025. Please continue to work from the final applications posted on your specialty's page of this website.
For applicants looking to apply in 2026, your pre-application will be due November 1st, 2025. Please use the Application Packets posted on this page.
Application Submission Guidelines
- AVTCP has a 2-part application process: a Pre-Application and a Final Application, with different requirements and due dates.
- The application year begins January 1 and ends December 31 each year. All skills, logs, reports, references, and signatures must occur and be obtained during the application year.
- The Pre-Application must be submitted no later than 11:59pm PST, November 1st, 2025. All of the Pre-Application is to be completed below with the fillable forms which will be posted July 1st.
- Once the Pre-Application has been accepted, applicants will receive an invitation to place their Final Application documents in the secure AVTCP DropBox.
- Final Application submissions, including all applicable documents, attachments, and letters of recommendation, will be accepted up to 11:59pm PST, December 31st. No Final Applications will be accepted beyond the due date and time.
- The total application fee is $100. $50 is required upon submission of the Pre-Application using the Paypal link provided below, and $50 upon submission of the Final Application. Please be sure the name on your PayPal account matches the name on your application and allow enough time to set up your Paypal account in order for AVTCP to receive payment by the due date and time.
International applicants must ensure their fee is paid in US dollars.
2026 Application Packets
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Exotic Companion Animal: |
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Production Medicine: |
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Please use the adjacent Checklist when submitting your Pre and Final Application to ensure that all documents/requirements have been submitted
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2026 Pre-Application Links and Documents
The following Pre-Application online forms will be live from July 1 to November 1, 2025. Applicants must have all forms with attachments complete no later than 11:59pm PST November 1st, 2025. Please note that you can only submit these documents once. If you mistakenly send a form before you were finished, please reach out to avtcpinformation@gmail.com as soon as possible.
Use this Spreadsheet to log your Continuing Education. It will need to be uploaded with the pre-application documents.
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Use this spreadsheet to tally your employment history. It will need to be uploaded with the pre-application documents.
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