VETERINARIAN License in Tennessee

Tennessee requires a DVM degree from an AVMA-accredited school, passage of the NAVLE, and a state jurisprudence examination. The Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners oversees licensure. The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville is the state's AVMA-accredited program, recognized for its clinical excellence in small-animal surgery, equine medicine, and large-animal internal medicine, with a veterinary teaching hospital that serves as a major regional referral center. Lincoln Memorial University also operates an AVMA-accredited veterinary school (Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine) in Harrogate, focused on training practitioners for rural and underserved Appalachian communities. Tennessee's agricultural economy includes significant beef cattle operations (particularly in the middle and eastern regions), poultry, dairy, and an equine industry centered around the Tennessee Walking Horse tradition in Shelbyville, where the annual Celebration draws international attention. The Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville metropolitan areas support growing companion-animal markets. Eastern Tennessee's Appalachian communities face veterinary workforce shortages, which Lincoln Memorial's program directly aims to address.