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History of the NBVME

The National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (NBVME) was established by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in 1948 and charged with developing a standardized licensing examination for use by state licensing boards. The National Board Examination (NBE) was first offered in 1954. By the mid 1960's, most veterinary medical licensing boards in the United States and Canada used the NBE as a requirement for licensure. In the late 1970's, the NBVME developed an additional examination, the Clinical Competency Test (CCT), designed to assess a candidate's clinical problem solving ability. In 1980, the NBVME was reorganized and renamed the National Board Examination Committee (NBEC).

In the early 1990's, concerns were raised by several state licensing boards about the appearance of a conflict of interest for the national professional association (the AVMA) to be involved with the development of the national licensing examinations. In response to these concerns, the NBEC became incorporated independently in October 1994. It operated as an independent organization in 1995, but continued to use AVMA administrative services. In 1996, the NBEC separated completely from the AVMA, hired an Executive Director, and began to operate out of its own office in suburban Chicago. In January 1997, the NBEC moved its office from Illinois to North Dakota. In 2001, the NBEC officially changed its name to reflect the fact that it no longer functioned as a committee, and the organization once again became the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (NBVME).