Oregon veterinarians may find background checks necessary for licensing

The Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board (OVMEB) is considering requiring criminal background checks for those applying for their licenses to practice veterinary medicine. The request for veterinary background checks was not prompted by any particular incident or complaint, though a March audit of Oregon’s health organizations states that veterinarians should be screened because of their capabilities to prescribe and access medications. Board Director Lori Makinen specified that even if criminal background checks were conducted on veterinarians, they would likely not provide information about animal abuse or drug abuse by the DVMs. Despite this information, the board had been considering requiring background checks on and off over the previous years. The Oregon legislature provided all 17 of the state’s medical licensing boards the ability to conduct fingerprint checks in 2010. At this time, only three of those boards (including the veterinary board) do not require criminal background checks. The other two licensing boards that do not require checks are Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology & Audiology. Those two boards had previously requested additional funding to cover fees and were allegedly denied by the state. Makinen estimates that adding fingerprint background checks to the requirement in order for a potential veterinarian to get licensed would cost the individual an additional $50 on top of the licensing fees that are already required. The OVMEB’s budget is entirely comprised of licensing fees, and licenses far fewer professionals than the boards that license doctors, nurses and pharmacists for human care. As of the end of 2013, the OVMEB only had 3,365 licensed veterinarians in the state. The board will decide in October whether or not to begin the process of screening those applying for or renewing their veterinary licenses; documentation will be filed with the Secretary of State by mid-August. photo credit: Army Medicine via photopin cc]]>