VTS (Dermatology): Academy of Dermatology Veterinary Technicians

NAVTA's description reads ADVT as promoting excellence through specialization in veterinary dermatology: an advanced proficiency of dermatologic procedures, working with the veterinary team and the client to advocate superior patient care, and providing continuing education.

The credential is aimed at technicians and nurses who are already credentialed in the US, Canada, or another country with a recognized licensing or credentialing process, and who hold a NAVTA membership they can document.

The breadth is in the case reports: each must represent a different category from allergic, autoimmune, infectious, parasitic and endocrine disease — and the credentials committee can allow other categories with advanced approval — so the credential is built on a dermatology caseload that spans the discipline's major disease groups rather than one procedure.

ADVT's experience floor is 3 years of work, with a minimum of 4,000 hours, in the field of veterinary dermatology — and the academy's wording adds 'or its equivalent', which leaves space for ADVT to weigh arrangements that do not map cleanly onto a job title.

The binding constraint for planning is the look-back: all of that experience must be completed within the 5 years prior to the application, so dermatology hours from earlier in your career do not carry.

Before the hours are even counted, eligibility comes first: you must be a credentialed veterinary technician or nurse in the US, Canada, or another country with a recognized licensing or credentialing process, and a NAVTA member able to document current membership.

The application package is assembled from a case log, case reports, continuing education and letters — and each part runs on its own clock.

The case log is maintained for one year that falls within the 3 years immediately preceding submission, with a minimum of 40 cases recorded.

The case reports are 3 detailed write-ups, each representing a different category — allergic, autoimmune, infectious, parasitic or endocrine — so an application cannot lean on a single disease group.

Other categories can be allowed at the credentials committee's discretion with advanced approval, which is worth asking about before you assume an unusual case will not fit.

Continuing education runs alongside: a minimum of 40 CE hours related to veterinary dermatology within the 5 years before applying, of which at least 10 hours must fall within the 2 years before application.

The letters close it out: 2 letters of recommendation covering the quality of your skills, ethical behavior and the writer's relationship to you, and both cannot come from the same group.

ADVT's examination is given at least once every other year, which makes the exam calendar itself a planning input: a candidate who is not ready for one administration waits for the next, so it is worth knowing where you stand in that cycle before you start assembling the package.

Once passed, VTS (Dermatology) certification is conferred for a period of 5 years.

ADVT's bylaws set out 2 recertification options: completing 60 continuing education units in veterinary dermatology, together with demonstrated professional development, per 5-year period — or retaking the VTS (Dermatology) examination.

Confirm the current requirements for both routes with ADVT before your cycle ends.

NAVTA lists ADVT under provisional recognition; what provisional status does and does not mean for a candidate is covered in the parent VTS specialties article, so read it before you read anything else into the tier.

Practically, ADVT posts its requirements through documents — its bylaws (current as of May 2023) and a downloadable applicant information and timeline form — rather than an on-page schedule of dates.

Before you plan a case-log year around a given exam administration, ask ADVT for the current application window, exam date and any requirement that may have changed since the bylaws were last revised.