Graduation is not the beginning of equivalency — it’s the deadline. Students who prepare early move through the process faster, cheaper, and with fewer surprises. Those who wait end up scrambling for documents, language proof, and exam readiness.


First — make sure your school is eligible

This sounds obvious, but many students assume eligibility instead of verifying it.

  • Licensing bodies like AVMA ECFVG or NEB only accept graduates from specific schools. If your school isn’t listed, your path becomes more complicated — and discovering that after graduation is a nightmare scenario.
  • Check the official school lists early. It costs nothing, takes minutes, and removes uncertainty. If there’s an issue, you now have years — not weeks — to explore solutions.
  • This step is pure risk prevention.

You can check the AVMA list of veterinary colleges here.


Protect your academic paper trail

Licensing authorities love documentation. They care about names, dates, official formatting, and institutional verification. Small inconsistencies that seem harmless in school can become bureaucratic roadblocks later.

While you’re still a student:

  • Make sure your legal name matches across documents
  • Keep clean copies of transcripts and enrollment letters
  • Save official communications from your university

You’re building a documentation archive that future-you will rely on. Fixing discrepancies during school is easy. Fixing them after graduation is slow, stressful, and sometimes expensive.

Think of this as administrative hygiene.


Understand language requirements early

Even if your program is taught in English or French, licensing bodies may require proof — not assumptions.

That means:

  • Knowing what documentation qualifies
  • Requesting letters from your university if needed
  • Understanding language exam requirements in advance
  • If an exam becomes necessary, preparing during school is dramatically easier than squeezing it into full-time work life. Language proficiency is not just a checkbox — it’s professional leverage.

Early awareness prevents last-minute scrambling.


Train your brain for exam-style thinking

You don’t need to study equivalency exam material yet. But you should build habits that those exams reward:

  • Deep understanding instead of memorization
  • Clinical reasoning over pattern guessing
  • Clear thinking under pressure

Equivalency exams are designed to test judgment and fundamentals, not trivia. Students who cultivate strong conceptual foundations naturally transition into exam prep later with far less friction.

In simple terms: learn medicine properly now, and your future study load shrinks.


Treat clinical exposure like training, not attendance

Rotations are more than boxes to tick.

Use them to:

  • Observe decision-making
  • Ask why protocols exist
  • Track procedures you see or perform

Clinical familiarity builds intuition, and intuition reduces exam anxiety. Students who actively engage during rotations develop confidence that textbooks alone cannot provide.

Real medicine leaves mental anchors that exam questions hook into.


Learn the timeline and financial reality

Licensing equivalency is not just academic — it’s logistical and financial.

While you’re still in school:

  • Understand approximate costs
  • Learn exam sequencing
  • Get familiar with expected timelines

This prevents shock after graduation and allows smarter planning. Students who anticipate the process make deliberate moves instead of reactive ones.

Preparation turns uncertainty into structure.

you can find detailed guides on our website on how to register with each board 

Summarized guide of steps for all boards here

ECFVG here

NEB here


The big idea

You don’t need to rush into the licensing process as a student.

You need to remove future obstacles.

Every small step you take now compounds. When graduation arrives, you won’t be starting from zero — you’ll already be positioned, informed, and organized.

The equivalency process rewards foresight far more than last-minute effort.

Future-you doesn’t want panic.

Future-you wants momentum.