According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), a veterinary specialist is a veterinarian who has completed the additional requirements for board certification in one of the 20 AVMA specialty boards or colleges -- each one a distinct discipline, such as dermatology or opthalmology.

Determining whether your pet needs the services of a veterinary specialist is most often done by your general veterinarian.  In fact, many veterinary specialists accept cases ONLY on  a referral basis.  Typically, your general veterinarian will remain part of the healthcare team and will be kept informed of your pet's progress throughout the specialized care.

In other cases, however, you might be looking for a second opinion, and may wish to find a specialist on your own who can independently assess the case.

In either scenario, it can be helpful to understand a bit about the various disciplines.  Perhaps the best place to start is with the AVMA .  Their website deliniates the specialities, and provides links and contacts for the boards and colleges represented. 

You can also find more information about the most commonly needed specialists through these links:

Behaviorists  General Information

Denistry  American Veterinary Dental College

Dermatology General Information 

Internal Medicine (includes the specialties of internal medicine, cardiology, neurology and oncology). American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine

Opthalmologists  American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists

Preventive Medicine American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine

Surgery American College of Veterinary Surgeons

Holistic  American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (Note:  This is NOT an AVMA recognized specialty)

The following practices in New Jersey and the surrounding vicinity include professional staff in a number of veterinary specialties:

Veterinary Referral Centre 48 Notch Rd Little Falls NJ  (888) 722-7200	Garden State Veterinary Specialists One Pine St. Neptune, NJ 07753 (732) 922-0011
Animal Medical Center 510 E. 62nd St. New York NY 10021 (212) 838-8100	Manhattan Veterinary Group 240 E. 80th St. New York NY 10021 (212) 988-1000
Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania 3850 Spruce St. Philadelphia PA 19104-6010 (215) 898-3335	Red Bank Veterinary Hospital 210 Newman Springs Rd. Red Bank, NJ 07701 (732) 747-3636

 

Special thanks to GRRI Volunteer Nancy Hughes for researching this article.