How to Start as a Relief Veterinarian: DEA Registration, Licenses, Insurance, Taxes and Rates

Relief work has become a real career, not just a bridge between jobs. Veterinarians choose it for control over their schedule, variety, and in many markets better pay per day than an associate role. But the moment you stop being an employee, the things your employer quietly handled become your job: your licenses, your controlled substance registration, your insurance, your taxes and your contracts.

This guide walks through what to set up before your first shift. It is not legal, tax or insurance advice. A short session with an accountant and an attorney who know veterinary work is money well spent.

1. Licenses in every state you will work

A veterinary license is issued by a state and does not carry over. If you plan to take shifts in two or three neighboring states, you need a license in each. Start early: some boards take weeks, and a few require a state jurisprudence exam. See moving states with a veterinary license.

Practices will check your license before you work, and many will check again. Keep your status clean, your renewals on time, and your CE records in one place so you can show them when a board audits you.

2. Your own DEA registration

This is where new relief veterinarians most often get it wrong. The California Veterinary Medical Association's 2024 guidance, written by veterinarian Grant Miller, sets out the rules clearly.

• You need your own DEA number. A relief veterinarian may administer and dispense controlled substances under the practice's DEA registration, but may not prescribe under someone else's number. If you will write any controlled substance prescription, it must be under your own registration.
• Registration is tied to a place. A DEA registration covers a location where controlled substances are stored, received or dispensed. A practice that holds drugs registers that premises.
• Opioid training. Since 2023, DEA registrants must attest to having completed eight hours of training on opioid and substance use disorders. Veterinarians are exempt and check the box that applies to them.
• Many states add their own controlled substance registration. Check each state you work in.

If you are mobile

Mobile relief and house call veterinarians have a specific provision. The Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act of 2014 lets a veterinarian carry and use controlled substances outside the registered location, in the usual course of veterinary practice, under one registration at your principal place of business. The DEA published its conforming rule in February 2024. You still need a registered base location, records, and secure storage in the vehicle.

If you keep your own drugs

Most relief veterinarians use the practice's stock. If you hold your own, the CVMA guidance covers the rules: transfers between registrants go through a DEA Form 222 for Schedule II drugs or an invoice for others, transfers are limited to about 5% of your annual stock, and disposal goes through a reverse distributor.

3. Liability and license defense insurance

Employed veterinarians are usually covered by the practice's policies. As a relief veterinarian:

• Professional liability. Some practices extend their coverage to relief doctors and some do not. Ask in writing before every new client practice.
• License defense. A board complaint can arrive months after a shift. A policy that pays for defense before the board is worth having on its own.
• General liability and auto, especially if you are mobile or carry equipment.

Several carriers offer policies written for relief work. Read whether the policy follows you to every practice or covers only named ones.

4. Taxes

The AVMA's compensation guidance notes that relief pay usually comes without benefits and often without tax withholding. In practice, most relief veterinarians are independent contractors, which means:

• You pay self employment tax on top of income tax, since no employer pays its share of Social Security and Medicare.
• You pay quarterly estimated taxes to the IRS, and to your state if it has an income tax.
• You can deduct legitimate business expenses: licenses, DEA and state registrations, insurance, CE, equipment, mileage and professional dues.
• You may choose a business structure, such as an LLC or an S corporation election. An accountant can tell you when the savings outweigh the paperwork.

Set aside a share of every payment the day it arrives. A common mistake in the first year is spending money that belonged to April.

Contractor or employee?

Whether you are truly an independent contractor depends on how the work is controlled, not on the label in the agreement. A practice that sets your hours, tells you how to practice and treats you like staff may be classifying you wrongly. The IRS and state labor agencies publish the tests. Some relief veterinarians work as part time employees of a practice or an agency instead, which changes the tax picture entirely.

5. Contracts

Every practice should sign a short agreement. Cover at least:

• Rate and what it buys: day, half day or hourly, and what happens when a shift runs long.
• Cancellation: a fee if the practice cancels within an agreed notice period.
• Payment terms: net 15 or net 30, and how you invoice.
• Insurance: whose policy covers you on that shift.
• Records and callbacks: who finishes records and who calls clients back after you leave. See the relief veterinarian first shift handoff.
• Non solicitation: whether the practice can hire you directly, and whether you can see its clients elsewhere.

6. Setting your rate

Relief rates vary widely by region, species and type of practice, with emergency and specialty shifts paying more. Two ways to anchor it:

• Work back from your goal. Take the income you want, add self employment tax, insurance, licenses, CE, retirement savings and the benefits an employer would have paid, then divide by the shifts you realistically expect to work. Most relief veterinarians do not work every weekday.
• Check the market. Look at what relief postings in your area state, and ask colleagues. Zuse shows relief veterinarian jobs and veterinary pay by state where postings state pay.

7. Getting your first practices

• Start with practices you know. Former employers and classmates are the fastest first clients.
• Make it easy to book you. A one page sheet with your licenses, DEA, species, skills, rate and availability.
• Be the doctor who leaves clean records. Relief work runs on reputation, and finished records get you invited back.

What practices look for

The other side of this is our guide to hiring a relief veterinarian. Read it to see what a practice will check before your first shift.

How Zuse helps

On Zuse Talent, veterinarians can claim their license, mark themselves open to relief work, and browse relief veterinarian jobs with pay shown. Practices on Zuse Hire see licensed veterinarians nearby.

Sources

• California Veterinary Medical Association, Grant Miller DVM, guidance on DEA registration for relief and mobile veterinarians (November 27, 2024)
• Federal Register, DEA, Registration requirements for mobile veterinary activity, conforming amendment (February 8, 2024), implementing the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act of 2014
• AVMA Career Center, Understanding veterinary compensation
• IRS, Self employed individuals tax center

This article explains common practice and is not legal, tax or insurance advice.

FAQ

Can a relief veterinarian use the practice's DEA number?

To administer and dispense controlled substances at that practice, yes. To prescribe controlled substances, no. Prescriptions must be written under your own DEA registration.

Do relief veterinarians need their own DEA registration?

Most should have one. It is required to prescribe controlled substances, and mobile veterinarians need one at their principal place of business to carry drugs under the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act.

Do relief veterinarians need their own malpractice insurance?

Usually. Some practices extend coverage to relief doctors, but many do not, and a license defense policy protects you from board complaints that arrive after a shift.

How are relief veterinarians taxed?

Most work as independent contractors. They pay self employment tax and quarterly estimated income taxes, and can deduct business expenses such as licenses, insurance and CE.

How much should a relief veterinarian charge?

It varies by region and practice type. Work back from your income goal plus taxes, insurance and lost benefits, then compare with relief postings that state pay in your area.