The OIE Competency Guidelines for Veterinary Paraprofessionals (VPPs) is a companion document to the OIE Curricula Guidelines for Veterinary Paraprofessionals. Together, the documents offer standardized global guidelines for OIE member countries to better define the roles of VPPs, the skills that they require, and the training they need to obtain and apply those skills. The Competency Guidelines specifically outline the skills required for three Tracks of VPPs – animal health, veterinary public health, and laboratory diagnosis. The guidelines may be used by regulators to improve definitions of qualified VPPs, by employers to determine job readiness, or by VPPs for continuing education and career advancement, among other purposes.

This resource is published by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), a leading global authority for safeguarding and improving animal health with 182 member countries. The OIE was established in 1924 and continues to develop, renew and revise its standards and guidelines on the quality of Veterinary Services. To develop these two companion Guidelines for VPPs, the OIE convened an ad hoc Group on Veterinary Paraprofessionals including 16 educators, regulators, experts, and representatives of veterinary paraprofessional associations from 10 countries. The guidelines were released in 2018 and are publicly available in English, Spanish, and French.