C&P Examiner Training and VA Certification Courses for Staff and Contract Clinicians

To get Compensation and Pension (C&P) examiner certification, you pass a required set of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) courses before you can conduct exams. At Rank and Pay, we publish guides on VA benefits, and we built this course list from VA's training directive and federal oversight reports on examiner training.

You take the general certification courses first, then one specialty course for each exam type, such as mental health, musculoskeletal or traumatic brain injury (TBI). VA staff examiners take the courses on VA's Talent Management System (TMS) and register in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) DMA certification database. Contract examiners take more than 11 hours of courses on VHA TRAIN before a first exam, under the training plan of the company that hires them.

Training is one step on the full path to becoming a C&P examiner, which also covers licenses, contractors and job postings.

VA C&P Certification Courses and Modules

VA C&P certification gives staff and contract examiners nearly the same courses: four general courses, a PACT Act course, and specialty courses by exam type. VHA Directive 1046(1) requires VHA examiners to complete and pass these courses. The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) summarizes the matching contract list in a September 2025 report.

Staff course titles in TMS include "DMA Medical Opinions." DMA refers to VHA's DMA office, and the staff certification database carries the same name. The courses run online, on VA's TMS for staff and on VHA TRAIN for contract and fee-basis examiners.

When we compared the staff and contract lists, the PACT Act course sat in different places. The staff list requires it before any general exam, while the OIG's contract list files it with the specialty courses. If you move between staff and contract work, ask which list your role follows.

The order follows from what each rule requires before an exam:

1. Pass the four general courses: General Certification Overview, MST and the Disability Examination Process, Medical Opinions, and Gulf War Medical Examination. VHA staff also take the PACT Act course at this stage.
2. Add the specialty course for each exam type you will perform, such as mental health, musculoskeletal or TBI.
3. Get your completion on record. VHA staff register in the DMA C&P certification database. For contract examiners, the hiring company must ensure completion and file an annual training plan with the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).
4. Start exams in the exam types your certification covers.

Certification for VA Staff Examiners

VA Compensation and Pension examiner certification for staff is complete once you finish the courses for your exam types and register in the DMA C&P certification database. VHA Directive 1046(1), issued November 28, 2023 and amended March 17, 2025, sets the training rules and replaced the older VHA Directive 1603.

The directive lists physicians, dentists, physician assistants, certified nurse practitioners, psychologists, optometrists, social workers and audiologists as VHA examiners. Each must complete and pass the required courses, which run on VA's TMS.

Certification also limits which exams you can take. You may perform only the exam types you are certified for. A staff examiner certified for general exams needs the TBI course and a TBI registration before taking TBI exams, and the TBI license rules apply too.

The detailed qualification rules sit in an internal DMA clinician's guide that VA does not publish. If you join a VA C&P clinic, ask your supervisor for the sections that cover your exam types.

VA posts staff C&P jobs on USAJOBS under titles such as "Physician (Compensation & Pension)" and "Nurse Practitioner-Compensation & Pension." Those 2026 postings ask for one full, current, unrestricted license from any U.S. state, territory or D.C.

C&P Examiner Training for Contract Clinicians

Contract examiners must take more than 11 hours of VA training before they can conduct exams, according to Government Accountability Office (GAO) report GAO-24-107730. GAO splits that into roughly 4 hours on the exam process, more than 4 hours on conditions, and more than 3 hours on working with veterans.

Add the three blocks and you get 4 + 4 + 3 = 11 hours. Two blocks are listed as "more than," so the real total sits above 11. Mental health and musculoskeletal exams add more mandatory courses on top.

Contract examiners take the courses on VHA TRAIN, which VA uses to give fee-basis C&P providers and VBA contractors access to its trainings. The old sharedfedtraining.org address forwards there.

The hiring company carries the compliance duty. It must ensure each examiner finishes the courses, and it files an annual training plan with VBA's exam oversight office.

In 2018, GAO found that VBA did not verify contract examiner training. Since January 2022, VBA has used a centralized online training system for contract examiners, reviews a sample each year, and fines contractors for noncompliance. Keep your own copy of each course completion record.

Veterans Evaluation Services (VES) and Leidos QTC Health Services (QTC) each add their own onboarding around the VA courses:

• VES lists an online application, credential verification, a background check, VA online modules that vary by specialty, a 1 to 2 hour VES functional training, and a 60 to 90 minute practice exam.
• QTC says it provides orientation and training before the first exam and checks credentials periodically.

Examiners may work for more than one contractor, according to GAO-25-107483. If you plan to sign with two companies, ask each one whether it accepts courses you completed under the other's training plan.

Specialty Modules by Exam Type

Each exam type you perform needs its own specialty course on top of the general courses. The course certifies you for that exam type, and the license rules for that exam type apply as well.

• Mental health and PTSD. The staff course is DMA Mental Health Examinations, which covers mental disorders and PTSD, and the contract list calls it Mental Health Certification. Initial mental disorders exams, including PTSD, need a board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrist, a licensed doctorate-level psychologist, or a trainee under close supervision.
• Musculoskeletal. The staff course is DMA Musculoskeletal Exam, and the contract list names Musculoskeletal (Joints). GAO names musculoskeletal and mental health exams as needing added mandatory courses for contract examiners.
• Traumatic brain injury. The staff course is DMA Traumatic Brain Injury Examination, and the contract list includes a TBI course. An initial TBI diagnosis needs a neurologist, neurosurgeon, physiatrist or psychiatrist, so passing the course does not qualify other licenses for initial TBI exams.
• Other contract courses. The OIG's contract list adds Camp Lejeune Contaminated Water, Spina Bifida, and the Separation Health Assessment DD3146 DBQ examiner training. It also names four supplemental courses on military culture, suicide awareness, lethal means safety and the veteran experience.
• Hearing and eye exams. Hearing exams need a state-licensed audiologist under 38 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 4.85, and eye exams need a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist under 38 CFR 4.75. The course lists above do not name a separate audiology or eye course, so ask the hiring team which courses it assigns for those exams.

For the full license rules, see which exams each license can do. For the questionnaire every examiner completes, see what a DBQ is.

How Long C&P Examiner Training Takes and What It Costs

Contract examiners need more than 11 hours of training before a first exam, and VA does not publish a total hour figure for VHA staff examiners. Module lengths, passing scores and course fees do not appear in the VA directive, GAO reports or OIG report cited here.

VES gives the most specific timeline we found. VES says most clinicians finish its full onboarding in 10 to 45 days, a window that also covers credentialing and the background check.

VES's 1 to 2 hour functional training and 60 to 90 minute practice exam come on top of the VA modules, so plan time for both.

VES says it pays for the training. QTC's provider page does not state a training cost, so ask QTC during credentialing. VA staff take the courses on VA's own TMS.

Training cost and pay are separate questions, and C&P examiner pay covers what VA and the contractors publish on pay.

Recertification After C&P Examiner Training

Contract examiners must retrain every 5 years, or after 12 months without conducting an exam, according to the September 2025 VA OIG report. The same report says the VHA directive for staff examiners does not require recertification.

If you plan to do contract exams part time, track the 12-month clock. Going more than 12 months without an exam means retraining before your next one.

Staff examiners who add an exam type still finish that specialty course and register for it in the DMA database.

VA Staff and Contract Training Side by Side

VA staff and contract examiners differ on training platform, completion records, recertification and license rules.

Choose the staff route if you want certification with no retraining clock. Choose contract work if you want to examine across states under the portability law and can do at least one exam every 12 months.

Who This Is Not For

This training path does not fit four groups of clinicians.

• Clinicians who want to treat or prescribe. C&P examiners review records, examine the veteran and complete the DBQ, and a VA rater decides the rating. Examiners do not treat or prescribe in the exam.
• Clinicians who want to write private medical opinions for veterans. That is a different clinician job, covered in nexus letter writer jobs.
• Dentists and optometrists planning contract exams in other states. The federal license portability law for contract examiners covers physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, audiologists and psychologists. It does not cover dentists or optometrists.
• Anyone hoping to finish certification before applying. The sources here describe courses delivered through VA's TMS and each contractor's training plan, and none describes public enrollment. Apply first, then ask about course access during credentialing.

What Would Change This Answer

Three changes would alter the course list or the rules above.

• A new amendment to VHA Directive 1046(1). VHA amended it in March 2025, and the staff training and certification rules sit in it.
• A staff recertification rule. The OIG reports that the directive has none. If VHA adds one, staff examiners would retrain on a schedule as contract examiners do.
• A change to the portability deadline. For physician assistants, nurse practitioners, audiologists and psychologists, contract examiners' cross-state authority runs to January 5, 2027, and physicians' portability is permanent. Bills to extend the deadline were pending but not enacted at this writing. Before planning cross-state work past that date, check whether Congress has extended the date set in Public Law 119-37, section 7203.

Pick a route next: a VA staff posting on USAJOBS, or a contractor such as VES or QTC. Then ask the hiring team which C&P examiner training courses it will assign for the exam types you plan to perform.

Rank and Pay is not affiliated with VA and has not worked as a C&P examiner. This is general information and is not legal, licensing or career advice. Requirements change, so confirm current rules with VA through VHA Directive 1046(1), with the contractor, and with your licensing board.