COE schedules accreditation visit to Ross University

ST. KITTS, WEST INDIES — The Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine is slated to get a visit from the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) Council on Education (COE) this month.

The COE will make its comprehensive accreditation site visit to the school January 16-20. A consultative visit was made to the school in September 2006 following the submission of a self-study report made by Ross to the COE that July. The COE ruled at that time that the school needed to build a large-animal isolation facility and expand its research program to be considered for full accreditation.

A progress report was submitted to COE in February 2009 by Ross, outlining its improvements, but its request for a site visit was denied the following month. The January 2011 visit was finally approved by COE in July 2010.

Currently, Ross graduates—who complete their basic science curriculum at the Caribbean school and then travel to one of 22 COE-accredited veterinary colleges for clinical rotations—must pass an equivalence examination before practicing in the United States. COE accreditation could apply for licensure directly upon graduation without the need for additional examinations.

Only nine other veterinary schools outside the United States have been fully accredited by COE.