Comment period extended for NAVMEC report on education

NATIONAL REPORT — The roadmap for veterinary education—developed over the last year through public input and debate—is a few months farther from becoming reality due to the overwhelming response organizers received during the open comment period.

Dr. Michael Chaddock, deputy director of the Association of American Veterinary Colleges (AAVMC) and project manager of the North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium (NAVMEC), says the comment period on the final NAVMEC report, released in October, has been extended from February until the end of April. A number of groups that wanted time to draft statements but wouldn't have been able to meet by the original February deadline requested the extention. The extended comment period gives NAVMEC staff more time to review the few hundred comments it already received.

The report includes five strategic goals and 20 recommendations that NAVMEC hopes will serve as a roadmap for the future of veterinary education. The strategic goals include graduating career-ready veterinarians that are educated and skilled in a standardized set of core competencies; ensuring that admissions, curricula, accreditation and testing/licensure are competency driven; finding a way to educate and train veterinarians in a cost-effective manner; and stimulating a profession-wide sense of urgency and focus on action.

The report was submitted by NAVMEC to the AAVMC Board of Directors for review and comment. In addition to the information included in the draft report, NAVMEC compiled a more detailed version of the core competencies, which can be found at navmec.org as a supplement to the original report. Veterinarians can access the online survey or send comments on the report through NAVMEC's website, Chaddock says.

Once the comment period closes, NAVMEC will review all data and make any necessary changes to its report and recommendations. The group will submit a final report with the suggested changes to the AAVMC Board of Directors for review at its July meeting in St. Louis. AAVMC will then take on the task of implementing the plan and collaborating with industry stakeholders.