NAVMEC board adopts new roadmap for veterinary education

St. Louis

-- A new report describing the future of veterinary education has been adopted by the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).The report, drafted by the North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium (NAVMEC), sought input from top experts in education, accreditation and testing/licensure during multiple meetings.

AAVMC's Board of Directors approved the final report, titled “Roadmap for Veterinary Medical Education in the 21st Century: Responsive, Collaborative, Flexible,” on July 17 here during the association's business meeting.

The report focuses on what needs to be done to provide veterinary medical school graduates with the core knowledge, skills and competencies they must have to satisfy "society’s evolving needs."

The five main goals outlined in the report are to:

• graduate career-ready veterinarians who are proficient and have the confidence to use an agreed-upon set of core competencies;

• ensure that admissions, curricula, accreditation and testing/licensure are competency-driven;

• share resources to ensure veterinary medical education is of the highest quality and maximally cost effective;

• promote an economically viable education system for both colleges of veterinary medicine and veterinary students; and

• stimulate a profession-wide focus on innovation, flexibility and action.

Core competencies are described in the report as:

• multi-species knowledge plus clinical competence in one or more species or disciplines;

• "one health" competency related to the intersection of animal, human and environmental health;

• the development of professional competencies like communication, collaboration, life-long learning, leadership, diversity, multicultural awareness and the ability to adapt.

The final report has been years in the making, and the result of several national meetings between the public, veterinary students and the top stakeholders in veterinary education, accreditation and testing/licensure.

“We recognize that there are many ways to educate students to become veterinarians and that each college is unique and serves a unique constituency,” says Dr. Willie M. Reed, immediate past-president of the AAVMC Board of Directors and dean of the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine. “But this effort will go a long way toward ensuring that academic veterinary medicine continues to evolve and adapt in order to remain relevant. With NAVMEC, academic veterinary medicine continues to be one step ahead of change.”

A nine-person NAVMEC Board of Directors oversaw the efforts of the consortium.