NAVMEC (round 3)

By: Stephanie Silberstang

Cornell University

The North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium (NAVMEC) was started by the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) in order to keep veterinarians up to speed with the changing needs of society through discussion of education models, accreditation and licensing (http://www.aavmc.org/navmec.htm). This consortium includes over 200 groups and organizations interested in changing, supporting and improving veterinary education that will send a representative to the 3 national meetings in 2010 to discuss how veterinary medicine can evolve with society.

The importance of this group is astronomical because it brings together hundreds of groups and organizations to work together in deciding the future of veterinary medicine. As we know, veterinary medicine is not static, it is quickly changing and this can be seen in the quality and number of applications to veterinary schools, the emerging specialties (e.g. parasitology, animal welfare), and the attitudes portrayed by the public about their veterinarian or veterinarians in general. NAVMEC’s goal is to ensure that the educational models within veterinary schools can be both creative while both ensuring that the students are prepared for licensing and the school can meet accreditation. In addition to existing schools, the possibility of new and emerging schools in the near future makes NAVMEC and its group of leaders in the field a necessity in order to give veterinary medicine a unified standard of quality as well as an up-to-date statement on the goals of the educational institutions in terms of keeping up with the dynamics of society.