Nationally recognized educators and private practitioners gathered in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Oct. 10, 2007, to discuss how to recruit more equine veterinarians and ensure those currently in the profession are retained.  The American Association of Equine Practitioners sponsored the first-ever Summit on Equine Veterinary Education to start a dialogue about key career and lifestyle issues affecting the profession.

Summit participants worked in breakout groups to develop action plans on several topics, including how to admit qualified students who want to practice equine medicine to veterinary schools.  Attendees also discussed the hands-on skills, or core competencies, that are necessary for new graduates to possess when entering practice.  Finally, the issues of life balance and job satisfaction were identified as key concerns for the retention of current practitioners.

“We believe there has never been a better time to be an equine veterinarian,” said Douglas G. Corey, DVM, AAEP president.  “The challenge facing the profession is promoting the benefits of equine practice to students and ensuring that the students who have an interest in horses are admitted to veterinary school.”

Attendees identified three action items that are considered the highest priority for the AAEP, in partnership with academic institutions and private practitioners, to address:

• Gather data to determine the reality of practitioners entering and leaving the profession.
• Promote the list of core competencies to school faculty and administrators for use in the curriculum. 
• Implement a marketing program that promotes the profession to students, faculty and others who impact a student’s decision to become an equine veterinarian.

“The AAEP, along with its members, will be working on these action items throughout 2008,” added Dr. Corey.  “We are committed to ensuring that there will always be plenty of equine veterinarians to care for the nation’s horses.”

The complete summit report with a list of attendees is available here.  For more information about the summit, contact Sally Baker, AAEP director of marketing and public relations, at (859) 233-0147.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse.  Currently, the AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its nearly 9,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.

Source: www.aaep.org