It is hard to believe that we are already over halfway through the year! The past few months have been extremely busy and productive for our organization, and I am excited to share with you just a few of the recent highlights. 

The Future of Training 

During the 2023 ACVIM Forum in Philadelphia this June, the ACVIM leadership convened to explore the changing environment for veterinary specialty training and to inform the design of the ACVIM’s forthcoming, comprehensive review of residency training requirements. Participants were comprised of volunteer leaders and included ACVIM committee and task force chairs, residents, and members of the Board of Regents as well as staff. The RTP Oversight Task Force is completing an evaluation of the current standing of our programs, and the initial findings were shared as part of the workshop to help guide discussion.

I am pleased to share the Future of Training summary, which details the purpose, process, and outcomes of the meeting; not the least of which is the development of a roadmap of key questions and criteria that will inform a revision to training program standards expected to take place over the next 18-months. I encourage you to read through the summary yourself to understand the work that has been done and will continue to be done to improve the ACVIM Candidate and mentor  experience.

Enhancing Candidate Support

In that same vein, we have made it a priority to assess the needs of Candidates and to implement changes to better support them throughout their path to Board-certification. One such development is the opening of the Ovid Discovery Platform for Candidates, which provides a central location for accessing scientific veterinary literature with both open access and subsidized subscriptions.

Additionally, a virtual Certification Town Hall has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 10at 1:30 pm CT.  During this hour, ACVIM leaders will share recent updates and enhancements to the certification/examination process while inviting questions and feedback from the ACVIM community. I hope that you will plan to attend to stay informed on the significant progress that has been made and on our vision for the future. 

Finally, we are excited to share that we have partnered with the VIN Foundation to provide members and Candidates with a series of debt-counseling webinars. The webinars will be tailored to provide relevant content to four different demographics, one of which is Candidate-specific. We are currently planning all four virtual sessions to take place on the respective dates from 2:00-4:00  pm CT, but will confirm these dates and times in future communications: