Dr Mark Schipp on the future of veterinary education

_{Image (L - R): UK CVO Christine Middlemiss and CVO of Australia Mark Schipp in 2022}

They say if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling backwards. This is certainly true for veterinary education. To meet the demands of an ever-changing world, the education of our undergraduate veterinarians needs to constantly adapt and innovate to ensure incoming cohorts of veterinary graduates are best placed to thrive in our wonderful profession. 

The veterinary profession has seen foundational challenges emerge over recent decades. Some of these challenges are financial, such as ensuring that veterinary schools are viable, that students don’t graduate crippled by debt and that vets have the skills to run profitable businesses in an era of increasing competition and changing workforce dynamics.  

Other challenges relate to some of the greatest societal challenges of our times. This includes ensuring vets develop a dynamic skillset enabling expertise and influence to mitigate climate change, antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic disease – including those with pandemic potential.  

Perhaps most importantly, a significant challenge for our profession relates to our self-care and wellbeing – ensuring that graduates have the skills and networks to cope with an increasingly demanding and litigious society. We can only look after others by looking after ourselves.    

Our ability to face many of these challenges relies on the structure and strength of our veterinary education. While Australia’s veterinary programs rightly enjoy a high level of international recognition, it is only through continual evolution that we can maintain this status and meet the requirements of the future.  

Many of our profession’s challenges are being experienced globally, and it is one of the privileges of my role to meet with the Chief Veterinary Officers of other countries. Reflecting on and sharing their experiences and initiatives can be highly beneficial for Australia. I have included a photo from September when I held one of my regular meetings with the UK CVO Professor Christine Middlemiss, who many of you would remember from her time as the CVO of New South Wales.      

Last year, two educational reviews focused on veterinary education were commenced. At the beginning of 2022, the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC) began an Accreditation standards review, which incorporated the accreditation standards for entry-level programs and day one competencies of veterinary graduates. Mid-year, Veterinary Schools of Australia and New Zealand (VSANZ) launched an independent Review of veterinary education in Australia and New Zealand.  

It was pleasing that both reviews considered our profession’s requirements with a long-term lens and took into account international experiences. In the case of the AVBC review, the UK’s RCVS accreditation standards were an important reference. For the VSANZ review, the independent panel members are drawn from the UK and New Zealand in addition to Australia.  

Both reviews took a highly consultative approach with the opportunity for all members of our profession to submit feedback. I welcomed the opportunity to provide input, including from my perspective as a member of the ACT Veterinary Practitioners Board and a representative of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Some areas of focus for me were ensuring skills in exotic disease recognition, epidemiology, and multidisciplinary collaboration. Food safety and welfare competencies are also very important for wellbeing and maintaining Australia’s valuable export markets. No doubt colleagues reading this had other priorities and experiences to contribute, as it is only together that we can enhance our profession through the evolution of our veterinary education.  

I certainly don’t have answers for all the challenges in veterinary education. Nor is vet education reform able to address all the issues in our profession. But taking a strategic and long-term view of future needs is both pragmatic and essential.  

I look forward to following the outcomes of these reviews. In my many regular interactions with undergraduate veterinary students I am constantly impressed by the intelligence, passion and altruism found in our future veterinarians. They deserve an education that sets them up for a fulfilling career full of reward and opportunity.  

For the latest updates on the work of the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer, please follow our Twitter channel, and you can also follow me on LinkedIn and the Australian Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Beth Cookson on LinkedIn.