Veterinary Education in Americas

Benedito Fortes de Arruda, DVMBrazilian Federal Council of Veterinary

MedicinePresident

History

• Lyon - France (1761)

History

• Mexico – 1853;• Canada – 1862; • U.S.A. – 1879; • Argentina – 1883;

• Brazil – 1917;

Present Situation

Country SchoolsArgentine 11Bolivia 11Brazil 207Canada 5Chile 30Colombia 20Costa Rica 3Cuba 4Guatemala 1Ecuador 1El Salvador 3

Country SchoolsUSA 30Panama 1Paraguay 2Peru 14Mexico 52

Nicaragua 5Dominican Republic 3Uruguay 1Venezuela 16TOTAL 420

Modified from: Asociación Panamericana de Facultades y Escuelas de Veterinaria

PANVET• Panamerican Association of Veterinary

Sciences;• Membership from veterinary associations

within North, South, and Central America;• Platform to develop strategies to address

issues of mutual interest and concern:– veterinary workforce needs, – control of transboundary diseases, and – quality of veterinary medical education

COPEVET

• Panamerican Council of Education in Veterinary Sciences:– PANVET;– American Federation of Colleges of Veterinary

Science (FPFECV);– Committees:

• Accreditation;• Certification;• Homologation;

Quality of Veterinary Education• Higher to lower quality:

– Professors;– Teaching system;– Static curricula;– Infra-structure;– Excessively specialized teaching;– Budget;– Accreditation systems with low demands;– Lack of certification in some countries;

How to improve the quality?

• Well formed professors with experience in pratical veterinary medicine;

• Flexible curricula which reaches the social needs (national and international organizations);

• Increment or improve the management of the budget

How to improve the quality?

• Investment in infra-structure (some schools);• Expose the students to the maximum number

of professional situations, in different areas, avoiding premature specialization;

• Veterinary Education Core Curriculum (OIE);

How to improve the quality?

• Increment the political action of international organization (OIE, PANVET) to more demanding accreditation systems, as well as, for professional certification;

• More transformative teaching rather than formative and informative teaching;

MUITO OBRIGADO