AVMA commits $750,000 for interim exam site

LAS VEGAS—American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) officials have committed $750,000 to lease a temporary site for candidates taking the final step of the Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) process, which assesses the knowledge and aptitude of foreign graduates pursuing licensure in the United States.

Implementation of the Las Vegas warehouse site is designed to boost testing capacity for the Clinical Proficiency Exam (CPE) to 137 seats. AVMA reveals an influx of applicants vying to take the CPE has created lengthy backlog with many students waiting more than a year to sit for the test.

Currently 12 university teaching hospitals give the $6,000 exam.

The deal

The examinations will be administered under contract with the Western Veterinary Conference (WVC), which plans to construct a permanent testing site across the street from the temporary facility.

The $8 million WVC Education Center isn't expected to be complete until February 2006 at the earliest, and AVMA officials say they recognize a more immediate need.

The temporary site is expected to remain operational for three years. Testing is slated to begin sometime in 2005.

"We've gotten a feel for the needs of students going through this process, and they're frustrated," says Dr. Jack Walther, AVMA immediate past president and president of WVC. "We're doing everything we can to shorten the students' wait time."

About the CPE

The CPE is an intensive, hands-on examination that takes nearly four days and tests students' proficiency when conducting patient examinations, performing necropsies, administering anesthetic, developing and reading X-rays and performing surgery, Walther says.

The ECFVG or the National Examining Board of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association monitors CPE testing sites. At presstime, 12 veterinary medical institutions were approved to give the exam, including Cornell University, University of Florida, Tuskegee University, Mississippi State University, Louisiana State University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, University of Missouri, University of Tennessee and Tufts University.