AVMA Ed goes live

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Tom McPheron
Phone: 847-285-6781
Cell: 773-494-5419
e-mail: tmcpheron@avma.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 1, 2008

Schaumburg, Ill. — The effort and time veterinarians take to stay up-to-date on their education and qualifications just got a lot easier thanks to the world’s largest veterinary association, which is launching 24/7 online continuing education (CE) courses.

On December 1, 2008 the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) will unveil AVMA Ed, launching over 60 online CE courses for veterinarians. The AVMA will increase that to approximately 100 courses in the program’s first year.

Unlike some online CE that requires the veterinarian to attend a live webinar at an appointed time, AVMA Ed courses are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are flexible enough to begin, pause, and conclude at a pace convenient to the participant. Not only will the new online courses set a high standard for professional education, but the new service will help veterinarians meet their CE requirements in the most convenient, affordable and efficient way possible.

“Even if a veterinarian missed the last AVMA convention, they don’t have to miss out on the educational opportunities available there. During the New Orleans convention, we were able to capture almost one hundred hours of continuing education programming for AVMA Ed, and worked with presenters and a professional test writing vendor to develop thorough test questions for each CE course,” explains David Little, head of the AVMA Convention Division.

“These live continuing education courses were converted to an easy to use electronic format, available to anyone over the Web. Veterinarians are busy, and this service will help simplify their lives!”

The concept behind AVMA Ed came from research conducted by the Association. Surveys showed that 70 percent of members wanted the AVMA to offer online CE. Demand was particularly strong among young veterinarians, where more than 82 percent said they were interested in online courses.

The AVMA contracted with an educational testing service with a strong track record in writing professional testing questions in the field of veterinary medicine, and a well-established online learning vendor that is providing the high-quality online educational software used by AVMA Ed.

“We know the AVMA is looked to as an international leader in veterinary education and accreditation, so we set a very high bar for the quality of AVMA Ed, and that includes the technology that supports the system. For example, we wanted to make sure that AVMA Ed was flexible enough to work on anybody’s Web connection—whether dial-up or broadband—which we’re proud to say we’ve accomplished,” says Dr. Althea Jones, AVMA Online Professional Services Editor. “It wasn’t easy to find an online learning platform that could meet AVMA standards for presentation quality, was flexible enough to meet the needs of all AVMA members, and also had the features we require for a professional continuing education program.. It took time, but the Association is very proud of what we’ve brought together in AVMA Ed.”

AVMA Ed allows veterinarians to download course notes and listen to a lecture on a subject of interest while watching a corresponding PowerPoint display.

Course fees are set at $45 per CE hour for members, $65 for non-members, and free to student members of the AVMA. To welcome members to AVMA Ed, the AVMA will be offering a complimentary trial hour of programming during the month of December.

AVMA Ed will also utilize one of the AVMA’s strongest and most respected tools in veterinary education: the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA). From every issue of JAVMA, which is published twice a month, two to three articles will be selected for inclusion in AVMA Ed. Through the online CE system, veterinarians will be able to select one or more of these JAVMA articles to study. They can then earn an hour of CE credit for each article by taking a test which has been prepared by the author and reviewed by testing experts.

“This is part of the AVMA’s effort to improve the interface between our readers and JAVMA. We know that the AVMA’s scientific journals are one of the Association’s strongest assets, and we want to build on that success to benefit our members. AVMA Ed will help us achieve that goal,” explains Dr. Janis Audin, JAVMA editor-in-chief. “The AVMA’s scientific journals are already the most respected and read publications in veterinary medicine around the world, and programs like AVMA Ed help veterinarians use these journals to increase their knowledge of veterinary medicine by staying up-to-date on the latest techniques and information.”

Dr. Audin explains that AVMA Ed will offer CE courses in a diverse array of subjects and species, including clinical research on new drugs and diagnostic procedures, surgery, and anesthesia, and clinical studies focusing on the health of companion animals, and bovine, equine, porcine, avian, and wildlife species.

For more information about AVMA Ed, please visit www.avmaed.org.