As of last night, 3 AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) representatives arrived in Grenada for a preliminary assessment of SGU for accreditation. All students from North America have been anxiously awaiting this for quite some time now. The ball is rolling. There is no telling when it will stop, however.

The group will tour all SGU facilities and give an assessment of what must be done for a Caribbean veterinary school to become accredited. Depending on who you ask, some say that we may receive preliminary approval in about 1 year. Some say something more like 2-5 years. I think it may be more like the latter, but I am just a measly student.

When preliminary approval/accreditation occurs, students finishing at SGU will have a much easier time getting licensed within North America. As it stands now, students must take the normal national licensing exam (NAVLE), then the foreign licensing exam (ECFVG, a very expensive exam @ ~ $6 - 8000), then state boards to practice. OR one can take the PAVE during your 3rd year, then NAVLE, then state boards. The PAVE is much less expensive, but is only currently accepted in 21 states.

Again, once preliminary accreditation occurs all students currently enrolled at SGU and all those who enroll afterwards will only be required to take the NAVLE and state boards to practice (not sure about Canada). It will be exactly like going to school in the U.S. as far as licensing.

Don't forget, this does NOT mean that SGU is accredited, it is just the initial steps and could be years down the road.

As a student, I don't know if they will tell us the results whether good or bad. But if I hear any information, especially that related to timing, I will post it here.

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Know your food supply

If Western can get accredited without even having a freakin' teaching hospital and now a planned BANFIELD teaching facility, I think SGU Vet should be able to procure as much accreditation. Ask professors/vets about what they think about western and you'll see how much an abomination it is. Then again, it is in the states and we all would jump at the chance to attend that poopwhole.

I am pretty sure that the AVMA people are gone, or at least their SGU visit is completed. I should have also mentioned that a very recent SGU grad and current student President of the AVMA was also down here for the visit. She was the first Caribbean student to achieve this and represented all vet students at all AVMA accred schools (and SGU, Ross, and St. Matthews) in the world. I think all carib vet students owe her a big thanks.

I asked the Dean of the vet school how it was going a few days ago and he said pretty well, however, speaking with others they say that the AVMA guys were very sober and rarely laughed or even smiled. Maybe that is part of the job...a poker face!

It definitely seems like a lot of politics. Some people don't realize that, for brief periods, even prominent US schools lose their accred for various reasons. I heard from a good source that UC Davis lost theirs sometime in the early 2000's because some of their facilities were out of date or something to that effect. It was probably more of a warning though. Apparently every AVMA school is reevaluated every 7 years or so.

BTW...the Dean said that we would get their report in 6-8 weeks. I don't know if they will make it available to the students.

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Know your food supply

You are absolutely correct... UCDavis did lose accreditation just a few years back for having POOR vet teaching facilities. And I think it would only be fair if the dean would provide honest and complete information to the student body. An organized and comprehensive email sent to vet students would be the right thing to do. We all have a vested interest in the success of the dvm program and would appreciate the information.

Its just too bad that the new vet building wasn't completed in time for the AVMA visit as it could have made a more dramatic impression of the vet school. I think the anatomy lab and perhaps the vet hospital (at least the large animal aspect of it) made good impressions on the avma suits.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), through the Council on Education (COE) is recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) as the accrediting agency for colleges and schools for veterinary medicine.
The mission of the AVMA COE is to use clearly defined Standards for Accreditation and fairly and accurately evaluate DVM (or equivalent) veterinary medical education programs. The Standards are interpreted and applied by the Council to each school/college in relation to its mission. Through the accreditation process, the Council is fully dedicated to protecting the rights of the students, assisting the schools/colleges to improve veterinary medical education, and assuring the public that accredited programs provide a quality education.


Foreign veterinary colleges may seek accreditation status from the AVMA through procedures established by the COE. Accreditation is of value to foreign colleges for purposes of recognition of program quality and/or as a means to assist graduates who choose to practice veterinary medicine in the United States. Foreign veterinary colleges are defined as colleges of veterinary medicine located outside the United States or Canada.
Two types of site visits to a foreign veterinary college can be conducted by the COE:

Consultative - If an established foreign veterinary medical college desires consultation and advice on its readiness for attaining accreditation status, the college must request a consultative site visit. Consultative site teams are composed of at least two COE members and one AVMA staff member. A foreign college seeking accreditation status must provide the COE with five (5) copies of a video (DVD format) detailing the physical facilities and educational programs of the college. The college must submit a detailed self-study report in advance of the visit.

Complete – An established foreign veterinary medical college seeking initial accreditation may request a complete site visit. The process is the same as for a U.S. or Canadian college.
In keeping with SGUSVM’s intention of seeking AVMA accreditation, the AVMA granted authorization for the Council on Education to send a consultative site visit team to the SGU campus to conduct a consultative site visit from February 18–22, 2007. The consultative site visit provided an additional means of consultation and advice regarding SGUSVM’s preparation for a complete site visit from the AVMA Council on Education.



The consultative site visit team was composed of two experienced COE members appointed by the Council Chair and one AVMA staff member. The team will provide an unofficial written report of evaluation noting the readiness of the SGUSVM for a complete site visit at a later date. The decision to accredit a veterinary medical school/college is determined during the complete site visit.

Great post! If any prospective/newly accepted students want information on current events in the Vet school...including the above...check the link below. It is updated weekly I believe.

SGU SVM Paws Print

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Know your food supply

As a parent of a SGU Vet Student I have been following this visit and here is an email I received from the AVMA after I inquired about the results of the visit:

"The Council on Education did, indeed, conduct a consultative site visit
of St. George's University School of Veterinary Medicine. A confidential
report is being prepared and will be sent to the dean listing the
schools strengths and weaknesses, as well as an appraisal of the
preparedness of the school for a comprehensive site visit. This report
will not be available to the public.
It is then up to the school as to if or when they might request a
comprehensive site visit seeking an accreditation status. There is no
specific time frame for this process. I am sorry I cannot be more helpful."


This was received from a staff member of the AVMA Division of Education & Research. Hopefully the powers that be down at SGU will keep all of you guys informed.

I was wondering if the preliminary assessment has been received yet?

Not to my knowledge. It will probably be another month or so.

I will post here if anything comes up.

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Know your food supply

It's important to remember how political the AVMA is. You can have a wonderful school and still not gain accreditation. The reason Western advanced the way that they did is because of connections.

UC Davis was in the top 5 vet schools in the country and then got placed on probation out of nowhere. Yet Texas A&M is extremely old and they didn't have any problems. Hint hint.

I have a friend working in an emergency clinic making 115,000 and she graduated from a caribbean vet school, so I really don't see what the big deal is whether these places get accredited or not, aside from expensive licensing examinations. Maybe someday they'll put people in charge who are compassionate and do the right thing.

Nonetheless, I wish you guys the best in seeking AVMA accreditation.

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Michael
Texas A&M '06