The ECFVG (Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates) program is seeking veterinarians in various practice types and career paths to help revise tests used for foreign veterinary graduates seeking to become licensed or employed in the United States.
The ECFVG program includes 2 tests, the Basic and Clinical Sciences Examination (BCSE) and the Clinical Proficiency Examination (CPE), to determine whether an individual possesses the knowledge and skills equivalent to that of a minimally-qualified graduate of an AVMA-COE accredited College of Veterinary Medicine. In December 2021, we sent an announcement email contacting AVMA members to see if our colleagues would be willing and able to volunteer their familiarity as a practicing veterinarian to help ensure a fair and accurate assessment of these knowledge and skills.
In the December email, the ECFVG announced that we were seeking approximately 12-20 veterinarians to serve as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on a Job Task Analysis (JTA) Task Force to respond by January 5, 2022. The JTA Task Force will ideally be comprised of veterinarians in general practice types, including both small animal and a broad range of large animal types, as well as academic veterinarians involved in teaching basic or clinical sciences. Based on the responses, the ECFVG is still seeking appropriately 3-5 veterinarians to serve as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on a Job Task Analysis (JTA) Task Force in bovine, swine and avian practitioners. The JTA will be conducted by our test development and administration vendor, Prometric.
The purpose of the JTA meeting is to review the existing test blueprint in tandem with information gathered beforehand and make recommendations regarding the knowledge and skills that should be included for assessment in the BCSE (computer-based exam) test specifications and CPE (performance-based exam). The JTA Task Force will meet through four remote sessions, each 4 hours in length. Although Prometric’s preference is for all SMEs to be available for all four sessions, they understand if SMEs can only make three of the four session. PLEASE NOTE IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE, ALL SMEs MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST SESSION/DAY (February 4, 2022), which provides the introductory overview and instructions for participation on subsequent sessions.
Desk study, a precursor of JTA, will occur in January 2022. Prometric (test developer) will contact the SME to set up a 30-minute interview to understand the current and future trend of the vet medicine. The time and date will be determined between the SME and Prometric in January 2022.
The JTA’s four remote Task Force session dates are scheduled to begin February 4, 5, 11, & 12, 2022. The four remote dates will run from 9am CST – 1pm CST.
If you are interested in being involved in this step of the continued development of the BCSE, please respond to Robert Cook, ECFVG Testing Coordinator (rcook@avma.org) ASAP and no later than Tuesday, January 18, 2022 with:
– Your name
– All contact information (email and phone number).
– Your specialty/focus/experience
– If you can help with the Desk Study, JTA or both
– Of the dates above which ones you are available and work best for you
The ECFVG and Prometric will review the responses of all interested individuals and select the final participants immediately thereafter to ensure the workshop comprises a balanced representation from across the veterinary profession. As such, please block off the days you are available until we contact you about your offer of service.
Finally, the Commission is always looking for qualified veterinarians to participate in other test development activities, including item writing and item review (for test questions used for the BCSE), for the ECFVG certification program. If you are unable to participate in the JTA, and/or know of other veterinarians (educators or private or public practitioners) whose expertise would be valuable to the continued development of the ECFVG examinations, please contact us for further information.
On behalf of the ECFVG and the AVMA, thank you for your time and interest in the examination development process. We look forward to hearing from you and potentially working with you again during the BCSE development process. If you have any questions regarding the ECFVG or the workshops, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Judy Coman (jcoman@avma.org).