At a time when veterinary practice feels busier than ever, the thought of planning in your 2023 CVE might feel a little overwhelming. Read this blog to understand how your VDS membership can help you meet your VCI CVE requirements.
VCI has specific CVE requirements for vets and veterinary nurses. You can read all about them here and it is your responsibility to keep up to date with any changes.
What counts towards my VCI CVE requirements?
The amount of CVE that must be completed is stipulated by VCI. When it comes to choosing your veterinary CVE activities, take some time to think about what is going to be the most relevant and beneficial to you, as well as your practice. Though your CVE can include anything that will help you do your job – from clinical skills to non-clinical skills such as practice management, communication or self-management – there are some restrictions that you need to be aware of. These include limits on how many CVE credits you can accumulate for each type of CVE and the types of topics covered. You can find more information for practitioners here and for nurses here.
There are lots of opportunities for learning that can count towards CVE for vets and vet nurses, which can be broken down into the following categories:
- Approved CVE course - relevant to veterinary practice or nursing, animal health and welfare, management skills or regulatory matters
- Independent study - reading professional journals or case studies, or listening to professional podcasts or online material related to veterinary practice or nursing
- Organisational CVE - attending organisational meetings, participation in a meeting of a professional discussion group or on a committee board of a professional organisation relating to veterinary practice or nursing
- Practice visits - seeing practice at a registered veterinary premises or accredited veterinary school
- Presentation CVE - giving a presentation related to veterinary medicine or nursing either to a professional or lay audience
- Authoring relevant written material - authoring written material relating to veterinary medicine or veterinary nursing
- Student Supervision - supervision of an undergraduate student of veterinary medicine or veterinary nursing
- Recognised international CVE - attending courses organised or accredited outside of the ROI International veterinary organisations deemed acceptable by the VCI - course providers outside of the ROI known to the VCI for the provision of CVE such as internationally known veterinary webinar providers, professional veterinary CPD organisers, veterinary associations, veterinary pharmaceutical companies, or international government agencies.
How can my VDS membership help me meet my VCI CVE requirements?
Membership of the VDS provides veterinary practitioners and veterinary nurses with access to a range of learning options that may count towards your CVE requirements. VDS members can:
- Read the VDS newsletter, which is published three times a year.
- Read VDS Advice Notes, which are available on the VDS website*. Each are written by one of our expert claims advisors and cover subjects such as medication dosing errors, handling complaints and working outside of your main practice role.
- Attend a course from VDS Training. There are a range of courses available at a discount for VDS members covering a wide range of topics such as communication, leadership, resilience, and handling difficult situations. VDS Training offers a range of training solutions from online courses to bespoke coaching and training for individuals or the whole practice team designed to help you avoid mistakes, deal with and learn from complaints, build workplaces to help every member thrive and develop a fulfilling career. If you are interested in finding out more about the training courses from VDS Training please click here to visit the VDS Training website. Our training team can talk to you about training solutions and courses that may meet the VCI criteria.
- Undertake significant event analysis using VetSafe*, such as completing morbidity and mortality rounds and case discussions following submission of a VetSafe report. VetSafe is the VDS’s confidential online significant event reporting tool that helps VDS members to learn from mistakes and embed solutions that reduce patient harm and improve outcomes for all involved.
- Attend a free VDS or VDS Training webinar either live or watching it back, such as 2021's webinar series with BVA on Good Veterinary Workplaces or 2022's series on Greener Veterinary Workplaces. Keep your eyes peeled for our 2023 series.
*Note that you need to be logged in as a VDS member to access this content.
If you or your practice has VDS cover but you’re unsure how to access your full member benefits or you don’t have your member log on details, please contact our Membership team on +44 (0)1565 652737. Similarly, if you haven’t been receiving your VDS newsletter or would like to start receiving an email version instead of the traditional print version, you can update your details and preferences here or contact our Membership team who will be able to help you.
Professionals should keep up to date with any changes to VCI CVE information here.
What about UK members?
For our UK members, the RCVS has slightly different CPD requirements than the VCI. You can read all about the RCVS CPD requirements on the RCVS website here and our blog here.
VDS Training Services Limited (trading as VDS Training) is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Veterinary Defence Society Limited.
