Mapping the teaching of aquatic animal veterinary medicine in the European Union and European Free Trade Area

Aquatic animal production is the fastest growing food sector globally. Aquaculture and fisheries are very dynamic sectors in the EU and the number of ornamental aquarium pets is increasing. Veterinarians have a fundamental role to play by ensuring health and welfare of aquatic species, productivity and profitability of fish farming, public health and ecosystem conservation. This study investigates how the undergraduate curriculum prepares future veterinarians for such roles by analysing data from the 77 European veterinary education establishments based in EU and the European Free Trade Area. Over 95 per cent of these establishments incorporate teaching in aquatic animal veterinary medicine in their curriculum, while the great majority do so within the core curriculum. Almost half of the establishments provide teaching in aquatic animal veterinary medicine as separate subjects. Many establishments (>40 per cent) provide such training as elective option in their undergraduate curricula or as postgraduate opportunities to enhance Day One Competences. The veterinary education establishments integrating adequately aquatic animal veterinary medicine in their curriculum are evenly distributed in all regions of Europe. Veterinarians are trained and empowered by legislation to assess health of aquatic animals, to diagnose, to prescribe medicines, to notify for diseases and to ensure safe food for the consumers. Veterinary education establishments should encourage training of veterinarians to follow a career in aquatic animal veterinary medicine

Mapping the teaching of honeybee veterinary medicine in the European Union and European Free Trade Area

Background Honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a very important species for human beings, animals, environmental biodiversity, crop production and economic sustainability in Europe and worldwide. This study investigates whether future veterinarians are trained to deal with the particular needs of the only traditional food-producing insect in Europe. Methods This study analyses data collected from 77 European veterinary education establishments in EU and the European Free Trade Area. Results The results show that 75 per cent of those establishments (58 out of 77) teach honeybee veterinary medicine. There is a clear geographical differentiation. In north-western countries only about half of the establishments include honeybee health, production and product inspection in their undergraduate curricula, while in eastern, central and southern countries, which are also important beekeeping countries, the great majority of the establishments incorporate honeybee veterinary medicine in their undergraduate curriculum. Eighty-six per cent of all the establishments teaching honeybee veterinary medicine (50 of the 58) incorporate it in their core curriculum either as separate subject or as part of other subjects. Twenty-five per cent of all the establishments (19 out of 77) organise postgraduate training courses in this field. Conclusions Veterinarians have an important role in ensuring the health, sustainability and productivity of managed honeybee colonies as they do for other animal species. It seems however that teaching of honeybee veterinary medicine receives less attention in undergraduate veterinary curricula in EU compared with other fields of veterinary medicine. Seeing the increasing importance of honey bees for crop protection, environmental protection and economic sustainability, it would be beneficial to further strengthen the education of honeybee veterinary medicine in the future. Establishments should encourage and prepare veterinarians for practising science-based veterinary medicine in honey bees by incorporating such teaching in undergraduate curricula and by providing postgraduate opportunities to qualified veterinarians wishing to enhance their basic skills in this field

Academic veterinary medicine education in Europe : mapping the implementation of European Union policies in the European veterinary curricula to uncover elements for consideration within a policy reform aiming at facilitating One Health Interdisciplinary collaboration

The veterinary profession is one of the professions, which benefit from an automatic recognition of their diplomas throughout the EU. Specific EU legislation, the Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and the Council as amended by Directive 2013/55/EU the so called Professional Qualifications Directive - stipulates the requirements which form the framework leading to the qualification of veterinary surgeon, or doctor in veterinary medicine, or veterinarian. Education is the cornerstone for achieving veterinary competences and the EU legislators have recognised its importance in the Professional Qualifications Directive by laying down specific requirements within article 38 and Annex V. In addition, veterinarians’ competences to ensure animal health and welfare as well as public health are referenced in more pieces of legislation, such as the Animal Health Law, the regulation on veterinary medicinal products and on medicated feed, the official controls, the directive on protection of animals used for scientific purposes and the Directive on radioprotection. Nonetheless, sometimes there is discussion about the competences of veterinarians and those of other professionals, who are involved in the use and production of certain species but are not regulated at EU level. This dissertation selects four sectors, which require the contribution of veterinarians and other professionals, namely the use of laboratory animals, aquatic animal health, honeybee health and One Health, investigates whether and how VEEs in the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) prepare veterinary students for such roles. Chapter I includes an overall presentation of the governance of education and higher education in the EU, a policy area dealt under subsidiarity where Member States assume full responsibility of their educational programmes. The EU works towards a European Higher Education Area by adopting a more harmonised approach through the application of structural reforms on higher education and the implementation of quality assurance with a view to facilitate recognition of competences and free movement of university students, professionals, researchers, and academics in the EU and beyond. The educational requirements leading to the automatic recognition of professional qualifications of veterinarians, one of the regulated professions in EU, are presented. The implementation of quality assurance in education, undergraduate and postgraduate, and in veterinary education are discussed as well. The scientific aims of this dissertation are presented in Chapter II. The major aim of this study is to investigate the key legislative drivers to be considered within a policy reform that facilitates an innovative model of veterinary education. For this purpose, the research focuses on areas of veterinary practice, where veterinarians’ interests and competences overlap with those of other professions, namely laboratory animal veterinary medicine, aquatic animal veterinary medicine, honeybee veterinary medicine and One Health. The first part investigates how veterinary education establishments in the EU and EFTA incorporate teaching in three areas of veterinary medicine: Laboratory Animals, Aquatic animals, and Honeybees, with a view to collect evidence about veterinary competences of veterinary graduates in these fields. Following the completion of this first part of the study, we observed that hesitancy about competences among the professionals coming from different backgrounds may be well the result of the current model of education, which keeps professionals being educated separately. This observation formed the hypothesis that the deployed model of education may be the reason behind this hesitancy. Veterinary teaching was put under the prism of One Health and our next step was to investigate the implementation of interdisciplinary education by the veterinary education establishments. Undergraduate veterinary education was the principal object of research of this study. However, data about post-graduate education have also been considered to complement the results and overall analysis. The incorporation of teaching of laboratory animal veterinary medicine in the EU and EFTA curricula is investigated in Chapter III. The results are analysed against the EU legislative requirements and implemented policies about recognition of achieved competences. We observe that veterinary curricula in the EU and EFTA provide on average a good coverage of this field of veterinary medicine even in their core curriculum, while the overall knowledge, skills, and competences that students achieve during their studies enable them to independently practice laboratory animal medicine, including a role as designated veterinarian at entry level positions. Post-graduate training and continuous professional development is of course necessary to enable veterinarians to perform more complex tasks or contribute to more sophisticated positions as it happens for any other field of veterinary medicine. Most of the veterinary education establishments provide post-graduate training opportunities in laboratory animal veterinary medicine for veterinarians interested to develop their competences in this field of veterinary medicine. The teaching of aquatic animal veterinary medicine in the EU and EFTA curricula is investigated in Chapter IV. The same methodology was used in this part of the research as the one described in Chapter III. Results showed an even better coverage of this field of veterinary medicine in the veterinary undergraduate curricula of the EU and EFTA. Veterinary education establishments also provide post-graduate training opportunities for veterinarians interested in enhancing their skills in aquatic animal veterinary medicine, nevertheless to a less extent compared to the provided opportunities in laboratory animal veterinary medicine. The same methodology was used to investigate the teaching of honeybee veterinary medicine in the EU and EFTA and is presented and discussed in Chapter V. Results showed that most of the veterinary education establishments include teaching in bee-health, apiculture, and inspection of bee-derived products, but to a less extent than the other two areas of veterinary medicine investigated within this project both undergraduate and post-graduate. In Chapter VI the research focusses more on the investigation of a different model of education, namely of interdisciplinary One Health education, as advised in many recent policy recommendations. The methodology is like the one used in the first part of this project with regard to the collection of data by veterinary education establishments in the EU and EFTA. It revealed that interdisciplinary undergraduate education in veterinary education establishments of the EU and EFTA is still in its infancy, while postgraduate education better deploys this model of teaching and academic research has fully embraced it. The models of academic structure, curricula, and policies established so far rather hinder the evolution toward interdisciplinary teaching undergraduate. In this part of the study, the scope of the investigation is on hurdles and benefits from the implementation of such teaching approach in veterinary curricula. The benefit of the implementation of such a model of education is undisputable. Policy is one of the very important tools as it can facilitate and encourage it. Following an overall analysis, we propose a set of policy recommendations that could promote multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity in undergraduate and postgraduate education as well as in academic research. Chapter VII contains the general discussion and conclusions of this thesis. Despite the limitations, this study demonstrates that policy is an essential component of any strategy to improve professional education and through that to increase the quality of healthcare services in different species. It is, therefore, the time for considering a policy reform regarding the regulation of professional qualifications in the EU to regulate all those professionals contributing to animal and human health and welfare. Such a policy reform should encompass actions to ensure that public health, as well as animal health and welfare, irrespective of species, is left in the hands of competent and well-regulated professionals. It should additionally ensure that One Heath multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration is promoted and implemented from university level. Eventually education of future professionals is fundamental, and an EU policy reform should encompass both an updated list of day one competences as well as the mandatory implementation of quality assurance of education for both undergraduate and postgraduate education of sectoral professions to facilitate recognition of competences and mobility of professionals throughout the EU

The impact of the new VMR on medicines availability, antimicrobials use and antimicrobial resistance

In December 2018, the EU adopted new regulations on veterinary medicines and medicated feed. They will be applicable in all EU countries from 28 January 2022. As the legislation for veterinary medicines developed, it came to be referred to as the Veterinary Medicines Regulation, or simply the VMR. Regulation (EU) 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) repeals Directive 2001/82/EC and amends the provisions of Regulation (EU) 726/2004 relating to the authorisation and supervision of veterinary medicines. Regulation (EU) 2019/4 on medicated feed (MF), amends Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 and repeals Council Directive 90/167/EEC. This article looks at the new European legislation on veterinary medicines, and offers insight from practitioners on what this will mean for the availability of medicines, the use of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistanc

One health interdisciplinary collaboration in veterinary education establishments in Europe : mapping implementation and reflecting on promotion

One Health recognizes the interconnection of people, animals, and the environment and encourages a multidisciplinary approach. Several high-level European and global policy recommendations call for close intersectoral collaboration to better understand and manage health challenges faced today. Academic education has a fundamental role in preparing all health professionals in that respect. Our research investigates whether, and how, European Veterinary Education Establishments (VEEs) implement interdisciplinarity. We collected data on undergraduate education, post-graduate programs, and academic research through a pan-European survey. Our aim was to identify policy actions that could encourage cross-sectoral education and a culture of One Health at universities. Input from 41 VEEs showed that interdisciplinary education for undergraduates is still in the early stages. The models of academic structure, undergraduate curricula, and education policies established so far hinder interdisciplinarity. One Health interdisciplinary post-graduate education is easier, at least in some countries, while research successfully integrates multidisciplinary interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches . To conclude, we propose five recommendations to promote interdisciplinary education in veterinary and other curricula and to further encourage the intersectoral cooperation in research: (1) the need for the development of One Health transdisciplinary competencies across different discipline curricula in the European Union (EU); (2) the need for an integrated strategy of university structures and policies (for undergraduates and post-graduates) to encourage and support interdisciplinarity; (3) the need for a harmonized approach to academic education via accreditation; (4) the need for appropriate legislation to facilitate interdisciplinary training; and (5) the need to encourage One Health research

Mapping the teaching of laboratory animal science and medicine in the European Union and European Free Trade Area

Developing a common market and allowing free movement of goods, services, and people is one of the main objectives of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Area. In the field of scientific research, Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes aims to improve the welfare of laboratory animals by following the principle of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement). Each breeder, supplier, and user must appoint a designated veterinarian to advise on the well-being and treatment of the animals. In our report we investigate how the undergraduate veterinary curriculum prepares future veterinarians for the role of designated veterinarian, by analyzing data from 77 European veterinary education establishments. Over 80% of them provide training in laboratory animal science and medicine in their curriculum. All countries in the EU and the European Free Trade Area, having national veterinary schools, include such training in the curriculum of at least one of their establishments. Laboratory animal science and medicine courses can be obligatory or elective and are often part of more than one subject in the veterinary curricula. Post-graduate courses or programs are available at more than 50% of those veterinary schools. Most authorities in the European region consider graduate veterinarians ready to seek the role as designated veterinarian immediately after graduation

Colistin Use in European Livestock: Veterinary Field Data on Trends and Perspectives for Further Reduction

Polymyxin E (colistin) is a medically important active substance both in human and veterinary medicine. Colistin has been used in veterinary medicine since the 1950s. Due to the discovery of the plasmid-borne mcr gene in 2015 and the simultaneously increased importance in human medicine as a last-resort antibiotic, the use of colistin for animals was scrutinised. Though veterinary colistin sales dropped by 76.5% between 2011 to 2020, few studies evaluated real-world data on the use patterns of colistin in different European countries and sectors. A survey among veterinarians revealed that 51.9% did not use or ceased colistin, 33.4% decreased their use, 10.4% stabilised their use, and 2.7% increased use. The most important indications for colistin use were gastrointestinal diseases in pigs followed by septicaemia in poultry. A total of 106 (16.0%) responding veterinarians reported governmental/industry restrictions regarding colistin use, most commonly mentioning “use only after susceptibility testing” (57%). In brief, colistin was perceived as an essential last-resort antibiotic in veterinary medicine for E. coli infections in pigs and poultry, where there is no alternative legal, safe, and efficacious antimicrobial available. To further reduce the need for colistin, synergistic preventive measures, including improved biosecurity, husbandry, and vaccinations, must be employed