This month at AAVMC, it feels like it has been “all outcomes, all the time.” For someone of my background, this obviously makes me feel right at home, and it has been a tremendous privilege to be involved in many important conversations about the future of learners in our profession.
During August, I was fortunate to represent our organization at the ASAE (American Society of Association Executives) annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. I attended many excellent sessions over three days focused on developing skills for executive directors and CEOs. One session in particular was most helpful, regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in strategic planning. Led by former Amazon executive Trent Gillespie, this session helped association leaders incorporate AI as a tool for applying strategic thinking within their organizations.
Over a three-hour workshop, the AI tool sharpened our thinking and made us really focus on the outcomes that will be critical for our members in the future. I enjoyed this experience and know it will prove useful as AAVMC prepares to start a new strategic planning cycle in October with our Board of Directors and consultant, Mary Byers. Immediate past-president Bonnie Rush is already helping to lay the groundwork for this important next step. Rush has recently been hard at work finalizing plans for the Dean’s Leadership Conference in January, where the entire Assembly will be engaged in shaping the outcomes of the association’s plan.
Next up for me in August was a trip to Europe for the International Association for Health Professions Education Ltd. (AMEE) conference.
Kicking things off at the AMEE conference with Heather N. Fedesco, PhD, director for academic affairs.
As you would expect, several sessions were focused on reviewing and evaluating learner outcomes across health professions education. Important workshops included a review of the recently released AAMC-AACOM-ACGME (American Association of Medical Colleges, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) Foundational Competencies for Undergraduate Medical Education (UME), an overview of learning analytics dashboard usage across various health professions, and a state-of-the-art health professions assessment overview.
The plenary speakers were also excellent and explored important topics like how to reduce the assessment burden for faculty and administrators, how to value the learning process as much as meeting outcomes, and how to flex curricula to adapt to what is needed “right now.” I was joined by Fedesco and some of our members, which made for a great week of personal connections and afforded us all an opportunity to reflect on where we are headed with our own competency-based veterinary education model (CBVE).
Views from Vienna!
Additional meetings outside the conference environment, with colleagues from the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) and the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation (EBVS) afforded our organization with important opportunities to connect regarding recently proposed U.S. accreditation and higher education changes.
We enjoyed a meal with Petra Winter, DVM, Dipl. ECBHM, president of EAEVE.
As predicted, the timing was impeccable! Right as my plane left the ground for AMEE, the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) committee draft regulations were released for the Federal Register, and announced the Department of Education’s (DE’s) focus on, “a comprehensive modernization of the regulations for recognition of accrediting agencies, one that focuses on student achievement and provides a high-quality education.” Over 354 pages, the DE shared its vision for how accreditation will operate more efficiently and effectively, with much greater emphasis on measuring student, faculty, and program outcomes.
In response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), AAVMC has begun important conversations with the AVMA-COE about the future of this vital accreditor and plans for transition to its successor. The AAVMC BOD is preparing to submit public comments to the DE regarding the proposed rules. Important for our organization will be enhanced clarity around what “separate and independent” requires of us, and inquiry related to our important outcomes-based education work to date, and how that informs accreditation standards in the future. Also important is the role our expert member educators can play in guiding those standards and their assessment. Much remains unknown at this point, but one thing is for sure: all parties are very much focused on these important outcomes!
Until next time,
Emma K. Read, DVM, MVSc, DACVS
Related Posts
