Nearly 300 veterinary educators from around the world gathered at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA, June 22-24, for the biennial AAVMC Veterinary Educator Collaborative Meeting, which for the first time was held together with the Primary Care Veterinary Educator group. The theme of the meeting was "Laying the Building Blocks for a Lifetime of Clinical Excellence." A variety of topics were discussed including competency-based veterinary education, curriculum change, the development of clinical skills, and challenges in teaching. Read more.

VSC's international symposium 'VetEd 2018' took place at Utrecht University in The Netherlands July 4-6, 2018. This ninth symposium included a mixture of pre- and in-conference workshops, inspiring keynote speakers, a debate, and excellent poster presentations and short communications. With over 230 participants from 18 countries all over the world, the symposium had a friendly atmosphere in which ideas, innovations, research and best practices were shared. Read more.

The Working Group on Competency-Based Veterinary Education (CBVE) has been hard at work since the rollout of the CBVE Framework and Core Entrustable Professional Activities at the AAVMC Annual Meeting in March 2018. CBVE Working Group member Kathy Salisbury says "I have been really thrilled to see the excitement that this work is generating at so many veterinary schools. Some have begun to map their outcomes to the CBVE Framework, looking for gaps and stimulating discussions among their faculty about potential changes." The Working Group is encouraged by the emerging opportunity to use the CBVE Framework as a shared language to drive collective improvement in veterinary education. Read more.

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The introduction of Competency Based Veterinary Medical Education (CBVE) was discussed at the 6th International Conference of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt held in Sharm El-Sheikh from July 31-August 4, 2018. Prof Hussein El Maghraby, Vice President of Benha University for Education and Students Affairs, and the Alternate Member of CIVME for Middle East and North Africa, reported that the conference included a two-day workshop to introduce CBVE to the whole Veterinary Medical Sector in Egypt. This includes 19 veterinary colleges and more than 20,000 undergraduate students.

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African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) has supported the establishment of the African Association of Veterinary Education Establishments (2A2E-V). The conference was held in Cairo, Egypt from July 23-27, 2018. A presentation on  the  Council on International Veterinary Medical Education (CIVME) was made by  Professor Hussein El Maghraby, the CIVME alternate member representing the Middle East and North Africa. He is also the Vice President of Education and Students Affairs, Benha University, Egypt. Director of African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) Prof Ahmed Elsawalhy stated that 77 representatives from 51 veterinary colleges from 25 African Union member states attended the conference (Algeria, Angola, Cameroun, DRC, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). 

Ayona Silva-Fletcher, Professor of Veterinary Education, is a veterinary educator working at the LIVE Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, UK. Qualified as a veterinarian, with a PhD in Animal Nutrition from Aberdeen University and an MA in Medical Education, Ayona is committed to exploring the scholarship of teaching and learning and encouraging and supporting her colleagues in doing the same. She has argued for attention to discipline-focused pedagogical development, and the creation of postgraduate programs in Veterinary and Science Education are a result of her dedication to this cause. Read more.

Dr. Bani Ismail, BVMS, Diplomate ABVP (Food Animals), is a Professor of Food Animal Medicine and Surgery at Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. He graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at JUST in June 1995 with honors. Soon after, in October 1995, he was granted a scholarship to pursue specialized veterinary training in Large Animal Medicine and Surgery and was enrolled in a residency program (1996-2000) at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine's Large Animal Teaching Hospital. He was certified by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in Food Animal Practice in 2001. Read more.

Dr. Aly is in the Department of Anatomy of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt. He also directs the Plastination Laboratory. Dr. Aly graduated from Munich University in 1978. He has been teaching Veterinary Anatomy and Histology at Zagazig University since 1978. He has many achievements during his long teaching career such as the establishment of central laboratory (atomic absorption, electrophoresis, HPLC, mycotoxin detection, water analysis, computer network, and general histopathology laboratory), supervision of the anatomy museum in King Fasial University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Saudi Arabia, and supervision and operation of electron microscope laboratory (transmission and scanning). Read more.