SPVS – “instrumental In Improving Practice Life” As First CertAVP(VetGP) Graduates Put Skills Into Practise
15 years ago
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26th August, 2009 00h00
IMPROVED communication and delegation skills are just two of the benefits of the new RCVS postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice (CertAVP), as the first two candidates discover after taking their new-found skills back into practice.
Stuart Jackson, from Carterton, Oxfordshire and Austin Kirwan from Ormskirk, Lancashire are the first to gain the CertAVP (VetGP) qualification. Their achievement comes after many years of campaigning by SPVS for a modular post-graduate qualification with a greater focus on GP skills and is a culmination of that revolutionary work.
Stuart, Principal Vet at the Jackson Veterinary Clinic in Oxfordshire, explained: “The introduction of the Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice gave me hope and encouragement for the future of general veterinary practice. I was initially attracted to the Certificate because of the inclusion of Clinical Audit. I have for a long time felt that this is the way practices should evolve and that it is a valid method of analysing practitioners’ performances. I have learnt that involving the staff and delegating to their strengths is important in achieving a successful outcome for the audits.”
Christine Ding from Manchester, who qualified in 1978, has just submitted her final portfolio for the qualification. She explains that her practice has bucked the trend by experiencing an increase in profits over the last recession-hit six-months.
In explaining the reasons for this success, she comments: “I feel much more positive about the practice than I did two years ago. The development plan has given me something to work towards. The SMART objectives should enable me to reach small goals and each time they are achieved there will be a positive sense of achievement.
“Positive leadership enhances staff morale so that they too give their best performance. Work becomes more pleasurable, so that the work-life balance becomes less of an issue. After feeling as though I was in a downward spiral, I now feel as though it has turned around to become an upward one.”
The new CertAVP (VetGP) was created after SPVS set up a working party in 1998, which led to the formation of the first SPVS Masters Group of eight practising vets - five of whom went on to become the Doctorate Group. This original group undertook a research project looking at the feasibility of a vet GP certificate within the University system.
Dr Paul Manning, one of a handful of vets so far to achieve their Doctorate in Advanced Veterinary Practice and a member of the SPVS Doctorate Group, was an essential driver in the development of the new qualification. He explains that the new qualification will “help to improve practice life and profitability considerably.”
Paul commented: “A large part of the new focus is on an incredibly important area that has been sadly neglected over the years. Good consultation skills can separate a good GP from a bad one, and rightly so. It is not just about being approachable but about explaining things clearly and making sure that the owner is made fully aware of all the options and the recommended course of treatment.
“These so-called ‘soft skills’ are vital in today’s modern practice and young vets in particular are excited by the CertAVP (VetGP) qualification.”
He added: “It has been a long road to achieving this but, now we have it, I firmly believe that it will change the system of postgraduate education in the veterinary profession and may act as a model for other professions in the future.”
Other practitioners have passed their A and B modules and are working through their C modules, and some have either nearly completed or submitted their portfolios and are awaiting final assessment by their respective colleges, overseen by the RCVS. There are over 400 vets now enrolled for the RCVS CertAVP.
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