Outcomes assessment in veterinary medical education

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) agreed to perform outcomes assessment (OA) as part of the accreditation review process for the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Nine OA instruments were developed and validated by a 20-member accreditation committee. The instruments were also pre-tested by a subset of the target population. The instruments were for alumni one to five years post-graduate, alumni 6-15 years post-graduate, faculty, staff, DVM students, employers of veterinarians, referring veterinarians using the Blacksburg campus, and referring veterinarians using the Leesburg campus. In addition, data were used from OA surveys previously done for the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Data from the surveys were incorporated into each of the 11 Essentials for Accreditation required by the AVMA. The process of OA provided a comprehensive assessment of the many aspects of the operation of the college. An important follow-up to the OA process is use of data to enhance and/or re-prioritize existing programs.