you know you're a vet if you speak in acronyms
To get my veterinary license in the United States, I am registered under the ECFVG, until now I still don't know what that acronym means. Okay, so it is the: Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates, which is governed by the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association). They are the governing body for assessing clinical proficiency of foreign veterinarians who did not graduate from an AVMA accredited school.
I am taking Step 3 (BCSE), the Basic Clinical Sciences Exam, soon. This April, to be exact.
I have spent around $1240 so far to get to this point (around Php 57,000).
Step 4 (CPE) or the Clinical Proficiency Examination, will cost $5000 (around Php 230,000).
So why is UP Los Banos, the number one veterinary school in the Philippines, with faculty that have collectively amassed Ph.D's and post graduate studies abroad, not accredited by the AVMA? Because accreditation equals money, which of course, UP doesn't have. We are a third world country after all, so I guess $10,000 for accreditation is too much to ask from the UP budget.
I wonder if any good hearted alumni have already proposed to the CVM that they should apply for accreditation? (And that they would find a way to raise money for it - hek hek) On the other hand, we probably won't even pass the accreditation. I have flashbacks of modified forks used as retractors in surgery, and blackouts in Tabon at 5 in the afternoon, so we have to finish our ruminant surgeries under the glow of flashlights. *facepalm*
So much for wishful thinking.
An alternative to the ECFVG is the PAVE program (Program for the Assessment of Veterinary Education Equivalence), which is administered by the AAVSB (American Association of Veterinary State Boards). For the life of me, I don't know why they just didn't stick with one program for foreign veterinarians. It must be because it's a business.
Both the ECFVG and PAVE consist of 4 steps, which are pretty similar, except that Step 4 of the PAVE program could be accomplished by enrolling in a US AVMA veterinary college, and completing a clinical year. Either that, or take their version of the CPE which is the VCSA (Veterinary Clinical Skills Assessment). So why did I choose ECFVG over PAVE? I think I already compared this a year ago, while I was doing my research and I was still being wimpy about taking more exams, but cost and expense is almost the same for both programs. However, ECFVG is accepted in more states over PAVE. PAVE is accepted in 26 states ( I don't get why either, must be politics) -- but here's the catch, whether the state boards require ECFVG or PAVE, a foreign veterinarian would still need to take the NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Examination) after completion of Step 3 of the ECFVG or PAVE.
This means I have 2 clinical science exams to take, and then 1 proficiency exam. By the time I'm done with all this I'll be so old. Old and decrepit. This is why I probably got married early, so I don't have to worry about that later on. Haha!!! Besides, it is sort of comforting that I'm studying for my US boards while I have a snoring hubby next to me, as opposed to almost 2 years ago when I was studying for my Philippine boards and I would feel so lonely and abandoned at past midnight when TV channels were signing off and I was listening to station ID's.
When I took the PRC (Professional Regulation Commission) VMLE (Veterinary Medicine Licensure Exam) exam in August 2009, I chose to take it in Cagayan de Oro over MLQU in Recto where all my classmates from UP took the exam. I figured I would have a more relaxed environment because I was in the province ( I absolutely cannot stand Manila and the pollution, not to mention that Quiapo is just plain scary). I ended up paying for that choice because in CDO, I took the exam (along with other vet schools in the Vis-Min region) at a high school gymnasium. Yes, a high school gymnasium. At noon, the temperature was possibly 95 degrees, plus the humidity. You can imagine the sweltering heat and I remember that the proctors had to rotate the industrial fans to different rows because they didn't have enough fans. It was so horrible. By the time I got to the third day and the last exam (it was pathology, I will never forget), I was ready to pass out. It didn't help that the pathology exam had questions that were a paragraph or two long. It was crazy. And yet I passed. Some powerful force was at work there.
So I can't be a brat and complain about my ECFVG exam, because I will be taking it at some nice, big, airconditioned building in Phoenix, in front of a 28" monitor. Except this time I'll be sitting for 4 hours straight (no breaks, at least our Philippine exams had breaks) and no food! How is that possible? What about my chocolate? I'll have to worry about that later on.
Okay I should get back to studying. I will write more these coming days because I'm going to be awake while the rest of Arizona is asleep.
Edit: 4/11/2011
I forgot to talk about the NAVLE. The AAVSB allows ECFVG members to take the NAVLE ONLY (that's not an acronym) after passing the BCSE. So you have a choice whether you take the NAVLE in between the BCSE (Step 3) and CPE (Step 4) or after completion of the CPE. I suggest, take the theory exams right after the other. Just so your poor brain gets conditioned for studying, and once you reach a threshold, you'd be ready to take the proficiency exams. Just think of the 3-day CPE as a brain dump for everything you've studied so far. Easy for me to say now, I'd probably have a panic attack during the CPE.
By the way, does anybody else ever feel that the CPE is similar to the OWL's in Harry Potter? Ya know, taking a test in front of an examiner who tells you what to do and then grades you? So during my CPE, I'd probably pull a Harry Potter and faint because my scar hurt so bad because Voldy's plotting something really evil.
I am taking Step 3 (BCSE), the Basic Clinical Sciences Exam, soon. This April, to be exact.
I have spent around $1240 so far to get to this point (around Php 57,000).
Step 4 (CPE) or the Clinical Proficiency Examination, will cost $5000 (around Php 230,000).
So why is UP Los Banos, the number one veterinary school in the Philippines, with faculty that have collectively amassed Ph.D's and post graduate studies abroad, not accredited by the AVMA? Because accreditation equals money, which of course, UP doesn't have. We are a third world country after all, so I guess $10,000 for accreditation is too much to ask from the UP budget.
I wonder if any good hearted alumni have already proposed to the CVM that they should apply for accreditation? (And that they would find a way to raise money for it - hek hek) On the other hand, we probably won't even pass the accreditation. I have flashbacks of modified forks used as retractors in surgery, and blackouts in Tabon at 5 in the afternoon, so we have to finish our ruminant surgeries under the glow of flashlights. *facepalm*
So much for wishful thinking.
An alternative to the ECFVG is the PAVE program (Program for the Assessment of Veterinary Education Equivalence), which is administered by the AAVSB (American Association of Veterinary State Boards). For the life of me, I don't know why they just didn't stick with one program for foreign veterinarians. It must be because it's a business.
Both the ECFVG and PAVE consist of 4 steps, which are pretty similar, except that Step 4 of the PAVE program could be accomplished by enrolling in a US AVMA veterinary college, and completing a clinical year. Either that, or take their version of the CPE which is the VCSA (Veterinary Clinical Skills Assessment). So why did I choose ECFVG over PAVE? I think I already compared this a year ago, while I was doing my research and I was still being wimpy about taking more exams, but cost and expense is almost the same for both programs. However, ECFVG is accepted in more states over PAVE. PAVE is accepted in 26 states ( I don't get why either, must be politics) -- but here's the catch, whether the state boards require ECFVG or PAVE, a foreign veterinarian would still need to take the NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Examination) after completion of Step 3 of the ECFVG or PAVE.
This means I have 2 clinical science exams to take, and then 1 proficiency exam. By the time I'm done with all this I'll be so old. Old and decrepit. This is why I probably got married early, so I don't have to worry about that later on. Haha!!! Besides, it is sort of comforting that I'm studying for my US boards while I have a snoring hubby next to me, as opposed to almost 2 years ago when I was studying for my Philippine boards and I would feel so lonely and abandoned at past midnight when TV channels were signing off and I was listening to station ID's.
When I took the PRC (Professional Regulation Commission) VMLE (Veterinary Medicine Licensure Exam) exam in August 2009, I chose to take it in Cagayan de Oro over MLQU in Recto where all my classmates from UP took the exam. I figured I would have a more relaxed environment because I was in the province ( I absolutely cannot stand Manila and the pollution, not to mention that Quiapo is just plain scary). I ended up paying for that choice because in CDO, I took the exam (along with other vet schools in the Vis-Min region) at a high school gymnasium. Yes, a high school gymnasium. At noon, the temperature was possibly 95 degrees, plus the humidity. You can imagine the sweltering heat and I remember that the proctors had to rotate the industrial fans to different rows because they didn't have enough fans. It was so horrible. By the time I got to the third day and the last exam (it was pathology, I will never forget), I was ready to pass out. It didn't help that the pathology exam had questions that were a paragraph or two long. It was crazy. And yet I passed. Some powerful force was at work there.
So I can't be a brat and complain about my ECFVG exam, because I will be taking it at some nice, big, airconditioned building in Phoenix, in front of a 28" monitor. Except this time I'll be sitting for 4 hours straight (no breaks, at least our Philippine exams had breaks) and no food! How is that possible? What about my chocolate? I'll have to worry about that later on.
Okay I should get back to studying. I will write more these coming days because I'm going to be awake while the rest of Arizona is asleep.
Edit: 4/11/2011
I forgot to talk about the NAVLE. The AAVSB allows ECFVG members to take the NAVLE ONLY (that's not an acronym) after passing the BCSE. So you have a choice whether you take the NAVLE in between the BCSE (Step 3) and CPE (Step 4) or after completion of the CPE. I suggest, take the theory exams right after the other. Just so your poor brain gets conditioned for studying, and once you reach a threshold, you'd be ready to take the proficiency exams. Just think of the 3-day CPE as a brain dump for everything you've studied so far. Easy for me to say now, I'd probably have a panic attack during the CPE.
By the way, does anybody else ever feel that the CPE is similar to the OWL's in Harry Potter? Ya know, taking a test in front of an examiner who tells you what to do and then grades you? So during my CPE, I'd probably pull a Harry Potter and faint because my scar hurt so bad because Voldy's plotting something really evil.