The ULiège Faculty of Veterinary Medicine accredited by the EAEVE


In Education

At the beginning of July 2022, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Valérie Glatigny, confirmed the good news: the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Liège was once again accredited by the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE).

Although this European quality label has no legal or binding value for obtaining a diploma or access to the profession in most European countries, it is a "must" for any faculty of veterinary medicine in Europe. It is a question of reputation, international visibility and opportunities for collaboration. However, not being accredited may have practical consequences for access to specialisation courses abroad, as some universities refuse to admit students from non-accredited faculties to their PhD programms, internships and residencies.

As a reminder, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the ULiège is the only one in French-speaking Belgium to organise the complete course of studies. While the bachelor's degree is organised by four universities (ULiège, UNamur, UCLouvain, ULB), only ULiège hosts students for the clinical training during the three years of the master's degree, during which students are put in contact with clients and provide care to sick animals in clinics and hospitalisations.

The main reason why the ULiège Faculty of Veterinary Medicine lost this valuable label in 2019 was the poor student population ratio as well as the low ratio of clinical cases per student, which was the result of too many Belgian and European, mainly French, students enrolling. According to the EAEVE standards, a student must have been in contact with at least 42 sick pets during his or her graduation; this ratio had fallen to 33 a few years ago at ULiège.

Since the introduction, in 2017, of a “concours” at the end of the first year (Block 1) of the bachelor's degree, with quotas of students who can continue in Block 2 (279 attestations for the whole French-speaking Belgium, including 94 for ULiège in 2022-2023), the situation is being resolved. However, in 2019, the European experts of the EAEVE justified their recommendation to suspend the Faculty's accreditation because of the uncertainty about the future of these decree provisions, which were planned at that time for a probationary period of three years.

These uncertainties have since been resolved, with the current decree no longer limiting the duration of the competition (“concours”), a development which the experts took note of during their further visit to the Faculty in early 2022.

In addition, the financial support of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the ULiège (so-called exceptional credits) has made it possible to increase the supervision of students, mainly in practical and clinical activities.

Other initiatives have also satisfied and even impressed the European experts, as Professor Tatiana Art, now Dean of the Faculty, in charge of relations with the EAEVE, explains.

Traceability

"We have set up a traceability system for the clinical activities of each student. This particularly effective programme was developed completely in-house and is the envy of many other veterinary faculties... or others. The students generate a QR Code validated by the veterinary teacher at the end of each clinical case treated: it's very easy, instantaneous and allows us to keep a very precise trace of each animal seen by a student, on what date, for what therapeutic procedure, etc., throughout his or her course. "

Skill Lab

"We are also particularly proud of the development of the simulation laboratory (Skill Lab), a new teaching tool installed in the premises of the former university veterinary clinic. Here, students have the opportunity to practice basic or more complex technical and therapeutic procedures (punctures, anaesthetics, sutures, births, sterilisations, etc.) on animal dummies or stuffed animals at any time... There is also a veterinary practice to simulate consultations and to train in communication with owners, which can sometimes be emotionally difficult when it comes to announcing a serious illness, the cost of a treatment or the need to euthanise an animal."

Prof. Tatiana Art also underlines the remarkable work of the ULiège Library Network, which allows easy and rapid access to documentary resources, electronic or paper, with just a few clicks on laptop.

The new university veterinary clinic, the result of a 18 million euros investment made in 2019 with the support of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, was already an exceptional facility, unique in French-speaking Belgium, for the quality of training of future veterinarians.

Finally, the establishment of objective criteria for the evaluation of students and the taking into account of feedback from students to their teachers (through Evalens and internal surveys), in a virtuous circle of "quality control", were also welcomed by the experts.

Acknowledgements

"Our return with the EAEVE accreditation closes a chapter of important investments and multiple pedagogical initiatives that have required the commitment and perseverance of our ministers of higher education, our university authorities, our partners in the veterinary world and, of course, the whole faculty community, including our students who have to go through the stressful ordeal of the BAC 1 end-of-course examination. I would like to thank everyone for the role they have played. "

"The efforts will of course have to be maintained, as evaluation is an ongoing process, but we look to the future with confidence as we prepare to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine on the Sart Tilman campus. "

Contact

Tatiana Art

 
Photo ULiège © GlobalView

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