Last year, Public Acts 47 and 49 came into Michigan law, requiring continuing medical education (CME) for veterinarians and licensed veterinary technicians. Under these Acts, veterinarians must complete 45 hours of continuing medical education every 3 years, while licensed veterinary technicians will have a 15-hour requirement per three-year period.

While the enforcement date may not be until 2020, the MSU Veterinary Medical Center has decided to be proactive. In accordance with the College’s Strategic Plan and in an effort to improve veterinary medical care throughout Michigan, the Hospital launched a CME program. The program offers in-person, webinar-style, and recorded lectures and labs to its referring veterinarians at no cost.

“We’ve hosted one session so far, and once we have a bit of a library built up, we’ll be making the recordings available through our veterinarian’s portal,” says Dr. Chris Gray, director for the Hospital. “This is an important project for us because we’re able to share our specialty knowledge with veterinarians and veterinary technicians that cater to many different communities and species.”

Currently, CME is largely unregulated, and it is up to participants to keep track of their earned credit hours. The Michigan Board of Veterinary Medicine is working to determine future regulations and how CME should be defined in the future.

The MSU Veterinary Medical Center is known for taking an interest in improving veterinary medical care educational resources for veterinarians and licensed veterinary technicians in local communities.

“Our mission is to improve animal health, and we can’t do that if we just stay on campus,” says Gray. “It’s our responsibility to support our partners in the field. The strongest way for us to do that is to pass along our skills, techniques, and knowledge.”

Each year, the Hospital is a sponsor of the Michigan Veterinary Conference, a state-wide event that offers a wide range of lectures, labs, and workshops to veterinarians, licensed veterinary technicians, and their support staff. The Hospital also hosts its own wet labs throughout the year and sponsors the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association’s Small Animal Seminar Series (SASS).

The College’s next CME session will be held in June. For more information on CME or other educational opportunities offered by the MSU Veterinary Medical Center, email communications@cvm.msu.edu.