Guidelines for preparation of De Facto applications for membership of the European College of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine – Companion Animals
The College is very keen to attract applications from both academics and practitionersand while the application process for DeFacto membership is detailed on the website of the college it is felt that it would be helpful to clarify it further.Applications are considered on an individual basis and evidence of considerable contribution to the field of veterinary behavioural medicine is being sought. The board reserves the right to exercise discretion when considering applications from those currently working in the field.
Criteria applicable to both practitioner and academic applicants are as follows:
- Have at least 7 years of experience in the specialty
- Have advanced training in the specialty and have demonstrated competency through teaching, research or practice
- Have contributed significantly to the development of the specialty by teaching, research, or practice
- Provide evidence of conforming to the Credentials Information, art. 4 (Training programme).
- Devote most (more than 60 per cent) of his/her professional time in behaviour medicine for at least the last three years
When applying for De facto recognition the applicant is required to supply credential information in the form of a document of up to 10 pages (excluding the case reports). This document must include:
- List of activities demonstrating the level of the applicant’s professional work within the field.
- 9 clinical cases (which have been treated by the applicant themselves) presented in a format suitable for publication (referenced etc) – at least three cases must relate to feline cases, three to canine cases and three to any companion animal species (including canine and feline). The 9 cases should be representative of the applicant’s caseload and include a variety of behavioural diagnoses.
- 5 written essay style questions and their model answers
- 3 references from other appropriate professionals working at a high level within the field
Clarification of the criteria as they are applicable to academic applicants are as follows:
- The applicant must be involved in research in fields related to behavioural medicine, ethology and applied ethology and must have spent at least 60% of their time working in the field of companion animal behavioural medicine for at least the last three years
- The applicant must provide two original papers as first or last author in a journal with an impact factor of greater than 1.0.
- In addition the applicant must provide three other publications, which must be specifically related to clinical behavioural medicine. At least one of these publications must be in a peer reviewed journals which appears on ISI listing at the time of publication. The other publications could include book chapters in relevant text books related to the field of companion animal behavioural medicine and published by a recognised scientific publisher and spoken papers in ISBN proceedings of congresses with a scientific review committee (excluding invited speakers)
- The applicant must provide evidence of 500 cases, which they have been involved with in the last 5 years (see sample table and list). Of the 500 cases submitted by the applicant the committee has the right to ask to see a copy of the original file of not more than 5 specific numbered cases together with a brief summary of the case, which demonstrates the applicant’s method of diagnosis and treatment.
Clarification of the criteria for De facto applications as they are applicable to practitioner applicants are as follows:
- The applicant must devote 60% of his professional time to the field of companion animal behavioural medicine
- The applicant must supply one original paper (based on a scientific protocol) as first or second author in a peer reviewed journal. Retrospective studies of data from clinical practice will be acceptable provided that adequate sample sizes are used, rigorous statistical analysis has been applied and the applicant is the first author of the paper. The board is able to offer advice to applicants on how to prepare material for publication.
- In addition the applicant must provide four other publications in at least two relevant publications. These could include book chapters in relevant text books related to the field of companion animal behavioural medicine and published by a recognised scientific publisher and spoken papers in ISBN proceedings of congresses with a scientific review committee (excluding invited speakers). If the original publication was not in English a translation must be provided to form part of the application.
- The applicant must provide evidence of 500 cases treated by the individual applicant in the last 5 years (see sample table and list). Of the 500 cases submitted by the applicant the committee has the right to ask to see a copy of the original file of not more than 5 specific numbered cases together with a brief summary of the case, which demonstrates the applicant’s method of diagnosis and treatment.
Definitions
An acceptable peer-reviewed journal = one included in the ISI listing at the time of publication.
A companion animal includes the traditional companion animal species and in addition any animal treated as an individual as a companion.
An original paper = one relating to original data based research carried out by the author.
Preparation of case presentations for DeFacto applications:
Applicants should identify the clinical approach used in the diagnosis and treatment of cases (for example support diagnostic labels with published references from journals or text books).
Extended case histories need to include the following sections:
- Identification of the case number as it corresponds to the list of 500 cases submitted as part of the application
- Signalment of the case making sure that client confidentiality is respected
- History taking process
- Differential diagnoses – both behavioural and medical (results of medical workup of cases should be included giving original radiographs, blood results etc)
- Actual diagnosis of the case (identifying the clinical approach used)
- Possible treatment plans available to show an understanding of behavioural, pharmacological and alternative therapy approaches where appropriate.
- Actual treatment plan used (each component of the treatment plan should be justified and discussed with supporting references)
- Follow up for the case (minimum of 6 months). Details of the number of contacts after the first consultation with details of whether these were face to face or telephone contacts. Evolution of the case and the methods of assessment used.
- Discussion of final outcome
- References