WCVM Program offers Foreign-Trained Veterinarians Opportunity for Canadian Certification

A new program being developed by the Western College of Veterinary Medicine will allow individuals with veterinary certification in other countries to be certified in Canada.

The foreign-trained veterinarian swine residency certification program, is being developed by the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, as one of four components of its swine medicine advancement, recruitment and training or SMART program.

Dr. John Harding, a professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, says the program primarily targets those who have foreign veterinary training and are working in other roles in swine production.

Clip-Dr. John Harding-Western College of Veterinary Medicine:

Applicants first and foremost must have a very solid background in swine medicine and production because the foreign-trained residency program includes board certification by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners.
That's a group of swine veterinarians.

They must also be fluent in English because there are lengthy oral and written exams.They need to have a high level of knowledge and problem-solving skills in swine health.They must also pass the ABVP swine health entry exam which is coming up in the new year.

That's a requirement to enter the program and they must be either permanent residents or Canadian citizens and satisfy the criteria for entry into the University of Saskatchewan graduate school.Once we have applicants that meet these criteria, we'll short list and then start a vetting process by an academic committee.

Dr. Harding says the foreign-trained veterinarian program is three years in duration, residents will be enrolled as graduate students at the University of Saskatchewan and will work in clinical practice for 60 to 70 percent of their time with the balance devoted to academic studies and research.

He says, depending on the level of interest and the number of qualified applicants, the first cohort of foreign-trained residents could begin their training in 2023 but that could be delayed until 2024.