University College Dublin launches new Continuing Veterinary Education portal site

Continuing professional development is a must for any professional worthy of the name. In the veterinary professions, formal acknowledgment of its importance comes through the new VCI regulations.
Thankfully there are many ways to engage in continuing education, and it is likely that most of us will use multiple means to obtain our CVE credits. One useful means is e‐learning. As the interactivity of the internet has developed the potential of e‐learning has increased. Having been made aware by colleagues around the country of the need for a variety of learning resources, UCD Veterinary Medicine is proud to present its new Continuing Veterinary Education online portal.
How Does it Work?
The portal invites you to explore, sign‐up and login. Each “micro‐offering” visible is worth a total of 3 CVE credits (validated by VCI), and consists of a presentation with voice‐over, an additional reading list, and a Self‐Assessment Quiz. In order to access modules and receive credits you will have to sign‐up as a member of the UCD CVE community. Membership runs for 12 months from 20th September 2010. The sign‐up fee is €50 and each 3CVE offering is priced at €60. On signing up, members of the community will also be entitled to access all of UCD Library’s electronic resources, which includes a very wide range of veterinary and related journals, databases and other resources. These may be accessed at will through the UCD virtual learning environment, and to complete the required additional reading for each module. Questions on use of these resources, or for any of the module presenters, can be made through cve.helpdesk@ucd.ie.
Future Developments
We plan to add to the offerings available throughout the year and either continue, further develop or replace them for the next year. As the continuing education service at UCD Veterinary Medicine develops, links between individual offerings and periodic wet labs and workshops will be developed and highlighted on the site. We also plan to develop accredited programmes such as professional certificates that can be built up in a modular fashion by taking a number of linked modules, followed by a more formal assessment.
Please Talk to Us
We would be delighted to receive feedback and suggestions on the site and range of offerings and, in particular, suggestions for topics to be covered. Ideas for collaborative offerings with clinical societies and others are also welcomed. We hope colleagues find the service useful, and an enjoyable and informative means of continuing education.
Diane Cashman and Grace Mulcahy – UCD Veterinary Medicine