The University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) provides students with immersive, real-world experiences in their third and final year of their DVM program using a distributive clinical year model. Students are placed under the guidance of highly experienced trained veterinarians in established veterinary practices that offer robust caseloads and hands-on opportunities to achieve essential clinical competencies as required by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Education. Students gain invaluable hands-on experience under the mentorship of seasoned veterinarians, working with case volumes reflective of what they will encounter from day one of their careers. For example, the Class of 2024 actively participated in 92,335 healthy animal cases and 91,355 sick animal cases across various species, averaging 1,012 active cases per student during the clinical year. Additionally, students in the Class of 2024 performed or assisted in 18,580 surgeries, averaging 169 surgeries per student. The University of Arizona CVM clinical year curriculum is built on the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges Competency- Based Veterinary Education framework. This model defines each distinct, independent competency—such as “listens attentively and communicates professionally” or “synthesizes and prioritizes problems to arrive at differential diagnoses” —along with Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) used to assess each student’s overall clinical readiness. EPAs represent discrete, real- world veterinary tasks for daily practice and require students to seamlessly link independent competencies and apply them in a cohesive and integrated way, such as “Gather a history, perform an examination, and create a prioritized differential diagnosis list.” Supervising veterinarians assess students on individual competencies at least two times during each four-week rotation (at the midpoint and the end of each rotation). This consistent feedback enables students to refine their skills, build confidence, and achieve clinical readiness under expert supervision. All Preparing the next generation of veterinarians: The University of Arizona’s Immersive Clinical Training Model
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