Who is the ACVIM Diplomate?

1. The ACVIM Diplomate is a highly skilled veterinarian. ACVIM Diplomates practice internal medicine at university teaching hospitals and private veterinary facilities specializing in advanced animal care. They treat the most severely ill patients, often by referral from primary care (general practitioner) veterinarians. Clinical specialties under the umbrella of the ACVIM include Large and Small Animal Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology, and Oncology.
2. The ACVIM Diplomate is a veterinary educator. ACVIM Diplomates have had an important role in developing and implementing curricula for training of veterinary students in veterinary internal medicine, critical thinking, and clinical problem-solving in colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States. ACVIM Diplomates provide much of the supervision of training programs for interns in veterinary medicine, and all of the supervision for residency training in veterinary internal medicine. ACVIM Diplomates have trained a generation of veterinarians in internal medicine.
3. The ACVIM Diplomate is a veterinary clinical scientist. Advances in veterinary Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology, Oncology, and other areas over the last 25 years have been accomplished largely because of work by Diplomates of the ACVIM. ACVIM clinical scientists have embraced the "bench to bedside" approach to biomedical research embraced by the NIH. The scientific achievements of ACVIM Diplomates have transcended species boundaries, particularly regarding animal models of human disease, infectious diseases, and public health. ACVIM members with active research programs, beyond their past and ongoing educational, clinical, and scientific contributions, have acted as mentors for the next generation of veterinary clinical scientists.
4. The ACVIM Diplomate is a protector of the public health. ACVIM diplomates are singularly qualified and in a unique position to identify emerging diseases and animal models of human diseases, to perform disease surveillance, compile vast amounts of demographic and clinical data, create or participate in clinical research, and collaborate with other basic and clinical scientists and biomedical research agents as experts on comparative and translational medicine.

In summary, the ACVIM credential is associated with astute and sophisticated clinical skills, scientific achievements benefiting animal and human health, and a crucial role in veterinary medical education.

Prepared June 2007, ACVIM

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