Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians AIMing for Excellence...
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                              AIMVT HISTORY

2003 - The first get together to discuss the idea of a Veterinary Technician Specialty (VTS) for Internal Medicine was held at IVECCS in New Orleans, LA in September with Linda Merrill, RVT and Robin Sereno, BS CVT.  Following this meeting of the minds, Linda (the push behind the idea) requested feedback from the NAVTA list serv and the technician journals for interested parties.  The response was overwhelmingly positive.  In October of 2003, contact was made with the board members of the ACVIM announcing our formation at their Executive Board meeting in November.  At the ACVIM board meeting our proposal along with over 50 letters of support from DACVIM members were reviewed.  The ACVIM Executive Board supported the AIMVT in our endeavor.  We were also invited to speak with the board formally in June of 2004.

2004 - In January the first official meeting of the AIMVT group members was held during the NAVC in Orlando, FL.  In February the organizing committee was formed and various sub-committees began the process of petitioning NAVTA.  In April the committees were working hard and on a logo, mission statement and a website.  In May the website www.AIMVT.com was launched.  The formal meeting with the ACVIM Executive Board along with the first annual AIMVT meeting was held during the national ACVIM conference in Minneapolis, MN in June.

The AIMVT organizing committee members were not ones to let the grass grow under their feet.  Shortly after the first meeting, the constitution and by-laws of AIMVT were completed and adopted. The letter of intent to petition for specialty status was submitted to the Committee on Veterinary Technician Specialties (CVTS) of NAVTA in the fall of 2004.  In November 2004 the ACVIM Board of Regents was updated on our progress and responded with a significant cash donation.  In December 2004 the IRS petition for non-profit status was completed and the first election of the Executive Board was completed. 

2005 - The AIMVT submitted the petition for recognition to the CVTS of NAVTA in January.  Shirley Sandoval appointed the 2005 Chairs for the committees of AIMVT.  The Credentialing committee  completed the candidate forms in anticipation of testing in 2008.  Ed Durham, Cheryl Bohling and the Development and Finance committee secured a significant donation from Hills Pet Nutrition.  Robin Sereno and the Ad hoc Website committee provided the means for the Executive Board to hold their first quarter meeting utilizing a private chat room on our website.  Ann Wortinger and the Examination committee developed a role delineation study that was unveiled at the ACVIM Forum in June.  The role delineation study will provide AIMVT with the information on which to build the examination blueprint.  The web based study was closed at the end of September.  Analysis of this landmark study isformed the examination blueprint.  Finally, Kim Pavelock, Dawn Bence and the Program committee worked closely with our counterparts on the ACVIM Program committee to line up a great technicians program at the June ACVIM Forum.  Case reports were introduced with great success to record number of veterinary technicians in attendance.

CVTS formally reviewed the AIMVT petition at their mid year meeting in June.  At that time, CVTS identified four items that warranted further discussion.

�         Identification of a distinct and identifiable specialty of veterinary technology.  Definition of the role of the veterinary technician in internal medicine.

�         Determination of critical mass in all five areas of subspecialty

�         Curriculum Vitae of 8 members of the organizing committee

�         Examination breakdown between the general examination and the specialty examination

AIMVT met with CVTS in July and agreed upon the following items.

�         The definition of internal medicine expanded to read as follows:

Veterinary Internal Medicine is defined as the branch of veterinary medicine concerned with non-surgical diseases in animals. Internal Medicine is further defined to include the advanced knowledge of wellness and preventative medicine, a detailed knowledge of complex, acute and chronic disease states, and a thorough knowledge of the anatomy, pathology and pathophysiology of animals.

�         The addition of a knowledge list to the requirements for candidates

�         Each subspecialty will be represented by at least 6 members of the Organizing Committee.  The qualifications for Organizing committee members is, as per the CVTS standards, far and above the qualifications expected of candidates.  AIMVT has expanded to meet this requirement in four of the five areas.  The critical mass in Neurology was not met.  If, prior to the January meeting of CVTS, the critical mass in neurology has not been met than AIMVT will proceed in the petitioning process without this subspecialty.  The protocol to add neurology is in place, if and when critical mass is reached.

�         Clarification of the CVs resulted in all but one member of the original organizing committee being accepted.  The CVs of the additional members of the organizing committee will be reviewed at the January meeting.

�         AIMVT and CVTS have agreed that the general portion of the examination shall not exceed 30% of the questions and the specialty examination shall be at least 70% of the questions.  Each examination will be considered a separate examination and candidates will need to pass each examination.

2006 - CVTS met in January at NAVC. The AIMVT petition process was further reviewed.  After consultation and some minor changes, AIMVT was granted provisional recognition in March 2006.  The organizing committee spent the remander of 2006 preparing for our first set of applications.  Candidate case logging started October 1st.

2007 - The first set of applications were accepted in the fall of 2007.  The application year was October 2006 through September 2007.  The applications were reviewed by the members of the Credentialing Committee.  Those applicants accepted by the committee were eligable for the first examinations.  The organzing committee spent most of 2007 developing the item banks for the AIMVT examinations.

2008 - The first examinations were held in June 2008 just preceeding the ACVIM Forum.  With the holding of these examinations, the Charter members were credentialed as VTS in their subspecialties.  In Decmber the letter of intent to add the specialty of Neurology to AIMVT was sent to CVTS.

2009 - The petition to include Neurology in AIMVT was submited in April 2009 and accepted in July of the same year.