CBVE & EPA

The CBVE is a Competency-Based Veterinary Education curriculum.  Through application of content via skills, key knowledge of the CBVE framework is organized into units of activity that are relevant to the everyday practice of veterinary medicine.  These collections of complex tasks are referred to as Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), and they can be summed up as the “day one” skill sets we expect of our students upon graduation.

There are nine EPAs, the contents of which are taught by the five Threads, and finally assessed in the Clinical Fourth Year.

1. Gather a History, perform an examination, and create a prioritized differential diagnosis list
2. Develop a diagnostic plan and interpret results
3. Develop and implement a management/treatment plan
4. Recognize a patient requiring urgent or emergent care and initiate evaluation and management
5. Formulate relevant questions and retrieve evidence to advance care
6. Perform a common surgical procedure on a stable patient, including pre-operative and post-operative management
7. Perform general anesthesia and recovery of a stable patient including monitoring and support
8. Formulate recommendations for preventative healthcare
9. Perform as a healthy professional and practice manager

Different aspects of an EPA are taught by multiple threads.  Below is a demonstration of how each EPA of program year one is contributed to by different threads; the more focused and direct contributions are delineated by the point size of the connecting line.