American Veterinary Medical Association


The American Veterinary Medical Association, founded in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 91,000 U.S. veterinarians working in private and corporate practice, government, industry, academia, and uniformed services.
The AVMA provides information resources, continuing education opportunities, publications, and discounts on personal and professional products, programs, and services. The AVMA indicates that it lobbies for animal friendly legislation within a framework that supports the use of animals for human purposes.
The United States Department of Education has designated the AVMA Council on Education as the accrediting body for the 30 schools of veterinary medicine in the United States. In this capacity, the AVMA develops and maintains educational standards for these institutions to ensure the qualifications and competency of graduates of veterinary schools.
The AVMA publishes the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Journal of Veterinary Research.
The AVMA's veterinary student organization is the Student American Veterinary Medical Association.

History

The American Veterinary Medical Association was founded in 1863, when 40 delegates representing seven states met for a convention in New York. Originally named the United States Veterinary Medical Association, the USVMA was renamed the AVMA in 1889.
By 1913, the AVMA consisted of 1,650 members, with membership open only to graduates of accredited veterinary schools.
Today, the AVMA has more than 91,000 members engaged in a wide variety of work. In addition to treating pets, veterinarians work in a number of fields, such as public health, agriculture, food safety, academics, and the military.

AVMA policy

The AVMA produces policies in response to member requests and stakeholder interest. These statements are general and aim to encourage improvement based on the best available scientific evidence.
In 2005, the AVMA changed its policy on pregnant sow housing, stating that "given the number of variables and large variation in performance within both group and stall systems for pregnant sows, no one system is clearly better than others under all conditions and according to all criteria of animal welfare".
The AVMA's policy was adopted after a comprehensive review by a multi-disciplinary, multi-perspective task force of experts that produced an accompanying review of housing for pregnant sows.
The AVMA has voted on several proposals to take a formal stand against the forced feeding of birds to make foie gras. Although foie gras has been banned in many countries in Europe, as well as in the U.S. state of California, because of an absence of science specifically addressing the welfare aspects of foie gras production, as well as conflicting opinions among its membership, the AVMA opted not to take a stand either for or against foie gras. The AVMA has published a welfare implications of foie gras production backgrounder.

Legislation

AVMA supported the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act of 2014, a law that amended the Controlled Substances Act to clarify that veterinarians are not required to have separate registrations to dispense controlled substances outside of their principal place of business, such as when treating animals on a farm. AVMA argued that "the CSA must be amended so that our nation's animals do not suffer unnecessarily." Due to an interpretation of the law by the Drug Enforcement Administration, veterinarians were not allowed to travel to their off-site animal patients with controlled substances.

Academic Accreditation

Two bodies within AVMA are responsible for veterinary education accreditation: the AVMA Council on Education and the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities. The former is responsible for accreditation of veterinary colleges and the latter veterinary technology programs.

AVMA Accredited Veterinary Colleges

The following colleges are accredited by the AVMA:
SchoolState/Province/CityCountryYear Founded
Auburn UniversityAlabamaUnited States1907
Tuskegee UniversityAlabamaUnited States1945
Midwestern University ArizonaUnited States2012
University of California, DavisCaliforniaUnited States1946
Western University of Health Sciences CaliforniaUnited States1998
Université de MontréalQuebecCanada1866
University of CalgaryAlbertaCanada2008
University of GuelphOntarioCanada1866
University of Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward IslandCanada1986
University of SaskatchewanSaskatchewanCanada1969
Colorado State UniversityColoradoUnited States1907
University of FloridaFloridaUnited States1976
Murdoch UniversityWestern AustraliaAustralia
University of MelbourneVictoriaAustralia
University of SydneyNew South WalesAustralia
University of QueenslandQueenslandAustralia1909
University of LondonLondonEngland
University of BristolBristolEngland
VetAgro SupMarcy l'EtoileFrance
University College DublinDublinIreland
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico1916
Massey UniversityPalmerston NorthNew Zealand1962
University of EdinburghEdinburghScotland1823
University of GlasgowGlasgowScotland1862
Utrecht University UtrechtThe Netherlands1821
Ross UniversitySaint KittsCaribbean1982
St. George's University GrenadaCaribbean1999
University of GeorgiaGeorgiaUnited States1946
University of Illinois at Urbana–ChampaignIllinoisUnited States1948
Purdue UniversityIndianaUnited States1959
Iowa State UniversityIowaUnited States1879
Kansas State UniversityKansasUnited States1905
Louisiana State UniversityLouisianaUnited States1968
Tufts UniversityMassachusettsUnited States1978
Michigan State UniversityMichiganUnited States1910
University of Minnesota MinnesotaUnited States1947
Mississippi State UniversityMississippiUnited States1977
University of Missouri-ColumbiaMissouriUnited States1946
Cornell UniversityNew YorkUnited States1894
North Carolina State UniversityNorth CarolinaUnited States1978
Ohio State UniversityOhioUnited States1885
Oklahoma State UniversityOklahomaUnited States1948
Oregon State UniversityOregonUnited States1979
University of PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaUnited States1884
University of TennesseeTennesseeUnited States1976
Lincoln Memorial University TennesseeUnited States2012
Texas A&M UniversityTexasUnited States1916
Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary MedicineVirginia/MarylandUnited States1978
Washington State University WashingtonUnited States1899
University of Wisconsin–MadisonWisconsinUnited States1979

AVMA Accredited Veterinary Technology Programs

The AVMA accredits veterinary technician programs in all U.S. states except for Arkansas, Montana, and Washington D.C. It also accredits one program in Canada and a number of distance learning programs.

Specialists in veterinary medicine

The AVMA recognizes the following 20 veterinary specialty organizations:
With these 40 distinct specialties: