Inaugural international postgraduate veterinary education event hailed as a great success

The inaugural International Postgraduate Veterinary Education (PGVE) Symposium, the first event of its kind to bring together educationalists, practitioners, employers and education providers from across medical and veterinary education, took place on 18 and 19 November, with more than 140 delegates in attendance.

The two-day event was hosted by the RCVS at Ironmongers’ Hall in London with the aim of bringing together an international community of experts to develop collaborative approaches to postgraduate veterinary and veterinary nursing education, and to share examples of best practice across international and professional boundaries.

The four areas of focus for the days were: graduate transition into the profession; advanced education and training (eg postgraduate qualifications, internships and residencies); continuing education and professional development; and licensure and revalidation.

Accordingly, the event featured more than 40 presentations, including nine plenary speakers, who shared their expertise and insights into best practice and innovation in relation to PGVE.

Speakers shared the latest evidence in relation to topics including effective workplace-based assessment, feedback, professional identity formation, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support learning, challenges and advances in specialty training and (human) nurse education pathways, the use of Entrustable Professional Activities, limited licensure and licensure assessment for international veterinary graduates.

Dr Linda Prescott-Clements (pictured) is RCVS Director of Education and co-chaired the event with RCVS Director of Veterinary Nursing Julie Dugmore RVN. She said: “We have received an unprecedented number of messages from delegates saying how much they enjoyed the PGVE Symposium and how useful it was, and we were delighted to see the many social media posts from delegates praising the event.

"The feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive and everyone is keen for a continued focus on this area and to develop the international community of veterinary educationalists further.

“I am grateful to all of our speakers from across medical and veterinary education who provided excellent plenaries and shared outstanding content for all the delegates. I am sure much was learned by everyone attending and there were certainly lots of useful and insightful discussions happening all throughout the event.

“It was also a truly international event with speakers from across Europe, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Hong Kong, so thank you to everyone who travelled so far to attend.

“The clear message from delegates was that this event needs to be the start of something bigger to promote and share PGVE research and best practice. We were very happy to get the ball rolling on this endeavour and we hope there will be many other similar events to come.”

For those who were unable to attend but wish to find out more, a full report of the proceedings will be published by the RCVS early in 2026. Videos of the talks and presentations will also be made available by the RCVS in due course.

To keep informed about the reports and recordings from the day, register your interest at our dedicated PGVE event webpage.