Creating the consummate professional: historical and contemporary perspectives

A central characteristic of any profession is control of access through examination, supported by standardised education, to assure the public that all new members have the knowledge, skills and other attributes they expect as a part of the social contract that legitimises the profession’s monopoly [1]. For the veterinary profession in the UK, the responsibility for professional oversight of education is granted to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the Veterinary Surgeons’ Act of 1966, and discharged through periodic visitations to veterinary schools, together with their annual reports. In addition, it is now recognised by all professions that a qualification for life is no longer adequate and practitioners must engage in lifelong learning appropriate to their roles if they are to honour their obligations to their clients, their profession and society [2].
Like the privilege of self-regulation, the privilege of setting standards for our professional education and access to our profession should stimulate all members to engage in the debate of what form all this should take for our generation, always recognising that public service based on need should be our primary consideration. We distinguish ourselves from ‘quacks’ based on our professional knowledge which is scientifically based [3], so it is important in an era when we (rightly) pride ourselves on our evidence-based approach to diagnosis and treatment that we are equally critical of the principles involved in the design of our curricula and their delivery. That way, in an age where we are overloaded with information, we can, within the limits of the length of our professional curricula, continue to build on the sound foundations that we have inherited [4]. […]