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THE ACVP/STP COALITION FOR VETERINARY PATHOLOGY FELLOWS ESTABLISHES SIX NEW TRAINING POSITIONS

The American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) and Society for Toxicologic Pathology (STP) recently formed the ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows to provide a unified mechanism to solicit and allocate funds to establish additional positions to train veterinary anatomic and clinical pathologists (Can. Vet. J. 46:1-2, 2005, and J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 226:1964-1965, 2005).  As a result of this initiative, support has been received for six new residencies in veterinary anatomic pathology, funded by GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and sanofi-aventis with additional unrestricted grant support from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Experimental Pathology Laboratories.  A Request for Applications (RFA) was issued to North American veterinary pathology training institutions to compete for these new residencies, and following review of 17 applications received in response to the RFA, the positions were awarded to Colorado State University, North Carolina State University, The Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of California at Davis, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  The Coalition will continue to solicit support for additional positions, including residencies in veterinary clinical pathology and for PhD dissertation research of trainees who have already completed pathology residencies. “Industry’s early response to this important educational initiative has been outstanding,” said Dr. Gary Cockerell, Director of the Coalition.  Directors of training programs at academic institutions are also enthusiastic.  “The generous support from industry will allow each of the funded programs to accept an additional highly qualified applicant who could not otherwise be supported,” said Dr. Rose Raskin, Professor of Veterinary Clinical Pathology at Purdue University and Chair of ACVP Training Coordinators.  “This new funding will enhance candidates’ training and provide excellent opportunities to experience additional career opportunities in veterinary pathology, and will help resolve the deficit of veterinary pathologists to fill critical positions in academia, the private sector and government,” added Dr. Nancy Everds, President of STP, and Dr. Keith Harris, President of ACVP.(return to top)

The ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows

by Gary L. Cockerell

A 2002 employer and training program survey confirmed a critical shortage of existing veterinary anatomic and clinical pathologists, and predicted the situation would worsen in the future due to continuing deficit in supply, increases in demand, and retirements in the current workforce (http://www.acvp.org/career/employsurv.pdf). In response to this shortage and to unite their efforts to increase the supply of veterinary pathologists, ACVP Council and STP Executive Committee recently created “The ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows.”

The goal of the Coalition is to create 5 new training positions in the first year and a total of 15 positions after three years. These positions will be funded by industry and private foundations, and will support three years of residency and/or PhD graduate research training in anatomic or clinical pathology, including stipend, tuition, health benefits, travel and educational supplies. Positions will be awarded to academic training institutions based on competitive review of proposals submitted in response to a Request for Applications issued by the Coalition. A close interaction will be established between successfully funded training programs, fellows and sponsors to enhance the training experience, and to more effectively cross-communicate programmatic goals and objectives. Coalition Fellows will be expected to complete the ACVP Certification Examination and/or their PhD degree within two years of the end of funding and to pursue careers in either veterinary anatomic or clinical pathology, but otherwise will have no pay back obligation.

General oversight of Coalition activities will be provided by ACVP Council and STP Executive Committee. Strategic leadership will be provided by a Board of Governors, consisting five members each of the ACVP and STP, and current Presidents of both organizations as ex officio members. Inaugural ACVP Board members are Drs. Reid Patterson, Chair (Reid Patterson Consulting), Willie Reed (Mich St Univ), John Shadduck (Shadduck Consulting), John Strandberg (Johns Hopkins Univ) and Mary Anna Thrall (Colo St Univ); inaugural STP Board members are Drs. Wanda Haschek-Hock (Univ of Ill), Vince Meador (Eli Lilly), Jim Moe (Myrtle Beach, SC), John Robertson (Virginia Tech) and Anne Ryan (Pfizer-PGRD). Dr. Gary Cockerell (Cockerell Alliances) will serve as Director and will be responsible for implementation and administration of the Coalition. Potential sponsors and training institutions can expect to receive additional information in the near future as soon as final administrative details are completed.

In summary, the Coalition represents a unique partnership between the ACVP and STP that will result in multiple advantages and mutual benefits for all participants; it will (1) increase the supply of veterinary pathologists, (2) provide a unified mechanism for ACVP/STP-endorsed solicitation and distribution of funds to train veterinary pathologists, and (3) provide a conduit for enhanced interaction between academic and industrial veterinary pathologists. (return to top)

Introduction

Dear Colleagues:

To address the growing deficit of veterinary pathologists in industry, academia and government, the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) and the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) have formed a coalition tasked with increasing the training opportunities in veterinary pathology. The following article by Drs. Cockerell and Patterson describes the magnitude of the pathologist shortage and explains how the coalition plans to create new training opportunities. As presidents of the ACVP and STP, we request the assistance of private and public sector organizations in providing financial support for new training positions in veterinary pathology. We also encourage institutions with veterinary pathology training programs to submit competitive applications for these new positions. The goal of this initiative is to fund five new training positions during this inaugural year, and a total of 15 new positions by the end of 2007. We believe the success of this industry-academia-government collaborative effort is critical for serving the needs of the biomedical community and that it can serve as a model for other research-oriented specialties with similar shortages of highly qualified specialists.

R. Keith Harris
DVM, DACVP
President, ACVP

Colin G. Rousseaux
BVSc, PhD, DABT, FRCPath, FIATP
President, STP (return to top)

Closing the Supply vs. Demand Gap for Veterinary Pathologists: A Multifaceted Problem in Need of a Multifaceted Solution

Gary L. Cockerell, DVM, PhD, DACVP
D. Reid Patterson, DVM, PhD, DACVP

A 2002 survey conducted by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) and the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) confirmed what employers and trainers of veterinary pathologists have experienced over the past decade: not enough of these specialized biomedical scientists are being trained to meet the demand (submitted for publication, Veterinary Pathology). Results of the survey indicated almost 150 open positions for veterinary anatomic or clinical pathologists at that time, about half of which were in the industrial sector. The deficit in supply was projected to increase to more than 400 by 2007, due to a combination of increased demand and the impending retirement of a whole “generation” of pathologists. Neither the rate at which the academic programs are training new pathologists, nor the number of currently enrolled trainees is sufficient to meet the demand. This conclusion is in keeping with results of a recent National Research Council workshop on the need for veterinarians with a range of advanced research training, especially as relates to their contributions within the pharmaceutical industry (R. J. Kinkler. “National Needs in Research for Veterinary Science: An Industry Perspective,” National Needs for Research in Veterinary Science Workshop. National Academies of Science. Washington, D.C. July 19-20, 2004).

The continued increase in the demand for veterinary pathologists, especially in industry, is understandable considering the key roles they play in the discovery and development of modern biopharmaceuticals. Contemporary anatomic and clinical veterinary pathologists describe, diagnose, quantify, interpret and determine reversibility of gross, microscopic and ultrastructural changes in tissues of animals following exposure to drugs/biologicals; they define clinical pathological parameters and identify novel biomarkers to monitor toxicity; they establish hypotheses and utilize specialized methods to design/manage experiments to elucidate the pathogenesis of toxicity; they extrapolate risks from animals to humans; they utilize animal models to confirm targets for therapeutic intervention; they localize cellular receptors and other targets in tissues using immunologic and molecular methodologies; they present critical data to regulatory agencies; and they provide leadership and administrative guidance for scientific units.

The reasons for the inability to meet the demand for veterinary pathologists are multifaceted. The most obvious reasons include the need to (1) better inform high school, pre-veterinary and veterinary students about rewarding career opportunities in veterinary pathology, (2) attract more highly qualified candidates to pursue post-DVM training, (3) attract and retain faculty to train residents and PhD-graduate students, and (4) create additional training positions.

The “ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows” is one step of a multifaceted approach needed to address the underlying causes of the problem. This unique partnership between ACVP and STP was formed in late 2004 to address the primary factor cited in the 2002 survey responsible for the limited number of training positions; lack of funding. Traditional funding to train veterinary pathologists, especially from federal government sources such as National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored training grants and state funds granted to academic institutions, has been drastically reduced over the last decade. Individual industrial sponsors and professional organizations have attempted to replace these vanishing funds; unfortunately, these efforts have not been coordinated, resulting in overlapping or conflicting goals, confusion amongst targeted trainees and funding sponsors, lack of a centralized clearinghouse for funding opportunities, and insufficient communication between the training institutions and employers of veterinary pathologists. The Coalition provides a unified mechanism to solicit and allocate funds to establish new positions to train veterinary anatomic and clinical pathologists by integrating the common interests of three groups:

a. Academic training institutions, to increase the number of positions for training veterinary pathologists, to communicate the goals of their programs and opportunities for academic careers;
b. Industry, to increase the supply of well trained veterinary pathologists, to fund new training positions, to demonstrate their commitment to science and opportunities for industrial careers;
c. The ACVP and STP, to promote programs that enhance candidates’ preparation to pass the ACVP Certification Examination and to complete pathology-related PhD dissertation research, and to assist training programs and industry achieve their goals.

The Coalition will solicit financial support from pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical companies, contract research organizations, private diagnostic laboratories, and philanthropic health and education foundations. Funding for new training positions will be awarded on the basis of competitive review of applications submitted by North American institutions that train veterinary pathologists as one of their primary functions. Funds will support residency training in either veterinary anatomic or clinical pathology or PhD dissertation research for a maximum of three years each, and will include stipends, tuition and medical benefits, travel and miscellaneous educational supplies. Training will focus on core principles of diagnostic and experimental veterinary pathology common to the goals of both ACVP and STP. A close interaction will be established between training institutions and industrial sponsors to enhance trainees’ programs and to cross-communicate programmatic goals. Trainees will be expected to successfully complete the ACVP Examination and/or the PhD degree within two years of the end of funding, and to pursue careers as veterinary pathologists, but otherwise will have no pay back obligation.

In summary, the ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows combines the strengths of two highly influential professional comparative pathology organizations to respond to the widening gap between the supply and demand for veterinary pathologists. The Coalition will result in multiple benefits, including an increased number of well trained veterinary pathologists, a unified mechanism for ACVP/STP to solicit and distribute funds to train veterinary pathologists, and a conduit for enhanced interaction between academic and industrial veterinary pathologists. This program will provide high-level recognition for sponsors with the foresight to provide financial support, and for selected training institutions for the excellence of their programs.

More information can be obtained by visiting the STP website(http://www.toxpath.org, select “For Students and Student Information from the pull-down menu), or by contacting the Coalition Director, Dr. Gary Cockerell (alliances@cockerell.org) or the Chair of the Coalition Board of Governors, Dr. Reid Patterson (reidpattersonconsulting@comcast.net). (return to top)

“Coalition” Experiences Early Success

Gary Cockerell

Created only late last year, the ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows has already generated substantial financial support to train additional veterinary pathologists.  Thanks to generous financial support from GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, funding is available for four new anatomic pathology residency positions.  A Request for Applications was issued to 47 North American training programs in mid-July for these positions.  Applications will be evaluated by the Coalition Board of Governors and awards made in early September, with the new residents to start as soon thereafter as possible.  In addition, Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Experimental Pathology Labs have provided unrestricted grants to support other important Coalition activities.  Other potential industry sponsors have included requests to support additional training positions in their next year’s budget.  The Coalition seeks support for post-DVM residency training in veterinary anatomic or clinical pathology, as well as for post-residency PhD graduate study.  An article announcing the Coalition has been enthusiastically accepted for publication in seven different journals (Am J Vet Res, Can Vet J, J Am Vet Med Assoc, J Vet Med Ed, Tox Path, Vet Clin Path, Vet Path).  These early indicators of success validate the tenets upon which the Coalition was created and demonstrate a unique cooperation between industry, academia, and the ACVP and STP in response to the well documented need for more well-trained veterinary pathologists.  Further Coalition information can be found on the STP website (http://www.toxpath.org, select “For Students and Student Information from the pull-down menu), or by contacting the Director, Dr. Gary Cockerell (alliances@cockerell.org), or the Chair of the Board of Governors, Dr. Reid Patterson (reidpatterson@msn.com).(return to top)

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