Frequently Asked Questions

You will be able to host students in an official programmatic capacity once approved as an affiliated veterinary instructional partner (AVIP).

Clinics must meet the standards outlined by the AVMA Council on Education (COE), complete the training modules created by the CVM, and be willing to evaluate the students as outlined in the modules. To sign up to be an AVIP, visit our page for Partnering Practitioners & Clinics.

The AVIP preceptor of record at each clinic (and anyone at the clinic that may benefit) will go through the following training modules created by the Utah State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and attend the annual AVIP training conference.

• Introduction to Becoming an AVIP - 3-minute Video
• Responsibilities of the AVIP: Preceptor of Record - PDF
• Responsibilities of the AVIP: Site - PDF
• Feedback and Debriefing Methods - Interactive Module
• Instructions on How and When to Assess/Evaluate Each student in Your Clinic - Module
• Student Responsibilities During Fourth-Year Rotations - Module
• Mentor Mentee Relationship - Interactive module

No. The Cliinical Program Coordinator will reach out to you before each clinical year to confirm the number of students you are willing to host per rotation and the number of rotations you want to participate in.

No. We believe the students and practice will only benefit when mutually invested, and we do not expect every veterinarian to be interested in being a preceptor. We encourage veterinarians that are willing to teach, participate, and mentor students to register with the CVM as a preceptor of record for the clinic and take the training provided by the CVM. It is fine to have multiple preceptors of record at the same clinic.

No, students may work with any licensed veterinarians and skilled staff, but the preceptor of record is the one responsible for evaluating students.

The most significant benefit to the clinic is the potential to interact with soon-to-be veterinarians before they graduate and take part in shaping the future of veterinary medicine. Each AVIP site will receive a professional fee of $1,000 per week per student as well as $250 per week per student to cover overhead expenses accrued as a result of hosting a fourth-year CVM student. That is a total of $5,000 per student hosted for a four-week rotation.

Fortunately, this rarely happens in distributive programs. However, if we can’t resolve the issue by assigning the student to another doctor or mediating a solution, provisions are in place to transfer the student to another location. It is not our wish to make a practice or student endure an undesirable situation.

Students will be clinic-ready when they enter their last year of studies. Even so, some students will be more confident, while others may need more encouragement and supervision. Preceptors help students become day-one practice-ready veterinarians at graduation.

At the start of each rotation, students will create a rotation learning agreement to go over with the preceptor(s) of record. This will help you assess the student’s skill level and goals for the rotation. You may find one student is very advanced and can actively take part in surgeries, interact with clients, etc. while the next student might need a bit more time on clinical skills. The preceptor of record(s) should only allow a student to participate in areas where the student and the veterinarians are comfortable. The overall goal is for our students to have a hands-on experience during their rotation where they have cases of their own to work through with guidance from the preceptor of record and the CVM-appointed clinical rotation advisor. Clinical rotation advisors are veterinarians available for mentoring students and providing content expertise during their clinical rotations. They are also responsible for discussing the assessments performed on each student during feedback and debriefing sessions in partnership with the preceptors of record.

Yes, students are insured three different ways: 1) personal health and medical insurance, 2) veterinary student professional liability insurance, and 3) Utah State University insurance when students are participating in official university activities (i.e., required course work).

The CVM’s Clinical Program Administration team and the assigned clinical rotation advisor will be easily accessible to students during their clinical rotations. Clinical rotation advisors are veterinarians available for mentoring students and providing content expertise during their clinical rotations. They are also responsible for discussing students’ rotation assessments during feedback and debriefing sessions in partnership with the preceptors of record. AVIPs will be in close contact during the rotations, with both the CVM’s Clinical Program Administration team and the assigned clinical rotation advisor, should questions or issues arise.