The mission of the College is to contribute significantly to the maintenance and enhancement of the quality of European Veterinary Specialists in Laboratory Animal Medicine across all European countries at the highest possible level, so as to ensure that optimal veterinary medical services will be provided to those we serve in biomedical research, education, and pharmaceutical development, and ultimately to the public.
To this aim, ECLAM provides advanced training beyond the professional veterinary degree to prepare candidates to meet certification requirements and to update the competence of specialists, and has:
1. established a policy and associated formal mechanisms for the approval, periodic review and monitoring for the assurance of the content, standards and quality of the programmes and awards it is offering;
2. established a system of collection, analysis and use of up to date, impartial and objective, relevant information for the effective management of the training programmes and other activities of the College, to be regularly submitted to the EBVS;
3. established a clear policy and procedures for re-certification of the Diplomates as active members of the College;
4. mechanisms in place to avoid conflict of interest on all levels, including applications for enrolment as a resident, approval of standard and alternate residency programmes, approval of credentials, conduct of examinations, and appeals procedures;
5. established a policy regarding complaints or appeals;
Moreover, working under the umbrella of the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation, ECLAM also pursues its goals by ensuring that:
6. the College fosters a culture which recognises the importance of quality, and quality assurance, in its activities, and to achieve this, it has a strategy for the continuous enhancement of quality;
7. the interests of society and the veterinary profession in specialist education and training are safeguarded;
8. any specified requirement on experience is clearly defined, relevant to the objectives of the speciality, and amenable to evaluation;
9. the strategic plan is evaluated every ten years;
10. the strategy, Constitution, Bylaws, policy and procedures, and all major documents of the College are publicly available;
11. residents are assessed using published criteria, regulations and procedures which are applied consistently and in an impartial way;
12. staff specifically involved with the training of residents is competent to do so;
13. the resources available for the support of resident learning are adequate and appropriate for each programme offered.
Accountability procedures
ECLAM has in place procedures which include the following:
1. a published policy for the assurance of the quality of the agency itself, made available on its website
2. documentation which demonstrates that:
a. the processes and outcomes reflect its mission and goals, as well as quality assurance;
b. supports and enforces a no-conflict-of-interest mechanism in its own activities or in the activities of its Diplomates and Residents/Candidates;
c. has mechanisms in place to assure the quality of any of its activities and material produced.
In accordance with its objective to function as an organisation developing and enhancing standards and guidelines on quality assurance in the area of laboratory animal medicine, and to maintain and develop co-operation with other appropriate European stakeholder organisations, ECLAM is committed to a continuing cooperation with partner organisations in Europe and beyond. These mainly include the other EBVS-recognised Colleges, the respective professional associations in Europe, and specialist Colleges in other parts of the world (e.g. North America and Australasia).
Approved by ECLAM Council, March 2017