The common core outcomes

1. Information and Research Skills

• Use traditional and electronic resources for retrieval of relevant, reliable and current information
• Apply critical and analytical skills in evaluating the validity of information
• Collate, synthesise and interpret information appropriately
• Summarise and present information in a coherent manner
• Use processes of scientific method, quality assurance and evidence-based medicine
• Have well developed observational skills 

2. Planning and Decision Making 

• Recognise areas of veterinary responsibility and responsibilities of the responding veterinarian specifically and respond appropriately
• Obtain sufficient information about the situation
• Draw valid conclusions, including the identification and ranking of problems
• Recognise the interests and expectations of all stakeholders, including the broader profession and community
• Accept and plan for other people’s values and opinions, and different emotional, economic and practical contexts
• Identify desired outcomes and the nature of the veterinary input required to achieve these
• Predict and accept the implications and consequences of decisions
• Deal effectively with uncertainty and re-evaluate decisions based on new information
• Be able to justify the reasons for opinions and advice 

3. Interpersonal and Communication Skills 

• Communicate effectively by oral, written and electronic means with colleagues, clients and the general public
• Listen to and consider of the needs of the client/audience
• Maintain orderly, legible records of veterinary work in a form suitable for professional colleagues and the public
• Produce case reports in written, electronic or oral formats
• Work in a team, and apply multi-disciplinary approaches to problems
• Take a leadership role when appropriate
• Effectively manage interpersonal conflict
• Observe professional responsibilities to instruct and direct others
• Appreciate cultural diversity and history that underpin feelings, emotions and values as elements of communication

4. Professional conduct

• Understand and enact the ethical standards expected of veterinarians and assess their own ethics and standards of conduct in that context
• Uphold, promote and advance the profession and its role in optimising animal and human health and welfare
• Execute responsibilities with respect to patient care and interactions with clients, staff and colleagues
• Project ethical conduct and professional standards and identity in public forums, the media and online environments
• Comply with legislation governing registered veterinarians, including:

1. 1. Animal health and welfare
   2. Public health and environmental protection
   3. Biosecurity, infection control, quarantine, and notifiable disease response
   4. Professional conduct and codes of practice, including issuance of certificates
   5. Occupational health and safety, including radiation safety, pharmaceutical and chemical management, zoonoses prevention
   6. Industrial relations, employment equity

5. Self-awareness and Continuing Professional Development 

• Self-audit and reflect to recognise and respond to personal limitations in knowledge, skills, attitudes
• Recognise personal limitations as indications for external professional support or collaboration and develop and implement plans to address these
• Engage in life-long learning and adapt to a changing environment
• Use acquired information and skills to contribute to veterinary knowledge and the advancement of practice

Veterinary profession outcomes

1. Create and maintain appropriate medical records and certifications

1. Produce legible, accurate, current, and reliably stored and accessed records
2. Produce records that are concise yet inclusive of all information relevant to the process of diagnosis, therapy and case management
3. Ensure records are consistent with legislative, professional and ethical requirements, and that abide by the principle in making medical records
4. Work within typical practice systems for record keeping, case reporting and financial management

2. Obtain a relevant and accurate medical history of animals and their environment

1. Establish a productive relationship with the person(s) involved
2. Ask questions which are systematic, relevant, precise, objective, non-leading and interactive
3. Assess information obtained for accuracy and reliability
4. Clarify or verify uncertainties and inconsistencies

3. Handle and restrain animals in a safe and humane manner

1. Handle and restrain animals using methods which are humane, effective and consistent with the context
2. Minimise discomfort and risk of injury to a restrained animal
3. Anticipate the behaviour of the animal considering the environmental context and adapt methods of restraint
4. Minimise risks to personnel, providing detail instruction

4. Evaluate animals and their environment

1. Perform an effective general assessment of animals and their environment, in the context of the problem and/or purpose of examination
2. Carry out systematic, thorough physical examination of animals
3. Evaluate and effectively use health and production records of animals
4. Use appropriate diagnostic instruments and examination techniques
5. Understand the structure and function of healthy animals and thereby recognise physical, behavioural and production abnormalities

5. Develop a problem list and diagnostic plan

1. Develop a problem list using information derived from the medical history, general assessment and physical examination
2. Apply knowledge and reasoning skills to develop a list of diagnostic hypotheses
3. Develop a plan to address the differential diagnoses in a rational, expedient manner
4. Effectively communicate problems, plans for case progression, and potential respective outcomes with clients

6. Tend to the immediate needs of animals

1. Rank problems in order of importance and urgency
2. Promptly and accurately evaluate options for emergency treatment and communicate these with the owner
3. Deliver emergence care consistent with prevailing ethical and legal constraints
4. Deliver first aid to any animal in distress irrespective of client ownership or practice affiliation, and including wildlife

7. Perform relevant ancillary diagnostic tests and procedures where appropriate

1. Select appropriate ancillary diagnostic tests and procedures, based on the diagnostic plan
2. Evaluate the scope and limitations of diagnostic techniques, including technical accuracy
3. Evaluate the costs, risks and benefits for procedures, including patient factors, client resources and likely outcomes
4. Operate equipment and perform tests as per standard procedure and/or regulations
5. Recognise the importance of, and apply principles of, quality control in diagnostic tests and procedures and account for artefacts
6. Collect, preserve and transport samples so as to maximise diagnostic value and comply with regulations

8. Interpret and synthesize outcomes of history, physical examination and ancillary diagnostics to refine diagnoses and offer prognoses

1. Apply rational diagnostic process to all information generated to create provisional diagnoses or refined differential diagnoses
2. Identify probable interrelationships among abnormalities, and recognise the organ system(s) involved
3. Recognise and approach disease problems on the basis of their being common, uncommon, zoonotic or notifiable.
4. Determine prognoses for provisional diagnoses, including cost-benefits analyses where appropriate
5. Describe the diagnoses and associated levels of certainty, prognoses and other outcome possibilities with clients

9. Develop strategies for dealing with various diagnoses

1. Recognise the more common diseases associated with various geographic regions, husbandry systems, patient signalment, etc.
2. Identify management and/or therapeutic options to deal with identified problems or diagnoses based on rational, clinical approaches
3. Re-consider or amend management and/or therapeutic options based on:

1. 1. Clients’ situation and/or objectives with respect to economic, cultural, sociological, emotional, human-animal bond issues
   2. Treatment costs, risk/benefits and practical feasibility
   3. Resources immediately available, including the graduate’s competence and ability to seek external support
   4. Potential human and animal health outcomes, animal welfare issues, legal requirements

    vi. Develop strategies for dealing with uncommon endemic diagnoses, based on  extension of foundational knowledge, rational process, and external resources

    v. Recognise the possibility of a notifiable disease and respond appropriately

10. Apply principles of biosecurity and infection control

1. Understand and use epidemiological principles to implement pathogen and disease control
2. Identify and effectively employ sources of relevant information about infectious diseases
3. Recognise implications of public health, animal health and welfare, and socio-economic outcomes in designing infectious disease control approaches
4. Recognise the roles and limitations of surveillance, screening and confirmatory tests in disease control contexts
5. Distinguish non-infectious causal factors from infectious agents, and appreciate causal interactions between the host, agent and environment
6. Recognise the role of individual veterinarians and statutory authorities in disease control programs, and participate across private and public sectors

11. Perform therapeutic procedures on animals in an effective and professional manner

1. Apply treatments and control measures based on valid scientific principles and complicit with the regulatory framework
2. Apply treatments and control measures with due consideration of professional, ethical, humane and public health issues
3. Select and use appropriate therapeutic drugs, based on a foundational pharmacological knowledge and access to use guidelines and similar resources
4. Discuss achievable outcomes with the client, including the option of referral
5. Anticipate untoward side effects and sequelae, including food safety and quality impacts
6. Monitor outcomes of treatment and control, identify treatment failures, and modify treatment plans as indicated
7. Select, prescribe, apply, store and dispose of licensed medicines in accordance with practice guidelines and legislative requirements
8. Assist the client in making therapeutic decisions, including cost, prognoses, uncertainties, welfare and ethical considerations

12. Recognise when euthanasia is warranted, and carry it out humanely

1. Ensure appropriate medical, behavioural, economic, and humane criteria are applied in evaluating the need for euthanasia
2. Observe prevailing legal and ethical obligations in performing euthanasia and carcass disposal
3. Utilise a method that is consistent with the situation, humane, effective, biosecure, and carries a minimum of risk to operators
4. Recognise the sensitivity of the situation and provide comfort to clients

13. Administer analgesia and anaesthesia as indicated

1. Recognise indications for analgesia and/or anaesthesia based on practice standards and good case management guidelines
2. Identify options for analgesic and/or anaesthetic techniques, including risk assessment
3. Perform appropriate techniques competently and in line with ethical and legal requirements
4. Anticipate and prevent untoward sequelae, adapting technique as indicated
5. Monitor patients to ensure safe and humane recoveries

14. Perform common surgical and physical procedures

1. Identify and perform appropriate surgical and physical procedures as diagnostic and/or therapeutic options
2. Correctly apply principles of equipment sterilisation, infection control and aseptic technique
3. Anticipate complications and manage risk effectively, adapting techniques to suit changing needs
4. Monitor the patient during and after the procedure, ensuring adequate supportive and post-operative care

15. Assess, advise on, and modify animal behaviour

1. Anticipate the behaviour of animals in various circumstances and use behavioural knowledge to expedite interactions with patients
2. Recognise common behavioural problems, in the context of the animal’s physical and husbandry environment
3. Formulate and implement feasible programs for modification of animal behaviour in a safe and humane manner
4. Recognise potential use of a variety of treatment options, including chemical, environmental modification, client education, or referral
5. Provide adequate time and follow-up to deal with behavioural cases, and account for potential complications

16. Assess and advise on animal production and performance

1. Understand and apply principles of population medicine
2. Analyse production data accurately and systematically by appropriate methods
3. Recognise inadequate levels of animal husbandry, production and performance, in the context of societal standards, economic factors, and client objectives
4. Evaluate the nutritional status of an animal or herd and advise on principles of husbandry and feeding
5. Analyse reproductive performance, address reproductive problems using accepted medical and obstetrical procedures
6. Incorporate regard to practical, economic, ethical, humane, and regulatory factors in therapeutic and control advice and action

17. Design, implement and maintain preventive health management programs

1. Develop and implement a health management program consistent with the clients’ objectives, and communicate effectively with clients in this process
2. Use an understanding of the production enterprise and of livestock business principles to competently advise clients
3. Incorporate principles of husbandry, hygiene, biosecurity, epidemiology, animal welfare and environmental sustainability
4. Monitor the program implemented, using appropriate qualitative and/or quantitative criteria and updating as indicated

18. Evaluate and address animal welfare issues

1. Understand the welfare needs of animals, considering relevant environmental, behavioural and physical contexts
2. Evaluate the welfare status of animals using tenable criteria based on a knowledge of animal behaviour and physiology
3. Incorporate societal expectations, ethical standards, and regulatory requirements in evaluation of and response to welfare issues
4. Monitor outcomes of counselling and intervention, and report welfare concerns when indicated

19. Decide on the fitness of animals and animal products for human consumption

1. Recognise the responsibilities and authority of the veterinarian, including statutory and welfare/ethical standards
2. Identify and comply with industry and legislative standards in inspection, certification and notification processes
3. Apply biosecurity and quality assurance processes, and identify products and processes that do not meet standards of hygiene, quality and safety
4. Recognise and risk manage the animal health, economic and public health implications of abnormalities in products and processes
5. Recognise tensions associated with regulated production and processing environments and use non-technical skills to manage them effectively