1. Official veterinarians in Europe – Demographics and training needs and opportunities in the times of change
- Author
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Gomes-Neves, Eduarda, Cardoso, Margarida F., Lazou , Thomai, Hengl , Brigita, Bonardi , Silvia, Guldimann , Claudia, Blagojevic , Bojan, Johler , Sophia, Zdolec, Nevijo, and Sperner, Brigitte
- Subjects
Official veterinarians , Europe , Demographics ,Training - Abstract
Official veterinarians (OVs) are a vital part of the food safety assurance system, as they per- form the official controls for the national veterinary competent authorities (CAs). The way official controls for food products are carried out in Europe has been recently amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/625. In this new context, the OVs play a key role as risk managers at pre-harvest and harvest levels of the meat production chain and need proper training. Un- der the framework of COST Action RIBMINS, this study utilised an online questionnaire to characterize the profile of European OVs in terms of demographics, qualifications, work ex- perience, employment situation, continuing education, training opportunities and needs. The questionnaire was completed by 1, 778 OVs of 31 nationalities working in 30 European countries. On average they were 48.7 years old (min. 23 – max. 77), 53.9% were male, 45.5% were female and 0.6% preferred not to say. On average, the degree in Veterinary Medicine was obtained 22.5 years ago. The highest academic degree is DVM for 74.8% of the respondents, while 15.6% completed an MSc and 9.6% a PhD ; 35.9% hold a national specialisation diploma and 4.4% a European one. Previous professional experience and spe- cific training were required to enter the career for 32.4% and 51.2%, respectively. For 61.8% of the respondents, the entity responsible for the training was the national veterinary CA, and 50.2% had to pass an exam. On average, the number of years of experience was 15.2 (min. 0 - max. 48) and 65.3% work full-time. Most frequently, OVs work in pig (47.4%) or cattle abattoirs (44.0%), in a team with one or more OVs (38.5%) or alone (31.3%). The most frequent employer was the regional (37.5%) or the national veterinary CA (35.0%) ; 68.9% had a long-term/permanent contract. For 69.5% of OVs, the frequency of training opportu- nities is regular, and the last training activity was less than one year ago for 68.9% ; 60.0% prefer lectures face-to-face and on-site practical sessions. The most requested topics for future training are the new legislation on official controls, zoonotic and emerging diseases and risk-based meat inspection (64.4%, 62.0% and 61.6%, respectively), despite these topics having already been approached. The data obtained enable the characterisation of this pro- fessional group and help to identify training interests and develop effective future training tools.
- Published
- 2023