One of the issues beekeepers often bring up is the ability to find a “honey bee trained” veterinarian.
For the last several years, the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium (HBVC) has worked diligently to create a new certification program in honey bee medicine for veterinarians – the CertHbV designation. This on-line program is now open to interested veterinarians, as HBVC members, on the HBVC website, www.hbvc.org
The goals of the program are to: 1) provide day one proficiency in a bee yard for veterinarians and 2) allow beekeepers to better identify veterinarians that have the education, skills, and competencies to safely work with honey bees and beekeepers.
In order to earn the CertHbV designation, veterinarians must complete 150 continuing education credits within seven topical modules, all of which are evaluated by the certification committee of the HBVC.
The CertHbV modules are:
Module 1: Husbandry and the Beekeeping Industry
Module 2: Anatomy and Physiology
Module 3: Pathobiology & Epidemiology of Honey Bee Diseases
Module 4: Diagnostics and Treatment of Honey Bee Diseases
Module 5: Clinical Veterinary Experience, the VCPR, and Client Communications
Module 6: One Health and Public Health
Module 7: Legislation, Regulations, and Policies
Of important note is that Module 5 requires veterinarians to complete at least 40 hours of hands-on training working honey bee colonies, 30 hours must come from working with a minimum of three beekeepers. It is highly recommended that veterinarians work with at least one commercial and one hobbyist beekeeper. In order to become certified, the veterinarians must pay all associated fees and pass (achieve 80% or higher) a final examination or a final, industry-contributing, assignment that is reviewed by the HBVC certification committee.
The diseases and health challenges honey bees face are only going to increase in the future and the FDA recently doubled down on the need for an established, in-person, Veterinary Client Patient Relationship (VCPR) prior to prescribing drugs to a patient. This federal law would supersede any state changes to veterinary practice acts that attempt to re-define how a VCPR could be established. Telemedicine, from a federal law perspective, does not establish a VCPR. Learn more here:
CertHbV may help fill the gap and beekeepers’ request for more veterinarians better educated in honey bee medicine.