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Dr. Tracy Farone
Provision
By: Tracy Farone
Since the 2017 FDA mandate requiring medically important antibiotics to be prescribed only by a veterinarian for agricultural animals (which includes honey bees), beekeepers, apiarists and veterinarians have been discussing and attempting to find ways to facilitate this process. While creating various challenges for both US veterinary and apicultural industries, the public health importance of antibiotic resistance cannot be understated. 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:
One of the issues beekeepers often bring up is the ability to find a “honey bee trained” veterinarian. So how about an update on a plausible step towards a solution?
In many industries, it is not uncommon to have established certification programs that supply and indicate additional skills that a professional may possess. These certification programs often add to one’s resume, “letters” or qualifications after their name. Just within veterinary medicine, there are many established certifications. Some certifications may imply specialty, others proficiency. But all are established by extra training, testing, experience and evaluation of the individual with standards set by a board of their peers. For the last several years the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium (HBVC), have 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. 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. Each module has a designated number of required credits and credits are roughly equivalent to one hour of study or experience.
The goals of the program are to: 1) provide day one proficiency in a beeyard for veterinarians and 2) allow beekeepers a means to better identify veterinarians that have the education, skills, and competencies to safely work with honey bees and beekeepers.
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 andPublic Health
Module 7: Legislation, Regulations, and Policies
Interested veterinarians can find module information and applications under the “HBVC Certification” tab on the HBVC website’s main page. A list of pre-approved sources is also provided on the certification page of the HBVC website and new resources are being added. Each module can be completed individually or all over the same time period. Sources of module fulfillment can include the following:
A) Honey bee veterinary medicine continuing education or professional development lectures/courses
B) University courses on apicultural topics
C) Academic training/degree programs related to apicultural topics
D) Self-study of the scientific literature on apicultural topics
E) Authoring publications and developing professional presentations on apicultural topics
F) Hands-on training working with honey bee colonies
Total cost for veterinarians seeking certification is $249, with a pay as you go option of $25 per module and $74 for the final certification. The program is self-paced, but applicants must complete the program within two years of starting. Retrospective experience and/or education may be considered by the committee for up to 5 years prior to the application.
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 pass (achieve 80% or higher) a final examination or receive a passing grade on a final, industry-contributing, assignment that is submitted to the HBVC certification committee for evaluation.
Once a veterinarian earns certification, the CertHbV designation is valid for five years, after which the veterinarian has to apply for recertification and complete an additional 50 continuing education credits. The certification program is now available to start Module 1-7 through the HBVC’s website at www.hbvc.org
In addition to this new certification program for practicing veterinarians, a new generation of veterinarians are becoming more interested and educated in honey bee medicine. Of the 30 fully accredited veterinary schools in the US, eleven schools have established HBVC student chapters, and the chapter numbers are progressively growing.
The diseases and health challenges honey bees face are only going to increase in the future. It is our hope that these provisions may fill a gap and a request for more veterinarians to be better educated in honey bee medicine. Merry Christmas!
**Postscript: Thanks to the chair of the certification committee, Dr. Britteny Kyle, and other members of the committee for their commitment in the development of this program to better serve veterinarians, beekeepers, and honey bees!
