Regulation
- Veterinary medicine falls under The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), which is part of the Federal Department of Home Affairs.
Veterinary Specialist Recognition
There is a federal register for all medical professionals with post graduate qualifications.
- It lists individuals with Swiss or Switzerland-recognised diplomas and continuing professional development titles in medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy and dentistry.
- No international (e.g. European Veterinary Specialists®, AVMA American Board of Veterinary Specialties diplomats, Fellows of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists) or national specialist qualifications in veterinary medicine are recognised officially in Switzerland.
- Professional membership organisations like the Swiss Veterinary Society (GST/SVS) can however register the titles that they award. There are nine national specialist titles (FVH) at EQF level 7+, based in part on continuing education.
Advanced Veterinary Practitioners
- There is no Advanced Veterinary Practitioner Training.
- Some veterinarians in Switzerland have completed postgraduate studies leading to a Dr. med. vet. title. - Dr. med. vet. is not equivalent to a PhD.
Continuing education of veterinary general practitioners
Continuing education has been mandatory, under the Federal Law on the Medical Profession, for all practicing veterinarians since 2002.
- This is recorded by the Swiss Veterinary Society (GST/SVS) using continuing education points. - The awarded continuing education points are prerequisite to gaining the national specialist qualifications (FVH).
Veterinary education
- There is one Veterinary Faculty in Switzerland, called the Vetsuisse-Faculty. I - t has two locations: Vetsuisse-Faculty University Zurich and Vetsuisse-Faculty University Berne.
- Veterinarians graduate and are federally licensed (med. vet.) and can get the permission to work as a veterinarian in private practice.
Membership Organisations
- The membership organisation is the Gesellschaft Schweizer Tierärztinnen und Tierärzte/Société des Vétérinaires Suisses (GST/SVS).
- One of the aims of the GST/SVS is to ensure the quality of veterinary practice in education in general and in continuing education in particular.
- The Swiss Veterinary Society (GST/SVS), the official representing body of veterinarians in Switzerland, has a number of subsections including one for specialized veterinarians - Fachsektionen.
