By Dr Alamdar Hussain Malik
Ensuring Day-One Competence, as defined by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE), is now a global requirement for veterinary graduates, and Pakistan must urgently adopt it. Day-One Competence refers to the set of minimum knowledge, practical skills, and professional behaviors that a veterinarian must demonstrate independently on the very first day of practice, without requiring remedial training or supervision. It encompasses core areas such as clinical examination, diagnosis, treatment planning, preventive medicine, epidemiology, biosecurity, public health, animal welfare, ethics, communication, and farm management.
The rationale behind this standard is clear: veterinary graduates directly influence animal health, livestock productivity, food safety, and public health outcomes. Without Day-One Competence, graduates risk misdiagnosis, improper treatment, ineffective disease control, irrational use of antimicrobials, and reduced productivity, which can have widespread economic and social consequences. By establishing a globally recognized benchmark, which aligns with both earlier OIE guidelines and the updated WOAH framework, Day-One Competence ensures that all veterinarians, regardless of their institution, are prepared to deliver safe, effective, and responsible veterinary services from their very first day in practice.
Read also: Call for independent veterinary drug authority to protect livestock, public health
For Pakistan, adopting Day-One Competence is essential for a number of reasons. The livestock sector contributes significantly to the national economy, food security, rural livelihoods, and export potential. Yet, a major gap exists between the expectations placed on veterinarians and the actual competence of many graduates entering the field.
Employers frequently highlight weaknesses in clinical examination, diagnosis, treatment planning, surgery, data recording, field decision-making, and communication with farmers. These deficiencies are not due to lack of talent or interest among students but because many veterinary education institutions provide very weak and fragile opportunities for hands-on clinical training. Limited patient inflow, inadequate diagnostic laboratories, outdated equipment, insufficient farm access, and minimal supervised clinical rotations leave students struggling to achieve even the minimum hands-on skills required. As a result, many graduates struggle to meet even the basic benchmark of WOAH Day-One Competence.
This problem becomes more visible when Pakistani veterinarians attempt foreign licensing examinations such as NAVLE, ECFVG, PAVE, BCSE, DHA, QCHP, or other global practice assessments. These examinations place strong emphasis on clinical reasoning, case-based understanding, and the ability to apply knowledge in a real-world setting. Graduates from countries where Day-One Competence is strictly implemented enter these exams with confidence because they have spent years practicing skills in well-equipped clinics, farms, and laboratories. Pakistani graduates, however, often face difficulties not due to lack of knowledge, but because they have not been provided sufficient structured, supervised, and competency-based clinical training during their education. Strengthening Day-One Competence is therefore essential not only for national veterinary services but also for international mobility, recognition, and the professional success of Pakistani veterinarians abroad.
The way forward for Pakistan’s twenty veterinary educational institutions requires an immediate shift from traditional time-based education to modern competency-based veterinary education. Universities must expand and strengthen their teaching hospitals, enhance diagnostic laboratories, increase clinical caseloads through partnerships with livestock departments, and establish strong field training programs. Faculty development is crucial; teachers must be trained in modern pedagogical methods, clinical supervision, and objective skill assessments. Institutions need structured clinical skills laboratories (skills labs) where students can repeatedly practice essential procedures before handling live animals. Regular curriculum updates, strong linkages with the livestock industry, and outcome-driven teaching must become standard practice. Without these reforms, it will be impossible for students to achieve the clinical confidence and competence expected worldwide. In addition, institutions should organize special seminars and workshops by inviting national and international experts. These seminars would provide students, faculty, and administrators with exposure to global best practices, practical insights, and real-world examples of competency-based veterinary education. Such programs would emphasize the critical link between theoretical knowledge and practical skill, demonstrate modern clinical procedures, and highlight strategies for achieving hands-on competence from the very first day of practice. Engaging experts in structured discussions, case demonstrations, and interactive sessions can inspire curriculum reform, motivate both students and faculty, and ultimately strengthen Day-One Competence across the country.
The Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council (PVMC) has a decisive and central role in this transformation. As the national regulatory authority, PVMC must ensure that all veterinary institutions follow uniform standards aligned with WOAH Day-One Competence. This requires PVMC to strengthen its accreditation system, enforce minimum requirements for faculty, laboratories, teaching hospitals, farm training, and conduct regular, transparent inspections rather than symbolic evaluations. PVMC should implement a competency-based curriculum nationwide, introduce standardized examinations across all universities, and ensure that no student graduates without demonstrating essential clinical and professional skills.
The council must also establish a national licensing examination for new graduates, similar to medical and dental councils, to ensure only competent veterinarians enter the profession. In addition, PVMC should promote faculty development programs, encourage international collaborations, update the veterinary curriculum every few years, and work closely with provincial livestock departments and industry to align education with field needs. A stronger, independent, and professionally driven PVMC is essential for improving the quality of veterinary graduates, strengthening national veterinary services, and enabling Pakistani veterinarians to meet global standards in clinical practice and foreign licensing examinations.
Pakistan’s future livestock growth, disease control capacity, food safety standards, and international veterinary recognition depend on how quickly the country strengthens Day-One Competence across all veterinary institutions. Reform is not optional; it is a national obligation for protecting animals, farmers, consumers, and the reputation of the profession. By aligning education with WOAH standards, improving clinical training, empowering institutions, conducting expert seminars, and enhancing PVMC’s regulatory authority, Pakistan can produce veterinarians who stand equal to global standards and confidently qualify for foreign licensing examinations while serving the livestock sector with excellence from the very first day of their professional journey.
