Enhancing nontechnical skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes in the veterinary profession through the work of the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues.

JAVMA, Vol 230, No. 11, June 1, 2007 T National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI) was formed in 2000 by the AVMA, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) in response to the findings of the 1999 KPMG study of which the executive summary (The current and future market for veterinarians and veterinary medical services in the United States) was published in 1999. As one approach to improving the economic health of the veterinary profession, the NCVEI formed a working group to enhance the nontechnical skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes (SKAs) of veterinarians. This action was taken as a result of increasing evidence that many veterinarians, although clinically competent, may lack some of the crucial SKAs that typically are correlated with, and could be essential for, their professional success. One key source of this evidence was the KPMG study itself, which suggested directly that a weakness in SKAs was a problem facing the veterinary medical profession. In addition, the KPMG study identified other key issues of economic importance to veterinary medicine, some of which have been attributed indirectly to a lack of critical SKAs. A separate study, contemporary with the KPMG study, identified similar issues related to the nontechnical skills and attributes of veterinarians. It has been several years since the KPMG study was published. A considerable amount of discussion and work has been completed in the interim, and much has been accomplished. As one of the three agencies that sponsored the KPMG study and initiated the NCVEI, the AAVMC has been actively engaged in a number of efforts to enhance the SKAs. The objectives of this commentary are to provide an overview of the SKAs-related work coordinated through the NCVEI and to suggest future directions for such work. Enhancing nontechnical skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes in the veterinary profession through the work of the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues