At its April meeting, the Executive Board approved revisions to the policies and procedures manual of the AVMA American Board of Veterinary Specialties.

The most notable revision was a clarification that emerging specialty groups submitting a letter of intent have four years after that point to submit a full petition for recognition.

The revised manual is available on the AVMA Web site at www.avma.org/education/abvs/abvs_pp.asp.

The mission of the ABVS is to recognize and encourage the development of recognized veterinary specialty organizations promoting advanced competency in well-defined areas of study or practice categories, to provide the public with exceptional veterinary service.