Danielle is correct in pointing out that not just the training but the certification is also important. There are many veterinarians that have gone through internship and residency training (especially with all of the private practice programs, corporate and otherwise, out there today) that have never completely fulfilled their requirements and actually become board certified. Many of these non-board certified, residency trained individuals practice in multispecialty hospitals (especially in corporate and private specialty hospitals) where they are treated as "specialists" and clients are never made aware of their lack of credentials. This brings up another point altogether, and subsequently another term that should be defined in the regulatory statutes. The term "board certified" is a term that can also lead to confusion either by virtue of ommission or when used alone to describe a doctor's qualifications. For example, clients may inquire about a doctors credentials prior to agreeing to have surgical services provided. The question may be phrased "Are you board certified?", and subsequently, can be answered in the affirmative by a doctor that is either a diplomate of the ACVS or a diplomate of the ACVP. However, the client may never know that these two doctors are not equally qualified to provide the surgical services in question. The term may also be omitted during the initiation of a referral. For example, a general practice veterinarian wanting to refer a client to another general practice veterinarian for surgery may say "I'm referring you to a surgeon". The client may not even think to inquire about said veterinarians credentials/qualifications, assuming that their veterinarian is referring them to a board certified surgeon.