Journal of veterinary medical education最新文献

Admission to veterinary school is generally based on academic and non-academic measures. Descriptions of animal or veterinary experience and rural versus urban background are often sought from applicants, but little is objectively known about their impact on admission success or future performance. We evaluated scores from written descriptions from 590 veterinary school applicants for the nature and extent of self-reported animal experience. For those admitted to the program, we compared animal experience and rural versus urban background to performance in discipline-based courses, professional skills courses, clinical rotations, and the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam (NAVLE). More than 98% of applicants reported animal experience, with small animal veterinary experience most reported. There was no difference in animal experience or background between successful and unsuccessful applicants, but rural and urban applicants reported different experiences. There was a small correlation between small animal experience and performance in clinical rotations (.21), a small negative correlation between rural background and NAVLE performance (-.23), but otherwise, no significant correlations between animal experience or background and future performance. These findings suggest that scores of self-reported animal experience do not provide predictive information on applicants, or, alternatively, that the nature and extent of animal experience, the methods used to score these experiences, and/or the measures assessed during veterinary school need to be explicitly defined to ensure that we are capturing the appropriate information. More investigation into the scoring and impact of animal experience and background on applicant performance in the DVM program and success in a veterinary career is warranted.

A group of veterinary educators with diverse backgrounds and interests from five universities in the northeastern region of the United States convened in December 2020 to address challenges in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) in veterinary education. It was elected to develop a DEIJ-specific competency domain to supplement the nine domains previously described in the Competency-Based Veterinary Education framework. The domain that we created provides a detailed but flexible road map that can be used to guide curriculum-development initiatives that support learner development in DEIJ and, as a result, enhance their impact in working teams and the communities in which they will live and practice. However, we anticipate that this domain will be regularly updated to stay relevant with respect to social change and veterinary medicine.

Veterinary students frequently experience heightened emotions, which can stimulate or compromise learning. The impact of student emotions on educators, or the ways that educators can respond to these, is less well known. This has potential impacts for educators' own emotional responses and for educators' effectiveness in supporting learning. To better support educators in facilitating student learning, this study sought to further understand how students' epistemic emotions are experienced by educators. We explored the experiences of educators from three international veterinary schools, using iterative interpretive analysis of workshop discussions designed and implemented for the purpose of the study. Analysis revealed that veterinary educators experience a range of emotions in the course of teaching their students, arising from events, such as emotional topics or clinical situations; receipt of grades; and the experience of uncertainty, for example, in teaching methods or open-ended tasks. The educators' responses to these included feeling overwhelmed and anxious-wanting to help facilitate student learning but lacking the tools to do so. Consequently, educators felt unable to engage effectively with students, and learning was deactivated. This could occur even when students were interested and curious. Educators' responses were particularly challenged by time and assessment pressures (needing to remain on topic and teach to learning outcomes). Strategies for responding to student emotions and to support development of educator emotional intelligence have been generated. These include a need for institutional recognition of the time resources necessary for educators to reflectively learn from complex situations experienced in their classrooms.

To develop a veterinary workforce equipped for long-term professional success, educational institutions must prioritize their students' well-being. Most approaches focus on building assets within the individual, like stress management, to limit negative outcomes, like burnout. Our research proposes a positive psychology-based model of student thriving that instead emphasizes the pervasive role of the social climate within a context. Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT) posits that social relationships at the institutional, faculty and staff, and peer levels will promote student thriving and limit frustration through the satisfaction or frustration of the three psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Veterinary medical students across the United States (N = 202) completed a survey, and we used structural equation modeling to test how their institution's social climate predicted positive student outcomes (i.e., hope and life satisfaction) and a negative outcome (i.e., burnout) mediated by psychological need satisfaction and frustration. Students' perceptions of positive aspects of their institution's social climate ubiquitously predicted each variable in the model. Overall, the model positively predicted psychological need satisfaction (R² = .44), hope (R² = .67), and life satisfaction (R² = .51), and negatively predicted psychological need frustration (R² = .34) and burnout (R² = .87). Findings emphasize the role veterinary medicine peers, faculty, and staff play in creating learning environments that support student thriving while limiting their frustration. By leveraging the interpersonal qualities posited by BPNT's parent theory, self-determination theory, veterinary medical colleges can build a culture of student support that benefits all within their system.

Remediation of pre-clinical course failures in the DVM program at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine began in 2010. We set out to understand whether some students were more likely than others to use remediation opportunities and succeed. Student demographics, undergraduate (UG) experiences, including institution attended and major studied, UG performance as measured by grade point average (uGPA), and extent of academic difficulties in DVM years 1-3 were studied at univariate levels to determine which students more often failed ≥1 courses, remediated ≥1 courses, and were successful in all remediation attempts. Among 815 students in DVM classes 2014-2023, 157 failed ≥1 courses. Risk factors associated with failing ≥1 courses and with unsuccessful remediation were identified using multiple logistic regression analysis. Unsuccessful remediation, resulting in student's academic attrition, was defined as not succeeding at remediation of all failed courses, including being ineligible for or not attempting remediation. Risk factors were considered statistically significant at p value <0.05. Lower uGPA, having attended a minority-serving institution, and being an underrepresented minority or an international student were associated with increased likelihood of failing ≥1 courses. However, the only factors associated with unsuccessful remediation were failing ≥3 courses in DVM years 1-3 and failing at least one course in DVM year 1. No demographic or UG educational background is associated with unsuccessful remediation. Taken together, our models suggest that being at risk of failing ≥1 courses in DVM years 1-3 did not inevitably put students at risk of attrition when remediation opportunities were provided. However, an increasing number of course failures and failures beginning in DVM year 1 increased the risk of unsuccessful remediation. Early intervention to minimize academic difficulties in DVM program may mitigate risk of student attrition.

Despite the widespread implementation of embedded counseling models in veterinary training programs, limited information is available about veterinary students and house officers who seek help, and researchers have not evaluated the effectiveness of counseling services. This study sought to describe clients' characteristics, presenting concerns, and mental health histories, in addition to determining if participating in counseling was associated with decreases in psychological distress. The sample included 437 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students and house officers receiving embedded counseling services between August 2016 and March 2024 at a public university in the Midwestern United States. Approximately half were first-year students when they initially accessed services. The most common presenting concerns included stress, anxiety, depression, academic performance, perfectionism, self-esteem/confidence, attention/concentration difficulties, mood instability, sleep difficulties, adjustment, family issues, career concerns, eating/body image concerns, and specific relationship problems. DVM students and house officers reported higher scores on some, but not all, measures of psychological distress prior to participating in counseling, compared with a normative sample of college students seeking counseling at university counseling centers. However, these differences tended to be small in magnitude. Participating in counseling was associated with meaningful improvements in depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, academic distress, eating concerns, frustration/anger, family distress, substance use, suicidal ideation, and overall psychological distress. Clients who reported improvements in depression and anxiety also tended to report reductions in academic distress, which underscores the value of embedded counseling services in improving the well-being and academic retention of DVM students and house officers. Implications for outreach, research, and clinical practice are discussed.

Three-dimensional (3D)-printed models have been shown to improve medical students' understanding of anatomy and related fractures. The aim of this parallel-group randomized trial was to evaluate the impact of 3D-printed feline skulls, in addition to traditional teaching, on veterinary students' interpretation of skull radiographs. Students were randomly divided into two groups (2D, 3D) and underwent a pre-test consisting of multiple-choice questions. Subsequently, both groups watched a recorded lesson on feline skull radiographic anatomy and traumatic lesions, and then the 3D group was provided with 3D-printed skulls, normal and with traumatic lesions. Finally, all students underwent a post-test. The multiple-choice questions included orthogonal feline skull radiographs of three different patterns of traumatic lesions, and questions tested their knowledge of normal anatomy and recognition of traumatic lesions. Twenty-three (25.6%) fourth-year and 67 (74.4%) fifth-year students participated. For both the 2D and 3D groups, post-test scores were significantly better than pre-test scores. There were no significant differences in the pre-test and post-test scores between the 2D and 3D groups. Three-dimensional-printed models did not improve veterinary students' ability to recognize anatomical structures and traumatic lesions of the feline skull. Further studies are warranted to define the role of 3D-printed models in veterinary student learning.

Veterinary students often face mental health challenges due to the demanding nature of their studies and the pressures of adapting to their future profession. To address this issue, an animal-assisted education in mental health (AAE-MH) program was developed and implemented at a veterinary school in Hong Kong. The primary goal of the AAE-MH program was to enhance students' mental health literacy, raise awareness of mental health topics, and improve their help-seeking behavior and overall well-being. By leveraging the students' natural affinity for animals, the program incorporated a blend of course-based and experiential learning activities to tackle the often-taboo topic of mental health in the veterinary field. The AAE-MH program consisted of six sessions, each lasting 1 hour and 50 minutes. Two of these sessions involved 1 hour of learning from certified therapy dogs. This interdisciplinary program drew expertise from veterinary mental health professionals, psychologists, animal-assisted therapists, and veterinary school faculty. This collaborative effort ensured that the program covered both the biomedical and humanistic aspects of veterinary medicine, preparing students to better understand and support their own and their peers' mental well-being. The AAE-MH program was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and appropriate precautionary measures were taken. This teaching tip outlines the key elements of the program, including the course design, delivery, and evaluation of its effectiveness. We hope that this framework can provide fellow educators with the opportunity to potentially adapt and implement similar initiatives within their own veterinary education contexts, ultimately benefiting the entire veterinary profession.