A commentary on the animal welfare symposium, with possible actions

The author analyzes the common themes addressed by speakers at the AVMA/AAVMC conference on animal welfare, adding a few comments of his own. These themes can be summarized in the basic statement that "the veterinary profession has a responsibility to its members and to the public to provide and ensure a good education in animal welfare science, ethics, and public policy and law." Veterinarians have a special role as animals' advocates for several reasons: they have the knowledge base and the required skills and commitment to fulfill this role; they have earned the confidence and respect of the constituents they serve; they are the professionals to whom policy makers logically turn for guidance on animal health and welfare issues. Therefore, the veterinary profession has an opportunity to reassert itself as the advocate not only for animals' physical health but also for their mental health and welfare. To be successful, however, the profession's leadership and members must engage without delay in advancing educational programs, research projects, and outreach to solidify authority in this key component of veterinary medicine.

The importance of cultivating a preference for complexity in veterinarians for effective lifelong learning

Much attention has been paid to the link between students' approaches to study and the quality of their learning. Less attention has been paid to the lifelong learner. We conceptualized a tripartite relationship between three measures of learning preference: conceptions of knowledge (construction and use vs. intake), need for cognition (high vs. low), and approach to study (deep vs. surface) and hypothesized that an individual's profile on these three measures-reconceptualized as a preference for complexity versus simplicity-would affect their attitude toward continuing professional development (CPD). A questionnaire was mailed to 2,000 randomly selected, home-practicing UK veterinarians to quantify their learning preferences, motivation to engage in CPD, and perception of barriers to participation and to assess the relationships between these constructs. Analysis of 775 responses (a 38.8% response rate) confirmed our tripartite model of learning and showed that a preference for complexity was negatively correlated with barriers and positively correlated with intrinsic, social, and extrinsic motivating factors, suggesting that all play a role in the continuing education of this group of professionals. A preference for simplicity was negatively correlated with social motivation and positively correlated with barriers. This study demonstrates that approach not only affects the quality of learning but crucially affects motivation to engage in CPD and perception of barriers to lifelong learning. This should emphasize to veterinary educators the importance of fostering a preference for complexity from an early age, both in terms of its immediate benefits (better understanding) and longer-term benefits (continued engagement with learning).

Dairy reproductive management: assessing a comprehensive continuing education program for veterinary practitioners

Comprehensive continuing veterinary medical education (CVME) programs are critical for veterinary practitioners to update their knowledge and improve their skills and services. CVME must offer an educational environment in which veterinarians can effectively rejuvenate their knowledge and skills and learn about new practices. The Ohio Dairy Health and Management Certificate Program is a comprehensive CVME program for practicing dairy veterinarians that was developed to provide advanced training on previously identified needs of the dairy industry. Our objectives in this article were (1) to provide a description of a comprehensive CVME program designed to enhance the flow of applied, research-based knowledge from educators and researchers to dairy veterinary practitioners and (2) to provide an assessment of outcomes achieved and experiences gained after the delivery of the first two modules on advanced dairy reproductive management. Findings from the two reproductive modules suggested that (1) the designed dairy reproductive management program was able to meet the participants' educational needs, (2) the implemented delivery methods significantly increased participants' knowledge level, and (3) additional educational needs should be addressed with future programming. In conclusion, results from the participants' self-reports suggested that both reproductive modules were relevant and effective, offering new information with immediate field application. These types of educational programs are important for dairy veterinary practitioners because they are a vital source of information and service providers for dairy producers. For the program to be considered completely successful, a detailed follow-up assessment of participants' behavior change, adoption of new practices and skills, and their on-farm impact is needed.

The complex role of veterinary clinical teachers: how is their role perceived and what is expected of them?

The purpose of this study was to identify personal attributes in veterinary clinical teachers that are valued most by members of their work environment (fellow faculty, clinical training scholars [CTS; residents], undergraduate students, and referring veterinary surgeons) and to determine whether the opinions of these subgroups differed. Faculty (n=50), CTS (n=35), students (n=200), and referring veterinary surgeons (n=25) were presented with a list of 15 potentially desirable attributes. Respondents were asked to rank the three most important and the three least important attributes of effective clinical teachers. Respondents were also asked to select in which of the three main activities (clinical service, teaching, or research) in which clinical teachers currently invest the most and the least effort and in which they should invest the most and the least effort. All respondent groups agreed that "competence-knowledge" was among the most desirable attributes. Faculty, undergraduate students, and referring veterinary surgeons additionally included "enthusiasm" in the top three, whereas CTS regarded "respects independence" as more important. All respondent groups consistently chose "scholarly activity" as one of the three least important characteristics. A similar number of faculty members (38%) expressed that the greatest effort should be invested in clinical service or teaching, and the greatest proportions of CTS (44%) and students (56%) felt that most emphasis should be put on teaching alone. The differences in opinion between respondent groups regarding importance of attributes and emphasis of activity indicate that what is perceived as effective performance of clinical teachers differs depending on the role of those who engage with them.

Fare thee well: how to help owners (and yourself) deal with the death of a beloved pet

Pet owners often seek reassurance from their veterinarian after making the decision to have their pet euthanized. The authors present advice on how to communicate with grieving clients as well as how to cope with a personal sense of loss when a patient dies.

Factors associated with veterinarians' career path choices in the early postgraduate period

Veterinarians who graduated between 2000 and 2004, inclusive, were surveyed to determine the factors associated with career path (job) switching in the early postgraduate period. The sampling frame consisted of 348 veterinarians, 285 of whom were contacted and of these, 192 (67.4%) responded to the survey. Only 28.4% of respondents had remained with their initial employer. Three main factors were associated with employee retention: the type of practice/caseload, the workload (hours worked and number of nights on-call), and the level of mentorship and support provided by the practice. Workload and mentorship were also cited as the main reasons for leaving a place of employment. More than a third (38.0%) of respondents reported leaving a position solely because of inadequate mentorship and support. A third (33.7%) of respondents who began their careers in mixed or food animal practice were no longer in these types of practice; the main reasons for leaving were related to workload and mentorship.