Behavioral medicine opportunities in North American colleges of veterinary medicine: A status report

A Qualitative Analysis of Clinical Year Veterinary Student Journal Entries for a Shelter Medicine Rotation

Veterinary medical schools are tasked with not only providing experiences necessary to graduate veterinarians proficient in the skills and knowledge used most frequently in private practice, but also develop expertise in animal behavior, welfare, ethics, veterinary forensics, and cultural competency. Integrating all these knowledge areas into the curriculum can be challenging. Shelter medicine is increasingly identified by educators as an optimal learning environment to offer exposure to these topics. It can not only meet learning objectives in veterinary medical curriculum, but also provide students with authentic learning experiences to engage in and gain a deeper understanding of cultural humility, implicit bias, diversity, and inclusion. This includes documentation of international learning outcomes for shelter medicine in veterinary medical curriculum. There have been no studies evaluating authentic learning experiences specific to shelter medicine programs and their impacts on students. The aim of this study was to determine the individual activities and thematic categories on which veterinary students chose to reflect on and their potential impacts during a clinical rotation in shelter medicine at Penn Vet through qualitative content analysis of their journal entries. In our study, students found experiences on the shelter medicine rotation to be beneficial to their growth as a future veterinarian, provided them with takeaways that they found applicable and practical, helped them self-identify knowledge gaps, and changed their perspectives on several important topics related to collective human and animal welfare. These results speak to the value perceived by students of the rotation and suggest an authentic learning experience through a shelter medicine program can help cultivate more practice-ready and culturally competent veterinary graduates.

Evaluation of companion animal behavior knowledge among first-year veterinary students before and after an introductory animal behavior course

OBJECTIVE

To survey first-year veterinary students' knowledge of companion animal (dog, cat, and horse) behavior and popular-culture (ie, pop-culture) behavior myths related to animal body language, motivations, and learning prior to participation in an introductory animal behavior course; evaluate potential associations between sources of prior behavior knowledge and knowledge on the preclass survey; and determine whether postclass scores on the same survey were predictive of final examination score for the behavior class.

SAMPLE

156 first-year veterinary students.

PROCEDURES

Students were invited to participate in an anonymous electronic survey before and after a semester-long, 2-credit introductory animal behavior course. Demographic features, self-assessed animal behavior knowledge, and sources of prior behavior knowledge were evaluated as predictors of preclass survey knowledge scores. Postclass survey knowledge scores were evaluated for association with final examination scores as a measure of validity.

RESULTS

Preclass knowledge scores were low (mean ± SD, 49 ± 12.7%; n = 152). Reporting peer-reviewed journal articles as a source of incoming knowledge predicted 9% higher scores, whereas reporting magazines or online pop-culture articles as a source of incoming knowledge predicted 7.6% lower scores for preclass behavior knowledge, compared with scores for students not citing those respective sources. Companion animal ownership was not associated with preclass survey knowledge scores. Postclass knowledge scores were substantially improved (mean ± SD, 84.3 ± 8%) and predictive of final examination scores.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Results indicated a profound deficit of behavior knowledge among veterinary students at the start of their curriculum. Students graduating from veterinary institutions without a comprehensive behavior course may be at a disadvantage for day 1 competency in addressing animal behavior problems.

Evidence-based paradigm shifts in veterinary behavioral medicine

There is now a large body of research in veterinary behavioral medicine that is clinically relevant and could enrich patients' and practitioners' lives. Too often, however, this research is published in journals that may not be readily available to veterinarians in private practice. Four important topics in the area of veterinary behavioral medicine for which belief has not kept pace with the published data are the unmet need for behavioral medicine in veterinary practice, the veterinary experience as a contributor to fear and distress in dogs and cats, social signaling in dogs and the ongoing "dominance" debate, and punishment as an intervention to change behavior. The present article seeks to provide a critical overview of recent research that is shifting existing paradigms on these topics and should alter the way veterinarians observe and care for patients.

Veterinary Behavior: Assessment of Veterinarians' Training, Experience, and Comfort Level with Cases

Studies of US animal shelters consistently indicate that behavior is often a major reason for relinquishment and, thereby, euthanasia of millions of dogs and cats annually. Even though this is an area in which veterinarians can intervene to support the human-animal bond, prior research has documented that they frequently do not bring the topic up during appointments. This study explored veterinarians' training in animal behavior and behavioral medicine, along with their level of comfort in treating common behavioral problems. An online survey of practicing veterinarians (N = 1,085) found that only 42.8% felt they'd received a significant amount of training in this field during veterinary school, but the majority reported participating in continuing education sessions about behavior. Almost all respondents reported seeing patients with behavioral issues (99.6%), even when the initial appointment was made for other reasons. Participants felt most comfortable discussing inappropriate elimination and begging for food but were least comfortable treating issues involving aggression. Most veterinarians treat their own behavior cases, using a combination of behavior modification techniques and medication. Only 22.1% refer cases needing behavioral therapy to a specialist. Given the prevalence of behavioral problems in companion animals and the potential for early veterinary intervention to play a significant role in animal health, it is important for veterinary schools to include this topic in their curricula. At present, 73% of schools require a course in animal behavior. The release of the new Competency-Based Veterinary Education framework is anticipated to support a greater teaching emphasis in this area.

Training veterinary students in animal behavior to preserve the human-animal bond

Knowledge of animal behavior is an extremely important component of modern veterinary practice. Appreciation of species-typical behavior helps to ensure that veterinary patients are handled safely and humanely, and plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis of health and welfare problems in animals, including the recognition of pain and distress. Veterinary students who acquire a good understanding of animal behavior will be better clinicians and will be best able to promote and repair the "human-animal bond," that important connection between people and their pets. Animal behavior problems can negatively impact this critical relationship, leading to abandonment, re-homing, relinquishment to an animal shelter, and sometimes premature euthanasia of the animal. Therefore, identifying, preventing, and treating behavior problems is important in maintaining the human-animal bond. Education in animal behavior should be an essential part of the veterinary curriculum; a board-certified veterinary behaviorist should be an integral member of the veterinary college faculty.