Supporting Veterinary Preceptors in a Distributed Model of Education: A Faculty Development Needs Assessment

Expert Veterinarians Should Be Trained Expertly: Fostering the Development of Adaptive Expertise in Veterinary Students through Faculty Development for Veterinary Educators

The field of health professions education is rapidly evolving, and with it the field of veterinary education. This discussion piece amalgamates literature across health professions education to provide a picture of what a veterinary clinician-educator is, why there is a need for veterinary clinician-educators when developing learners with adaptive expertise, and how faculty development can support the growth of clinicians into clinician-educators. It is intended to outline the best practices for fostering the development of adaptive expertise in veterinary students through faculty development for veterinary educators.

Veterinary Clinical Education Delivery Models: A Conceptual Framework

The sustainability of the traditional university-owned and -operated veterinary teaching hospital has been discussed for many years. Concerns around the shortage and lack of diversity of clinical faculty, financial sustainability, and suitability of secondary and tertiary case load for the development of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students' Day One Competences are perennial issues. Consequently, many schools have been looking at alternative ways of delivering veterinary clinical education. This article provides a conceptual framework for evaluating the delivery of veterinary clinical education, providing putative advantages and disadvantages of each model for further empirical investigation. Four different models are proposed-owner, third party, embedded distributive, and fully distributive-that can broadly be defined along two dimensions: the degree of integration of the clinical enterprise with the academic enterprise and the degree of authority of the dean/head of school with respect to clinical enterprise governance and their role in budgetary, investment, and hiring decisions. The author offers a typology that may assist deans/heads of schools make strategic decisions about the mode of delivery of veterinary clinical education for their school.

Using the Five-Microskills Method in Veterinary Medicine Clinical Teaching

Effective clinical teaching is essential for the development of veterinary learners. Teaching clinical reasoning is a challenge for veterinary instructors as many lack adequate training in clinical teaching. In this paper, we propose the use of the five-microskills (FMS; also known as the one-minute preceptor) model of clinical teaching as a tool that can be used not only in teaching during clinical encounters but also during traditional teaching sessions (e.g., practicals). The FMS model assists the instructor in estimating the level of knowledge and development of the learner and allows for providing feedback. The FMS model is applicable in the busy clinical or teaching schedule of the instructor and requires training only of the instructor, not the learner. We provide two examples of the use of the FMS model, one of a clinical encounter and the other a biochemistry practical. From the examples, readers should be able to extract the basis of the model and start using it in their day-to-day practice. For proper use of the model, 1-4 h of training is usually recommended.

Clinical Reasoning by Veterinary Students in the First-Opinion Setting: Is It Encouraged? Is It Practiced?

A mixed-methods study was performed to investigate the perceived importance and efficacy of teaching clinical reasoning (CR) skills among students and faculty in a university first-opinion veterinary practice, as this has not previously been described. Qualitative analysis of interview data, discussing objectives and factors considered important for effective learning and the understanding of CR, was performed alongside quantitative analysis of the Preceptor Thinking-Promotion Scale (PTPS) and the Learner Thinking-Behavior Scale (LTBS) (assessing the level of CR encouraged by clinicians and displayed by students) in peri-consultation discussions. Themes that emerged from analysis of the interviews regarding objectives included the desire to develop data acquisition and the need to improve data manipulation and CR. Themes associated with effective learning were a positive student-centered learning environment and feedback. Type II CR was fairly well described, but recognition of the importance of type I CR was poor among clinicians and students and, in some instances, was deemed to be inappropriate. Although many clinicians and students expressed a desire to develop student CR, there was little evidence of this actually occurring in the interactions analyzed, with low PTPS and LTBS scores achieved. There was also poor understanding of whether effective teaching of CR had occurred, demonstrated by a lack of correlation between LTBS and the interaction score for development of student CR. Further training of clinicians and students of the value of type I CR in first-opinion practice is required, as well as clinician education in how best to support the development of CR in students.

Exploring the Teaching Motivations, Satisfaction, and Challenges of Veterinary Preceptors: A Qualitative Study

Optimization of clinical veterinary education requires an understanding of what compels veterinary preceptors in their role as clinical educators, what satisfaction they receive from the teaching experience, and what struggles they encounter while supervising students in private practice. We explored veterinary preceptors' teaching motivations, enjoyment, and challenges by undertaking a thematic content analysis of 97 questionnaires and 17 semi-structured telephone interviews. Preceptor motivations included intrinsic factors (obligation to the profession, maintenance of competence, satisfaction) and extrinsic factors (promotion of the veterinary field, recruitment). Veterinarians enjoyed observing the learner (motivation and enthusiasm, skill development) and engaging with the learner (sharing their passion for the profession, developing professional relationships). Challenges for veterinary preceptors included variability in learner interest and engagement, time management, and lack of guidance from the veterinary medicine program. We found dynamic interactions among the teaching motivations, enjoyment, and challenges for preceptors. Our findings suggest that in order to sustain the veterinary preceptor, there is a need to recognize the interplay between the incentives and disincentives for teaching, to foster the motivations and enjoyment for teaching, and to mitigate the challenges of teaching in community private practice.