Relationship between anticipatory socialization experiences and first-year veterinary students' career interests

Prior Experience, Career Intentions, and Post-Graduate Positions of Veterinary Students Who Participated in an 8-week Dairy Production Medicine Course

Three cohorts of senior veterinary students (n = 50) from seven United States (US) colleges of veterinary medicine took an 8-week dairy production medicine course at the Dairy Center of Excellence in Production Medicine Education for Veterinarians (DCE) between 2012 and 2014. Participants completed a questionnaire before and after the course and 1 to 2 years after graduation. Objectives were to determine the prior academic training and livestock experience of course participants, to compare students' career aspirations before and after taking the course, and to identify factors associated with post-graduate position. Response rates were 58%-96%. Most students had taken undergraduate animal science courses (83%), worked (76%) and/or lived (52%) on a livestock operation, participated in youth livestock activities (63%), worked at a mixed practice (71%), taken production medicine-related elective courses (65%), taken other food animal rotations (91%), and/or done dairy externships (65%) before taking the DCE course. Students who were very likely to pursue a dairy-focused position before taking the course (36%) remained committed after the course, whereas students who were not likely initially (39%) were not further motivated by the course. Students who had worked with a dairy veterinarian were more likely to pursue a dairy-focused position than those who had not. Most course alumni accepted positions in mixed practice, with a ≥ 50% (54%) or < 50% (23%) dairy component, and post-graduate positions were consistent with students' predictions. Students who held an undergraduate degree or had worked for a dairy veterinarian were more likely to accept a dairy-focused practice position than those who did not.

Importance of Welfare and Ethics Competence Regarding Animals Kept for Scientific Purposes to Veterinary Students in Australia and New Zealand

Veterinarians are in a strong position of social influence on animal-related issues. Hence, veterinary schools have an opportunity to raise animal health and welfare standards by improving veterinary students’ animal welfare and ethics (AWE) education, including that related to animals used for scientific purposes. A survey of 818 students in the early, mid, and senior stages of their courses at all eight veterinary schools across Australia and New Zealand was undertaken on their first day of practice (or Day One Competences) to explore how veterinary students viewed the importance of their competence in the management of welfare and ethical decision-making relating to animals kept for scientific purposes. From highest to lowest, the rankings they assigned were: Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) Procedures or Requirements; 3Rs (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction); Humane Endpoints; Euthanasia; “What Is a Research Animal?”; and Conscientious Objections. Female students rated Conscientious Objections, Humane Endpoints, and Euthanasia significantly higher than male students did across the three stages of study. The score patterns for these three variates showed a trend for the male students to be more likely to score these topics as extremely important as they advanced through the course, but female students’ scores tended to decline slightly or stay relatively stable. No gender differences emerged for the three variates: 3Rs (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction); AEC Procedures or Requirements; and “What Is a Research Animal?”. This study demonstrates that understandings of the regulatory and normative frameworks are considered most important in animal welfare and ethics competence in veterinary students. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate what importance veterinary students place on their competence regarding animals kept for scientific purposes.

Motivation and Prior Animal Experience of Newly Enrolled Veterinary Nursing Students at two Irish Third-Level Institutions

Veterinary nurses report an intrinsic desire to work with animals. However, this motivation may be eroded by poor working conditions and low pay, resulting in the exit of experienced veterinary nurses from clinical practice. This study sought to quantify the level of animal-handling experience students possessed at the start of their training and to explore the factors motivating them to enter veterinary nurse training in two Irish third-level institutions. The authors had noted a tendency for veterinary nursing students to possess limited animal-handling skills, despite their obvious motivation to work with animals. The study explores possible reasons for this, as it mirrors previous reports in relation to students of veterinary medicine. First-year veterinary nursing students at Dundalk Institute of Technology and University College Dublin were surveyed and a focus group was held in each institution to explore student motivations for choosing this career and their prior animal-handling experience and workplace exposure. The results show that veterinary nursing students are highly intrinsically motivated to work with and care for animals. The majority had spent time in the veterinary workplace before starting their studies but they had limited animal-handling experience beyond that of family pets, primarily dogs. The study also revealed potential tensions between the veterinary nursing and veterinary medical students at University College Dublin: a hitherto unexposed aspect of the hidden curriculum in this institution. The results of this study highlight the need for ongoing investment in practical animal-handling training for veterinary nursing students.