A survey of negative mental health outcomes, workplace and school climate, and identity disclosure for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and asexual veterinary professionals and students in the United States and United Kingdom

OBJECTIVE

To compare the prevalence of negative mental health outcomes among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and asexual (LGBTQ+) veterinary professionals and students with the prevalence reported in a previous study of veterinarians; compare LGBTQ+ veterinary professionals and students in regard to access to LGBTQ+ policies and resources, workplace or school climate, and identity disclosure; and examine whether these variables were associated with mental health (eg, psychological distress) or work- and school-related (eg, emotional labor) outcomes.

SAMPLE

440 LGBTQ+ veterinary professionals and students in the United States and United Kingdom.

PROCEDURES

Between July and December 2016, a web-based questionnaire was distributed through email messages to members of LGBTQ+ veterinary groups and announcements at general veterinary and LGBTQ+-focused conferences and in newsletters.

RESULTS

Nonheterosexual cis men, nonheterosexual cis women, and transgender and nonbinary individuals all had higher lifetime prevalences of suicidal ideation and attempted suicide, compared with previously reported prevalences for male and female veterinarians in general. Professionals reported more welcoming climates than did students (eg, lower frequency of exposure to homophobic language and more supportive environments) and greater identity disclosure; however, students reported greater access to institutional resources and policies. Climate variables had a more robust relationship with negative outcomes than did access to LGBTQ+ policies or identity disclosure variables.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Comparatively high rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among LGBTQ+ professionals and students and the relationship between climate variables and negative mental health outcomes suggested enhanced efforts are needed to improve the climates in veterinary workplaces and colleges.

Randomized controlled trial of the effect of depth of anaesthesia on postoperative pain

BACKGROUND

Our hypothesis was that deep anaesthesia, as estimated by a low target bispectral index (BIS) of 30-40, would result in less postoperative pain than that achieved at a conventional depth of anaesthesia.

METHODS

We undertook a randomized double-blind controlled study at two tertiary teaching hospitals in New Zealand (2010-1) recruiting 135 adult patients ASA I-II presenting for non-emergent surgery under general anaesthesia requiring tracheal intubation. Anaesthesia was maintained with desflurane and a multimodal analgesia regimen comprising fentanyl infusion, i.v. paracetamol, and parecoxib. Patients were randomly assigned to either a low BIS (30-40) group or a high BIS (45-60) group. Desflurane concentrations were titrated to achieve these targets. Postoperative pain was assessed by: the pain on awakening (0-10, verbal rating scale, VRS(awake)) in the post-anaesthetic care unit; pain on activity at 20-24 h after operation (VRS(d1A)); and the rate of morphine patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) usage over the first 24 h.

RESULTS

There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups for any of the pain scores. The median [inter-quartile range (IQR)] VRS(awake) was 4.0 (0-8) for the low and 4.0 (0-8) for the high BIS groups (P=0.56). The median (IQR) VRS(d1A) was 3.0 (1-5) for the low and 3.0 (1.5-4.5) for the high BIS groups (P=0.83). The median PCA morphine consumption in the low BIS group was 0.61 mg h(-1) (0.04-1.5) vs 0.43 mg h(-1) (0-1.59) in the high BIS group (P=0.98).

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that there is no clinically useful analgesic effect of a deep anaesthesia regimen.

Preparing students for careers in food-supply veterinary medicine: a review of educational programs in the United States

The real and/or perceived shortage of veterinarians serving food-supply veterinary medicine has been a topic of considerable discussion for decades. Regardless of this debate, there are issues still facing colleges of veterinary medicine (CVMs) about the best process of educating future food-supply veterinarians. Over the past several years, there have been increasing concerns by some that the needs of food-supply veterinary medicine have not adequately been met through veterinary educational institutions. The food-supply veterinary medical curriculum offered by individual CVMs varies depending on individual curricular design, available resident animal population, available food-animal caseload, faculty, and individual teaching efforts of faculty. All of the institutional members of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) were requested to share their Food Animal Veterinary Career Incentives Programs. The AAVMC asked all member institutions what incentives they used to attract and educate students interested in, or possibly considering, a career in food-supply veterinary medicine (FSVM). The problem arises as to how we continue to educate veterinary students with ever shrinking budgets and how to recruit and retain faculty with expertise to address the needs of society. Several CVMs use innovative training initiatives to help build successful FSVM programs. This article focuses on dairy, beef, and swine food-animal education and does not characterize colleges' educational efforts in poultry and aquaculture. This review highlights the individual strategies used by the CVMs in the United States.

Preparing faculty for the future: AAVMC members' perceptions of professional development needs

Our purpose in this study was to determine professional development needs of faculty in the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges' (AAVMC's) member institutions, including those needs associated with current and emerging issues and leadership development. The survey asked respondents to report their level of job satisfaction and their perceptions of professional development as they related to support and resources, teaching, research, career planning, and administration. Five hundred and sixty-five individuals from 49 member institutions responded to an online professional development needs survey. We found that job satisfaction was associated with a variety of workplace variables correlated with academic rank, with those of higher academic rank expressing greater levels of satisfaction. Respondents with tenure also expressed generally higher levels of satisfaction. Most of the respondents expressed interest in learning more about topics related to teaching (e.g., effective questioning, giving feedback, principles of learning and motivation), research (e.g., research design, writing grants), career planning (e.g., mentoring, time management), and administration (e.g., fostering innovation, enhancing productivity, improving the work environment). Just more than half of the respondents indicated moderate to high interest in an AAVMC multi-phase leadership training program. The study suggests topics for which AAVMC should provide professional development opportunities either at existing meetings or through new programming. The study also suggests directions for individual institutions as they seek to implement professional development activities at the local level.

Knowledge, skills, and attitudes of veterinary college deans: AAVMC survey of deans in 2010

The purposes of this Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) study was to develop a profile of deans to understand the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that current deans of schools and colleges of veterinary medicine consider important to job success and to inform the association's leadership development initiatives. Forty-two deans responded to an online leadership program needs survey, which found that knowledge, skills, and abilities related to communication, finance and budget management, negotiation, conflict management, public relations, and fundraising were recommended as the most important areas for fulfilling a deanship. Most respondents speculated that the greatest challenges for their institutions will be in the areas of faculty recruitment and retention and financing veterinary education. Reflecting on their experiences, respondents offered an abundance of advice to future deans, often citing the importance of preparation, communication, and leadership qualities as necessary for a successful and satisfying deanship. More than three-quarters of the respondents indicated moderate to high interest in an AAVMC multi-phase leadership training program to develop administrative leaders. A nearly equal number also indicated support for formal leadership training for current veterinary medical college and school deans. The study suggests leadership development topics that AAVMC could provide at existing meetings or through new programming. The study also suggests directions for individual institutions as they seek to implement leadership development activities at the local level.