Understanding veterinary practitioners' decision-making process: implications for veterinary medical education

Understanding how veterinary practitioners make clinical decisions, and how they use scientific information to inform their decisions, is important to optimize animal care, client satisfaction, and veterinary education. We aimed to develop an understanding of private practitioners' process of decision making. On the basis of a grounded-theory qualitative approach, we conducted a telephone survey and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. We identified a decision-making framework consisting of two possible processes to make decisions, five steps in the management of a clinical case, and three influencing factors. To inform their decision, veterinary surgeons rarely take the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach. They consult first-opinion colleagues, specialists, laboratories, and the Internet rather than scientific databases and peer-reviewed literature, mainly because of limited time. Most interviewees suggested the development of educational interventions to better develop decision-making skills in veterinary schools. Adequate information and EBM tools are needed to optimize the time spent in query and assessment of scientific information, and practitioners need to be trained in their use.     

Food-supply veterinary medicine and veterinary medical education: an Australian perspective

Food-supply veterinary medicine has been an essential part of veterinary degree programs in Australia since the first veterinary school opened in the late nineteenth century. Australian veterinary schools, like others internationally, are being challenged by the relevance of material in current curricula for modern food-supply veterinary medicine. Additionally, student aspirations are a major issue, as curriculum designers balance companion-animal training with the herd/flock-based issues that focus on productivity and profitability. One of the challenges is to examine the relative balance of education in generic skills (self-knowledge, change management, teamwork, leadership, negotiation) with more technically or scientifically based education. An ongoing process of curriculum review and renewal, which involves input from both external and internal stakeholders and allows regular review and assessment, is needed to ensure continuing curriculum relevance.     

Handheld computers in veterinary medical education: a view from human medical education

Handheld computers are widely used in clinical practice, and their use in both human medical education and veterinary medical education is increasing, especially, for the former, in activities involving point-of-care access. This article references the insights that can be obtained from the usage and activities that are gaining a strong foothold in human medical education. Handheld computer technology gives students access to a large and changing knowledge base for clinical practice, especially when they are geographically dispersed. Differences in use between education and practice largely relate to the importance clinicians place on patient information. Student use focuses on progress mapping and ready access to clinical reference material. Suggestions are made for future use in medical education.     

Computer applications in veterinary medical education

This is a review of the various computer applications used in veterinary medical education. The various applications include drill-and-practice, tutorial, problem-solving, testing, educational management programs, educational games, word processing, educational utilities, authoring programs, and simulations.     

Outcomes assessment in veterinary medical education

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) agreed to perform outcomes assessment (OA) as part of the accreditation review process for the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Nine OA instruments were developed and validated by a 20-member accreditation committee. The instruments were also pre-tested by a subset of the target population. The instruments were for alumni one to five years post-graduate, alumni 6-15 years post-graduate, faculty, staff, DVM students, employers of veterinarians, referring veterinarians using the Blacksburg campus, and referring veterinarians using the Leesburg campus. In addition, data were used from OA surveys previously done for the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Data from the surveys were incorporated into each of the 11 Essentials for Accreditation required by the AVMA. The process of OA provided a comprehensive assessment of the many aspects of the operation of the college. An important follow-up to the OA process is use of data to enhance and/or re-prioritize existing programs.     

Effective information design for PDAs in veterinary medical education

Until recently, personal digital assistants (PDAs) have been ignominiously characterized as a solution without a problem. To many, they were glorified versions of calendars, address books, notepads, and calculators that appeared only minimally more useful than their paper predecessors. Today's PDAs cater to a wider range of mobile computing needs, especially in the veterinary field, where they support mobile, information-centric work. Despite the PDA's resurgent popularity, hardware constraints limit its wide-scale integration. Most notably, small screen sizes limit the PDA designers who compose texts, videos, and images for PDA delivery. This article addresses the problem of designing for small screens by re-characterizing the issue as an information design problem rather than a hardware problem. By analyzing how fourth-year students in a veterinary medicine program use their PDAs in their clinical education, we offer suggestions for designing information to meet their needs.     

Motivations for and barriers to engaging in continuing veterinary medical education

OBJECTIVE: To identify reasons for engagement in continuing veterinary medical education (CVME) activities, obstacles to participation, ways to provide more effective programs, and ideas to improve participation in CVME. DESIGN: Focus group interviews. SAMPLE POPULATION: Selected practicing veterinarians from a state that did mandate continuing education for relicensure. PROCEDURE: 12 focus group interviews were held throughout the state of California between May and September 1998. Practitioners were asked to respond to questions about where they obtain information to improve their practice, what value they see in CVME, what motivates them to participate, what obstacles to CVME participation exist, and ways CVME providers and practitioners could overcome those obstacles. RESULTS: 84 practitioners participated in the focus group interviews. In addition to the educational value of CVME, participation was used to rejuvenate practice life and prevent feelings of isolation. Continuing education activities ranged from problem-oriented chats with colleagues to formal educational programs. Timing of events, distance, money, solo practice, stage of career, and family demands were identified as barriers to participation. Designing and marketing CVME with specific learning objectives and for specific career stages and using new educational delivery technologies were suggested to overcome some of these barriers. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: If CVME is to improve practice and patient care, it should be integrated into a practice's strategic planning and considered a legitimate business expense. Decisions about CVME participation are made easier if program objectives are clearly outlined.