Factors that influence the decision to pursue an internship: the importance of mentoring

The purpose of the present study was (1) to determine if students from one veterinary school who participated in a mentoring/employment program with clinical faculty were more likely to pursue internship training than their peers and (2) to determine factors via survey that were influential to veterinary interns in making their decision to pursue post-graduate clinical training. Our hypothesis was that a mentoring relationship with clinical faculty was an important influence on the decision to participate in an internship. From 2006 to 2010, graduating students who participated in a mentoring/employment program with a clinical faculty member were 6.3 times more likely than non-participating students to pursue an internship. The majority of the participating students (90%) were initially hired/mentored as first- or second-year veterinary students. In the survey, interns ranked clinical faculty as having a greater influence than basic science faculty, private practice veterinarians, or house officers on their decision to pursue an internship; 82.8% reported that clinical faculty were most responsible for encouraging them to apply for an internship. Employment by their veterinary teaching hospital (41.5%) or directly by clinical faculty (26.2%) was commonly reported. Most interns (37%) decided to pursue an internship during their fourth year of veterinary school, 29.2% decided during their first year, and 15.3% decided in their second year. These results suggest that clinical faculty play a key role in a student's decision to pursue an internship and that it might be valuable to inform students about internships early in the veterinary curriculum.     

The role of faculty in distance education: the same but different

Distance education (DE) continues to grow as an effective means of education that complements more traditional education modes. Each, to be effective, requires of the instructor a detailed understanding of what creates optimal learning by participants. Because DE is a newer mode, the roles and functions that faculty must play to make it effective have been subject to more scrutiny. Many principles are common to both modes; however, there are some unique aspects of each that faculty of such courses must appreciate.     

Teaching animal welfare at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Veterinary Science

Animal welfare is part of the Mission Statement of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney and is taught throughout the undergraduate curriculum. Two units of study have a particular focus on animal welfare: Professional Practice in years 1, 2, and 3 and Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science in year 3. There is an emphasis on the refinement and development of alternatives to the use of animals in teaching. With a conscientious objection policy in place, these elements of our approach demonstrate the increasing importance of ethical teaching in the faculty. Undergraduate students have recently founded a vibrant special interest group called Veterinary Students for Animal Welfare. The faculty is advised on matters relating to animal welfare by its Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, chaired by the Sub-Dean for Animal Welfare. With the development of a Faculty Animal Welfare Policy, the faculty is progressing to a more proactive and public profile on animal welfare issues.     

Open access of publications by veterinary faculty in the United States and Canada

The free availability of full-text veterinary publications in MEDLINE-indexed journals by US and Canadian veterinary faculty from 2006-7 was determined. Additionally, publishing databases were searched to obtain general statistics on veterinary publishing. A survey of institutional initiatives to promote open-access journals and institutional repositories was also performed. Veterinary faculty published a total of 4,872 articles indexed by MEDLINE in 679 different journals. Of these articles, 1,334 (27%) were available as free full text and were published in 245 different journals. Although 51 veterinary-specific journals offering immediate and free full-text access were identified, few articles in this study appeared in these titles. Rather, most free scholarly articles by veterinary faculty appeared in journals with an embargo period. Academic veterinary institutions may want to recommend acceptance of alternate forms of information dissemination (such as open-access journals and journals published only digitally) to encourage greater global dissemination of their research findings. The promotion and use of digital institutional repositories is also an area for future investment and warrants additional research.     

Recruiting faculty with clinical responsibilities: factors that influence a decision to accept an academic position

The current opportunities for veterinary clinical specialists in private practice and industry have made recruiting and retaining faculty a major focus for most clinical academic departments. To gain a better understanding of the importance of the various factors considered in accepting an academic position, an electronic survey was distributed to newly hired veterinary faculty with clinical responsibilities. The results suggest that the perceived climate and collegiality within the prospective hiring department is the most important factor influencing the decision to accept an academic position. Salary is the second most important factor. Institutional support for the newly hired faculty member and the reputation and quality of the prospective institution rank as more important than the perceived quality of the local community and the geographic location of the institution. The search process and administrative support are the least important factors. There were no differences between the responses of faculty hired into tenure-track positions and those of faculty hired into clinical-track positions. Focusing on the advantages of a collegial environment, enhancing compensation packages, and using creative and flexible appointments may improve faculty recruitment and retention in clinical academic departments.     

Making the academy more attractive to new teacher-scholars

The majority of faculty members in veterinary medicine are white men; the student base, however, is increasingly composed of white women. Faculty and students of color are few. Part of the problem in attracting and retaining new teacher-scholars is that the current generation has different beliefs about the importance of work and home, places dissimilar weights on various workplace dimensions, and has more complicated lives than prior generations of faculty. Thus, a culture clash arises when young faculty work in academic institutions with outmoded policies and practices. This article explores the key aspects of the structure and culture of the academy and offers ideas for making the workplace more attractive to new faculty.     

Analysing Individual Income Tax Planning in Colleges and Universities——Based on the Normal Wage Income and Annual Salary of One-time Bonus Tax

Paying personal income tax is related to the vital interests of each faculty.In order to improve the faculty’s enthusiasm for work,it's very essential to make a plan for paying personal income tax.Based on the method of paying personal income tax,this essay gives a strategic analysis of tax planning with a combination of the university faculty’s actual salary situation.     

Appraisal of teachers in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool.

In 1988, the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, introduced a system of teacher appraisal, following the report of a faculty working party. The system is designed to provide information which will help the personal development of teaching skills, and also to provide the information required by the university for promoting a lecturer to senior lecturer. It incorporates opinions from students, collected formally by means of questionnaires, and from personal peers chosen by the lecturer, and a self-appraisal record which forms the basis of an annual review from the head of department. Official peers, drawn from both the veterinary faculty and the department of education and extension studies, are trained and used in pairs, to assess and report on staff eligible for promotion. The system has been evaluated by a research assistant funded by the University Funding Council.     

美国兽医学院联盟2016—2017年度报告教员数据解读

美国兽医学院联盟(AAVMC)对在美国、加拿大及隶属于其联盟的其他国家兽医学院的办学要求采取联合认证程序。通过解读AAVMC2016—2017年度报告中教员数据,包括行政人员、终身职位教员、非终身职位临床人员和非终身职位研究人员数量及比例,同时,解读上述教员类型中的性别比例及国籍比例,旨在为我国兽医(动物医学)教育与国际兽医教育的接轨,以及我国国家动物医学类办学标准中师资标准的制定提供参考。     

Attitudes of Australian and Turkish veterinary faculty toward animal welfare

The attitudes of veterinary faculty toward animal welfare were surveyed in four Australian and three Turkish veterinary schools. The former were considered to be typical of modern Western schools, with a faculty of more than 40% women and a primary focus on companion animals, whereas the latter were considered to represent more traditional veterinary teaching establishments, with a faculty of 88% men and a primary focus on livestock. A total of 116 faculty responded to the survey (42 Australian and 74 Turkish faculty members), for response rates of 30% and 33%, respectively. This survey included demographic questions as well as questions about attitudes toward animal-welfare issues. Women were more concerned than men about animal-welfare issues, especially the use of animals in experiments, zoos, entertainment, and sports and for food and clothing. Total scores demonstrated different concerns among Turkish and Australian faculty. The study demonstrates that the veterinary faculty of these two countries have different concerns for animal welfare, concerns that should be acknowledged in considering the welfare attitudes that students may adopt.     

Addressing educational challenges in veterinary medicine through the use of distance education

The veterinary profession is currently facing many educational challenges, including an insufficient capacity to train and educate veterinarians for the multiple disciplines within the profession, a shortage of veterinarians in private and public practice, a shortage of faculty, a lack of human and professional diversity, and a rising cost of education resulting in extreme student debt loads. As a methodology for teaching, distance education (DE) has the potential to address many of these issues. By its very nature, DE can increase the capacity of current facilities and faculty. In addition, DE can allow students to acquire the necessary knowledge at less cost. This article describes a model for incorporating DE in the form of interactive Web-based courses, in conjunction with short, intensive residential programs, for the lecture portions of courses taught in the pre-veterinary, veterinary, and post-veterinary educational periods. In this model, the Web-based courses are used to convey the necessary core knowledge required at each step of the educational process. The residential portions are then used to apply the knowledge in such a way as to combine clinical applications with research in basic and applied sciences. Distance education can provide increased flexibility, high-quality educational experiences, and a less costly alternative for students while maximizing the reach of current faculty efforts and the capacity of existing physical structures.     

Internationalizing veterinary education in the 21st century

This paper presents the results of a survey conducted in the spring of 2001 to assess international activities at colleges of veterinary medicine in North America. A questionnaire was sent to all 31 colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States and Canada, of which 22 responded. Of those schools responding to the survey, 86% have International Veterinary Medicine (IVM) programs and most have faculty involved in internationally oriented research (95%), in teaching IVM (74%), in mentoring veterinary students in IVM (84%), and in international consultancies (84%). Funding sources for faculty international activities include foundations, intramural funds, curriculum development grants, endowment/development funds, and sabbaticals. Foreign animal diseases are the most commonly taught international topic. The increasing importance of international veterinary issues is leading to the internationalization of the veterinary education in North America. Most IVM programs include activities of both faculty and students. Greater collaboration between faculty and programs across schools would allow schools to benefit from each other's strengths in IVM education.     

Support services for students and faculty

Distance learning is hardly a recent phenomenon. The recent growth of distance-education courses and programs, particularly those offered online, has been dramatic. Students enrolled in distance-education courses deserve the same quality and type of services that students taking courses on campus receive. The same is true of faculty teaching distance courses. Developing strong support services for both groups is an evolutionary process. This article discusses support services for both students and faculty involved in the rapidly expanding online distance-education landscape. Models for providing support to students and faculty are described, the development of these services is explained, and examples of support services are provided.     

Veterinary school consortia as a means of promoting the food-supply veterinary medicine pipeline

Ideas about centers of emphasis and veterinary medical teaching consortia have resurfaced to attract students into food-supply veterinary medicine (FSVM). From 1988 to 2000 a multiple veterinary school consortium approach to food-animal production medicine (FAPM) teaching was conducted to handle regional differences in case load, faculty strengths, and student interests. Six universities developed a memorandum of understanding to provide a wide variety of in-depth, species-specific clinical experiences in FAPM to balance their individual strengths and weakness in addressing food-animal agriculture, to provide for student exchange and faculty development, and to conduct research in food safety. Changes in leadership, redirection of funds, failure to publicize the program to faculty and students, and a focus on research as opposed to teaching led to dissolution of the consortium. However, this approach could work to improve recruitment and retention of students in FSVM if it focused on student exchange, fostered a more integrated curriculum across schools, encouraged faculty involvement, garnered institutional support, and used modern technology in teaching. Private veterinary practices as well as public/corporate practices could be integrated into a broader food-animal curriculum directed at building competency among FSVM students by providing the in-depth training they require. Requirements for the success of this type of program will include funding, marketing, leadership, communication, coordination, integration, and dedicated people with the time to make it work.     

Comparison of student self-assessment with faculty assessment of clinical competence

At the University of Minnesota, fourth-year veterinary students assessed their clinical competence after completion of a small-animal, internal-medicine clinical rotation using the same rotation assessment form used by supervising faculty. Grades were compared between the two groups. Students identified by faculty as low-performing were more likely to overestimate their competence in the areas of knowledge, clinical skill, and professionalism than were students identified by faculty as higher performing. This finding mirrors research results in human health professional training. Self-assessment should not be used as the primary or sole measure of clinical competence in veterinary medical training without the introduction of measures to ensure the accuracy of student self-assessment, measures that include active faculty mentoring of student self-assessment, student goal-setting and reflection, and availability of subsequent opportunities to practice additional self-assessment.     

对高校师资队伍可持续发展的思考

可持续发展是科学的发展观.实施高校师资队伍的可持续发展战略,是高校办学的根本大计.师资队伍的可持续发展是高校可持续发展战略的根本保障,也是高等教育自身发展的必然选择.实现高校师资队伍的可持续发展,必须注重其发展的持续性、协调性和整体性.     

Purdue University's Veterinary Technology Distance Learning Program

The Purdue University Veterinary Technology Distance Learning Program (VT-DLP) is an AVMA-accredited, 70-credit-hour curriculum that grants an Associate of Science degree in veterinary technology. Creation of the VT-DLP required the application of creative instructional design methods to meet the educational goals set by the faculty, maintain an academic rigor equivalent to the on-campus program, and address the concerns and distance-education criticisms of faculty, alumni, and other stakeholders. This article describes the educational principles on which the VT-DLP was created, how various challenges were identified and addressed, and important lessons learned during the creation and delivery of a curriculum that is traditionally very hands-on.     

Faculty development: principles and practices

Instructors in the health professions today must acquire knowledge and competencies that go beyond disciplinary expertise. It is now generally accepted that educational training as a teacher is essential to a faculty member's effectiveness as an educator. The educational challenges across the health professions share many similarities. In this article, we draw on the medical education literature and focus on faculty development designed to enhance teaching effectiveness. We first address commonly included faculty development topics, including instructional improvement, organizational development, the development of professional academic skills, and the teaching of specific content areas. We then review a variety of educational approaches and formats that are described in the literature. Included in this discussion are commonly used workshops, seminars, short courses, and fellowships, as well as longitudinal programs, peer coaching, mentorship, self-directed learning, and computer-aided instruction. We also briefly explore learning at work and in communities of practice, and we discuss several frequently encountered challenges in designing and implementing faculty development activities, including motivating colleagues and assessing program effectiveness. We conclude the discussion by presenting a set of guidelines for the design of effective faculty development programs.