Guidelines for resident training in veterinary clinical pathology. IV: Laboratory quality management-Teaching domains, competencies, and suggested learning outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The 2019 ASVCP Education Committee Forum for Discussion, presented at the annual ASVCP/ACVP meeting, identified a need to develop recommendations for teaching laboratory quality management principles in veterinary clinical pathology residency training programs. OBJECTIVES: To present a competency-based framework for teaching laboratory quality management principles in veterinary clinical pathology residency training programs, including entrustable professional activities (EPAs), domains of competence, individual competencies, and learning outcomes. METHODS: A joint subcommittee of the ASVCP Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standards (QALS) and Education Committees executed this project. A draft guideline version was reviewed by the ASVCP membership and shared with selected ACVP committees in early 2022, and a final version was voted upon by the full QALS and Education Committees in late 2022. RESULTS: Eleven domains of competence with relevant individual competencies were identified. In addition, suggested learning outcomes and resource lists were developed. Domains and individual competencies were mapped to six EPAs. CONCLUSIONS: This guideline presents a framework for teaching principles of laboratory quality management in veterinary clinical pathology residency training programs and was designed to be comprehensive yet practical. Guidance on pedagogical terms and possible routes of implementation are included. Recommendations herein aim to improve and support resident training but may require gradual implementation, as programs phase in necessary expertise and resources. Future directions include the development of learning milestones and assessments and consideration of how recommendations intersect with the American College of Veterinary Pathologists training program accreditation and certifying examination.

Writing-skills development in the health professions.

BACKGROUND: Studies have found that students in the medical professions often lack the writing skills required during their education and career. One contributing factor to this deficiency is that writing tends to be discipline specific, rather than requiring general skills acquired in undergraduate schools. PURPOSE: To determine the extent to which a rigorous writing exercise impacted the quality of students' medical writing based on a specified rubric. METHOD: In the context of a basic science course, we developed 6 weekly writing exercises called Question of the Week, along with a rubric for scoring students' work. The rubric evaluated 6 specific aspects of students' writing including Comprehensiveness/Thoroughness, Accuracy, Conciseness, Logical Organization, Justification of Assertions, and Use of Appropriate Terminology. RESULTS: Except for Justification of Assertions and Accuracy, which did not change, scores for all categories improved between Weeks 1 and 2. Use of Appropriate Terminology was the only category for which scores increased after Week 2. CONCLUSION: The clearest indication of writing development came from students' augmented ability to use medical terminology in appropriate ways. This is an important observation, given that each Question of the Week covered a separate body system, characterized by distinctly different terms and jargon. We concluded that students need much more practice to attain the level of proficiency outlined by our rubric.