Testing anatomy: Dissecting spatial and non-spatial knowledge in multiple-choice question assessment.

Limited research has been conducted on the spatial ability of veterinary students and how this is evaluated within anatomy assessments. This study describes the creation and evaluation of a split design multiple-choice question (MCQ) assessment (totaling 30 questions divided into 15 non-spatial MCQs and 15 spatial MCQs). Two cohorts were tested, one cohort received a 2D teaching method in the academic year 2014/15 (male = 15/108, female 93/108), and the second a 3D teaching method in the academic year 2015/16 (male 14/98, female 84/98). The evaluation of the MCQ demonstrated strong reliability (KR-20 = 0.71 2D and 0.63 3D) meaning the MCQ consistently tests the same construct. Factor analysis of the MCQ provides evidence of validity of the split design of the assessment (RR = 1.11, p = 0.013). Neither cohort outperformed on the non-spatial questions (p > 0.05), however, the 3D cohort performed statistically significantly higher on the spatial questions (p = 0.013). The results of this research support the design of a new anatomy assessment aimed at testing both anatomy knowledge and the problem-solving aspects of anatomical spatial ability. Furthermore, a 3D teaching method was shown to increase students' performance on anatomy questions testing spatial ability.

Veterinary Anatomy Education and Spatial Ability: Where Now and Where Next?

The expanding use of technology to support or replace dissection has implications for educators, who must first understand how students mentally manipulate anatomical images. The psychological literature on spatial ability and general intelligence is relevant to these considerations. This article situates current understandings of spatial ability in the context of veterinary anatomy education. As in medical education, veterinary courses are increasingly using physical and computer-based models and computer programs to supplement or even replace cadavers. In this article, we highlight the importance of spatial ability in the learning of anatomy and make methodological recommendations for future studies to ensure a robust evidence base is developed. Recommendations include ensuring that (a) studies aiming to demonstrate changes in spatial ability include anatomically naïve students and also account for previous anatomical knowledge, (b) studies employ a control group in order to account for the practice effect, and (c) the relationship between spatial ability and general intelligence, and thus other cognitive abilities, is acknowledged.

Veterinary anthropology explored.

Veterinary and social scientists came together at the Centre for Medical Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh in April to discuss areas of common interest and the possibility of defining a new interdisciplinary field of 'veterinary anthropology'. Andrew Gardiner, one of the organisers of the international meeting, reports.

The 'Dangerous' Women of Animal Welfare: How British Veterinary Medicine Went to the Dogs.

This paper examines the turn toward the small companion animal that occurred in British veterinary medicine in the twentieth century. The change in species emphasis is usually attributed to post-war socioeconomic factors, however this explanation ignores the extensive small animal treatment that was occurring outwith the veterinary profession in the interwar period. The success of this unqualified practice caused the veterinary profession to rethink attitudes to small animals (dogs initially, later cats) upon the decline of horse practice. This paper argues that a shift toward seeing the small animal as a legitimate veterinary patient was necessary before the specialty could become mainstream in the post-war years, and that this occurred between the wars as a result of the activities of British animal welfare charities, especially the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals of the Poor.

Taking a history on veterinary education.

In this article, another in the series marking 125 years of Veterinary Record, Andrew Gardiner and Susan Rhind consider some common themes in the history of veterinary education. They look at how veterinary teaching and education have evolved over time and discuss what may happen in years to come.

The animal as surgical patient: a historical perspective in the 20th century.

Current veterinary history has not engaged significantly with patient histories. In many historical accounts of veterinary medicine, animal patients are backgrounded or completely invisible. Yet modern veterinary medicine, in its dominant form of companion animal practice, has become increasingly patient-centred. The modern animal patient is accorded something near full subject status in many veterinary clinical interactions. Embracing this raises issues of how to handle animals in veterinary history. Animals are the recipients of veterinary medicine, they exert agency in the clinic and field, yet they have remained problematical for the historian and sociologist, who have remained anthropocentric in orientation. This paper explores different constructions of the veterinary surgical patient in the 20th century in an attempt to begin examination of veterinary history as an animal-patient history "from below." In doing so, a trajectory of the development of British 20th-century veterinary medicine is presented which suggests the value of minding animals in historical accounts. Further interdisciplinary studies of veterinary procedures and practices are needed in order to foreground animals more and evaluate their subject status within historical and contemporary veterinary medicine.

Indigenous community members as teachers of indigenous health.

BACKGROUND: Educating the health workforce in indigenous health has been set as a high priority by educational bodies and providers of general practice training. These groups advise the involvement of local indigenous communities in medical teaching and training. Few have asked community members what issues are important to them when teaching health professionals. OBJECTIVE: This article discusses the outcomes of focus groups and interviews of indigenous community members regarding the engagement in education activities, barriers to participation, and supports required for ongoing participation. DISCUSSION: Results reveal insights into indigenous community members' perceptions, understanding of, and participation in, cross cultural teaching. Cross cultural interactions can be both rewarding and a risk to the teaching process. This needs to be managed and facilitated appropriately and in a timely manner.