Validity evidence for programmatic assessment in competency-based education.

INTRODUCTION: Competency-based education (CBE) is now pervasive in health professions education. A foundational principle of CBE is to assess and identify the progression of competency development in students over time. It has been argued that a programmatic approach to assessment in CBE maximizes student learning. The aim of this study is to investigate if programmatic assessment, i. e., a system of assessment, can be used within a CBE framework to track progression of student learning within and across competencies over time. METHODS: Three workplace-based assessment methods were used to measure the same seven competency domains. We performed a retrospective quantitative analysis of 327,974 assessment data points from 16,575 completed assessment forms from 962 students over 124 weeks using both descriptive (visualization) and modelling (inferential) analyses. This included multilevel random coefficient modelling and generalizability theory. RESULTS: Random coefficient modelling indicated that variance due to differences in inter-student performance was highest (40%). The reliability coefficients of scores from assessment methods ranged from 0.86 to 0.90. Method and competency variance components were in the small-to-moderate range. DISCUSSION: The current validation evidence provides cause for optimism regarding the explicit development and implementation of a program of assessment within CBE. The majority of the variance in scores appears to be student-related and reliable, supporting the psychometric properties as well as both formative and summative score applications.

Improving the use of economics in animal health - Challenges in research, policy and education.

The way that an economist and an animal health professional use economics differs and creates frustrations. The economist is in search of optimizing resource allocation in the management of animal health and disease problems with metrics associated with the productivity of key societal resources of labour and capital. The animal health professional have a strong belief that productivity can be improved with the removal of pathogens. These differences restrict how well economics is used in animal health, and the question posed is whether this matters. The paper explores the question by looking at the changing role of animals in society and the associated change of the animal health professional's activities. It then questions if the current allocation of scarce resources for animal health are adequately allocated for societies and whether currently available data are sufficient for good allocation. A rapid review of the data on disease impacts - production losses and costs of human reaction - indicate that the data are sparse collected in different times and geographical regions. This limits what can be understood on the productivity of the economic resources used for animal health and this needs to be addressed with more systematic collection of data on disease losses and costs of animal health systems. Ideally such a process should learn lessons from the way that human health has made estimates of the burden of diseases and their capture of data on the costs of human health systems. Once available data on the global burden of animal diseases and the costs of animal health systems would allow assessments of individual disease management processes and the productivity of wider productivity change. This utopia should be aimed at if animal health is to continue to attract and maintain adequate resources.

The Changing Fiscal Environment for Academic Veterinary Medicine.

The fiscal environment for academic veterinary medicine has changed substantially over the past 50 years. Understanding the flux of state and federal government support and the implications for student debt, academic programs, and scholarly work is critical for planning for the future. The recent precipitous decline in public funding highlights the urgent need to develop and maintain an economically sustainable model that can adapt to the changing landscape and serve societal needs.

Financial dimensions of veterinary medical education: an economist's perspective.

Much discussion has transpired in recent years related to the rising cost of veterinary medical education and the increasing debt loads of graduating veterinarians. Underlying these trends are fundamental changes in the funding structure of higher education in general and of academic veterinary medicine specifically. As a result of the ongoing disinvestment by state governments in higher education, both tuition rates and academic programs have experienced a substantial impact across US colleges and schools of veterinary medicine. Programmatically, the effects have spanned the entire range of teaching, research, and service activities. For graduates, both across higher education and in veterinary medicine specifically, the impact has been steadily increasing levels of student debt. Although the situation is clearly worrisome, viable repayment options exist for these escalating debt loads. In combination with recent income and employment trends for veterinarians, these options provide a basis for cautious optimism for the future.

Reproductive science in the global village.

Livestock production contributes not only to national economies, but also to sustainability and profitability of agriculture, as well as to the fabric of local societies. Efficient and viable animal production systems are dependent upon the effective management of animal reproduction. Similar arguments can be made in support of the importance of reproduction for companion and performance animals, whereas its key role in preserving endangered species is indisputable. Despite such considerations, the widespread dissemination of current and credible information regarding animal reproduction faces challenges, not only in the developing world, but also in developed countries, where animal reproduction education is apparently in decline. This review will examine these issues, as well as various ways in which animal reproduction education and knowledge transfer is currently being pursued throughout the world. It will conclude with suggested avenues and opportunities for improvement.

Veterinary public health capacity in the United States: opportunities for improvement.

OBJECTIVES: In 2006, the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges reported that the shortage (≥ 1,500) of public health veterinarians is expected to increase tenfold by 2020. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Preventive Medicine Fellows conducted a pilot project among CDC veterinarians to identify national veterinary public health workforce concerns and potential policy strategies. METHODS: Fellows surveyed a convenience sample (19/91) of public health veterinarians at CDC to identify veterinary workforce recruitment and retention problems faced by federal agencies; responses were categorized into themes. A focus group (20/91) of staff veterinarians subsequently prioritized the categorized themes from least to most important. Participants identified activities to address the three recruitment concerns with the highest combined weight. RESULTS: Participants identified the following three highest prioritized problems faced by federal agencies when recruiting veterinarians to public health: (1) lack of awareness of veterinarians' contributions to public health practice, (2) competitive salaries, and (3) employment and training opportunities. Similarly, key concerns identified regarding retention of public health practice veterinarians included: (1) lack of recognition of veterinary qualifications, (2) competitive salaries, and (3) seamless integration of veterinary and human public health. CONCLUSIONS: Findings identified multiple barriers that can affect recruitment and retention of veterinarians engaged in public health practice. Next steps should include replicating project efforts among a national sample of public health veterinarians. A committed and determined long-term effort might be required to sustain initiatives and policy proposals to increase U.S. veterinary public health capacity.

Web 2.0 and the veterinary profession: current trends and future implications for lifelong learning.

The NOVICE project is an EU initiative under the Lifelong Learning Programme, which aims to develop an online, professional network to promote informal, lifelong learning within the veterinary profession, using Web 2.0 tools. To inform the development of the network, a need analysis study was undertaken with relevant stakeholders. Focus group discussions were undertaken with veterinary students and veterinarians and a survey was administered to first-year students and recent graduates. The results indicate that use of computers and the internet is ubiquitous among junior members of the profession and that use of Web 2.0 tools is increasing. Concerns raised in relation to participation in online communities include verifying the quality of information and issues around professionalism. Compared with face-to-face communities, online communities were perceived to offer a number of advantages. These include convenient access to expert advice on an international scale, as well as helping to alleviate certain barriers to participation in formal, continuing education such as time, distance and cost.

Changes in teaching of nontechnical skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes at US colleges and schools of veterinary medicine between 1999 and 2009.

OBJECTIVE: To identify changes in the teaching of nontechnical skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes (SKAs) at US colleges and schools of veterinary medicine between 1999 and 2009. Design-Cross-sectional survey. SAMPLE: All 28 US colleges and schools of veterinary medicine. Procedures-An electronic questionnaire was sent to the entire study population. Results were compared with published results of a similar survey performed in 1999 of colleges and schools of veterinary medicine in the United States and Canada. RESULTS: A 100% response rate was achieved. All respondents were found to offer at least 1 course related to SKAs in 2009, compared with 94% (29/31) of respondents in 1999. A total of 110 such courses were documented, compared with 47 in 1999. In 2009, 26 of the 28 (93%) colleges and schools had at least 1 course related to SKAs that was required, compared with 17 of the 31 (55%) respondents to the 1999 survey. Courses were most commonly incorporated in years 1 and 3 of the curriculum and were most often valued at 1 or 2 credit hours. Forty-one of 67 (61%) courses had been developed since 1999. The most common topics were communication and financial management. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results demonstrated an increased commitment to teaching the SKAs on the part of the US colleges and schools of veterinary medicine. However, the question remains as to how effective these initiatives will be in enhancing the economic success of graduates and the veterinary medical profession in general.