An International Survey of Veterinary Students to Assess Their Use of Online Learning Resources.

Today's veterinary students have access to a wide range of online resources that support self-directed learning. To develop a benchmark of current global student practice in e-learning, this study measured self-reported access to, and use of, these resources by students internationally. An online survey was designed and promoted via veterinary student mailing lists and international organizations, resulting in 1,070 responses. Analysis of survey data indicated that students now use online resources in a wide range of ways to support their learning. Students reported that access to online veterinary learning resources was now integral to their studies. Almost all students reported using open educational resources (OERs). Ownership of smartphones was widespread, and the majority of respondents agreed that the use of mobile devices, or m-learning, was essential. Social media were highlighted as important for collaborating with peers and sharing knowledge. Constraints to e-learning principally related to poor or absent Internet access and limited institutional provision of computer facilities. There was significant geographical variation, with students from less developed countries disadvantaged by limited access to technology and networks. In conclusion, the survey provides an international benchmark on the range and diversity in terms of access to, and use of, online learning resources by veterinary students globally. It also highlights the inequalities of access among students in different parts of the world.

Pig welfare assessment: development of a protocol and its use by veterinary undergraduates.

A new approach to teaching welfare assessment is described and has been used with two cohorts of first-year veterinary undergraduates (totaling 515 students). The welfare assessment protocol was devised and trialed using pigs as an exemplar, but its principles are applicable to other species. A robust learning scheme was created, comprising didactic teaching, interactive seminars, practical hands-on training, and computer-based learning. Practical training included a formative virtual assessment of clinical signs of health and welfare using Questionmark Perception, which improved the students' performance significantly. Validation studies are being carried out to establish if acceptable levels of inter-observer variability can be achieved by students conducting on-farm assessments of pig welfare during their extramural studies program. The resulting assessments of welfare will be analyzed in a cross-sectional epidemiological study to identify risk factors for good and poor welfare, and the results will be fed back to participating farmers. This new approach enables veterinary students to learn key transferable skills in the early stages of their education and provides a strong grounding in a holistic approach to animal welfare.

The Big Pet Diabetes Survey: Perceived Frequency and Triggers for Euthanasia.

Current pet diabetes mellitus (DM) treatment necessitates the active daily involvement of owners and can be costly. The current study aimed to investigate the owner population which opts for euthanasia instead of DM treatment. A survey was designed using multiple feedback steps and made available online to veterinarians world-wide. A total of 1192 veterinarians completed the survey and suggested a median one in 10 diabetic pets are euthanased at diagnosis; a further median one in 10 within one year because of lack of success or compliance. Perceived most important motivating factors included "presence concurrent disease" (45% respondents); "costs" (44%); "animal age" (37%); "problems obtaining adequate control" (35%); "pet welfare" (35%); and "impact owner's lifestyle" (32%). Cats in Canadian (odds ratio (OR) 2.7), Australian (OR 2.3), rural (OR 1.6) and mixed (OR 1.7) practices were more likely to be euthanased because of DM diagnosis, while cats presented to referral/university were less likely to be euthanased (OR 0.6). Dogs were more likely to be euthanased because of DM in Canadian (OR 1.8), rural (OR 1.8) and mixed (OR 1.6) practices. The survey results suggest that benefit exists in improved DM education with emphasis on offering a choice of treatment styles ranging from intense and expensive to hands-off and cheap.

Doing dissections differently: a structured, peer-assisted learning approach to maximizing learning in dissections.

Areas of difficulty faced by our veterinary medicine students, with respect to their learning in dissection classes, were identified. These challenges were both general adult-learning related and specific to the discipline of anatomy. Our aim was to design, implement, and evaluate a modified reciprocal peer-assisted/team-based learning format--Doing Dissections Differently (DDD)--to complement existing dissection classes, with the intention of enhancing both student learning and the student learning experience. Second year veterinary medicine students (n = 193), in their usual dissection groups, were randomly assigned to one of four roles: anatomist, clinician, radiologist, and learning resources manager. Students attended a preparatory workshop outlining the skills required for effective execution of their role. They were then asked to perform their roles throughout five consecutive musculoskeletal dissection classes. Student attitudes to dissection classes before and after DDD were evaluated by questionnaire (146 respondents). There was a significant (P = 0.0001) improvement after DDD in a number of areas: increased perceived value of dissection classes as an anatomy learning aid; improved appreciation of the clinical relevance of anatomy; increased use of resources before and during dissection classes; and longer preparation time for dissection classes. Before DDD, 45% of students felt that at least one peer did not contribute usefully to the group during dissection classes; no improvement was seen in this measure after DDD. Although the new format highlighted a potential need to improve teamwork, most students actively engaged with DDD, with dissection classes valued more highly and utilized more effectively.