Veterinary education and experience shape beliefs about dog breeds Part 1: Pain sensitivity.

Over 95% of veterinarians report believing that dog breeds differ in pain sensitivity. Ratings made by veterinarians differ from those of the general public, suggesting these beliefs may be learned during veterinary training or clinical experiences. Therefore, the current study's primary objective was to evaluate dog breed pain sensitivity ratings during veterinary training and compare these ratings to those of the general public and undergraduates in animal-health related fields. Using an online survey, members of the general public, undergraduates, veterinary students across all four years, and veterinary faculty and staff rated pain sensitivity of 10 different dog breeds, identified only by their pictures. Compared to the general public and undergraduates, veterinary students rated pain sensitivity across breeds of dog more similarly to veterinary faculty and staff. Further, when undergraduates had clinical experience, they also rated certain dog breeds in a similar way to the veterinary students and professionals. Our findings suggest that veterinary education and clinical experiences influence pain sensitivity ratings across dog breeds. Future research should identify how these pain sensitivity beliefs are communicated and whether these beliefs affect recognition and treatment of pain by veterinarians.

Veterinary education and experience shape beliefs about dog breeds. Part 2: Trust.

Dog breed stereotypes are frequently used to inform people's expectations about canine behavior, despite evidence that breed is largely uninformative in predicting individual dog behavior. Further, these beliefs differ among populations. However, it remains unknown how ratings of warmth toward a breed are associated with ratings of other social behavioral domains, and whether differences exist between populations with varying experience with dogs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate ratings of trust and warmth among survey respondents including veterinary students, veterinary faculty and staff, undergraduates in animal-health related majors and members of the general public. Using an online survey, respondents rated their likelihood to trust a dog in varying scenarios for 10 different dog breeds. Additionally, respondents used a feelings thermometer to rate how warm or cool they felt towards each breed. Findings revealed differences in feelings thermometer and trust ratings across populations. All ratings were lower among the veterinary academic respondents compared to the general public and undergraduates. Veterinary students further along in their training, as well as undergraduates with clinical experience, reflected perceptions similar to those of the veterinary faculty and staff providing support for cultural transmission of beliefs during veterinary education and training.

Hurdles of Cataract Surgery: Veterinary Ophthalmology Resident's Perspective (Part B).

The purpose of this study was to describe veterinary ophthalmology residents' perceived preparedness for performing cataract surgery who are currently enrolled in, or recently graduated from, veterinary academic or private practice institutions. A descriptive survey was distributed online to 127 residents at academic and private practice training programs in the United States. The survey included items about educational resources available for residents and techniques commonly taught during cataract surgery. Residents were asked to describe their perceived preparedness in performing various surgical steps or techniques, difficulty of each surgical step, and the available educational resources. Thirty-five (27.5%) residents completed the survey and were included in this study. Residents who had access to wet labs gained surgical competency in creating a clear corneal incision, capsulorhexis, and wound closure. They reported sculpting with the phacoemulsification handpiece, quadrant or cortical removal, and capsulorhexis as most difficult and were not as prepared or a little prepared in performing capsulorhexis and sculpting during active phacoemulsification. When comparing residents' perceived competency before and after their first surgical experience, there was a significant change in their ability to perform all surgical steps except hydrodissection (p < .05). Cataract surgery is one of the more advanced surgical skills obtained during residency training. Supervised wet lab time improves a resident's preparedness for executing certain surgical steps. However, further research is needed to determine whether educational resources such as structured curriculum or virtual simulation may improve residents' preparedness for executing surgical steps not easily replicated in a wet lab.

Training Veterinary Ophthalmology Residents on Cataract Surgery (Part A: Diplomate's Survey).

The purpose of this study was to explore the teaching methods used to train residents in cataract surgery at academic and private practice institutions. A descriptive survey was distributed online to 186 active supervising diplomates of the American Board of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ABVO) listserve. The survey included items about various educational resources and techniques available to ophthalmology residents when performing cataract surgery. Thirty-seven (19.9%) supervising diplomates completed the survey. Most supervising diplomates (29, 78.4%) required supervised practice in the wet lab. Fourteen supervising diplomates (37.8%) provided mandatory cataract surgery lectures. Nine diplomates (24.3%) required their residents to attend a formal phacoemulsification wet lab course. There was no difference in the number of diplomates who allowed their residents to perform cataract surgery as the primary surgeon during their second year compared to any other year. Thirty-three surveyed diplomates supported the idea of creating an assessment tool to improve surgical competency. This article describes the current trends in veterinary ophthalmology residency education and provides support for the creation of an assessment tool to improve surgical competency. The goal is to stimulate future research on how educators can effectively train veterinary ophthalmology residents to improve surgical proficiency.

A Literature Review: Pet Bereavement and Coping Mechanisms.

The loss of a companion animal results in millions of pet owners grieving annually. To date, little information has been synthesized on the grief response and coping mechanisms of bereaved pet owners. The aim of this review was to examine the relationship between pet loss and owner grief response. Major themes included: factors that influence the grief response, the disenfranchised nature surrounding pet loss, ambiguous pet loss and coping mechanisms used. Across the 48 studies included in this review, bereaved pet owners frequently reported feelings of embarrassment and loneliness following the loss of their pet. Types of coping mechanisms used by bereaved pet owners were identified and included: isolation, social support, continuing bonds, memorialization, religion, and relationships with other animals. Overall, this review was able to identify a consensus among the literature that bereaved pet owners are likely to experience disenfranchisement surrounding their loss. Based on the present findings, suggestions for future research include a focus on the effectiveness of coping mechanisms used by bereaved pet owners.

Can dogs help chickens? Pet owners' willingness to pay for animal welfare-friendly pet food in the United States.

Consumer concern about farmed animal welfare is growing but does not always translate into real-world purchasing behaviour of welfare-friendly animal products for human consumption. Possible reasons for this include unfamiliarity with farming practices and economic sensitivity. In contrast, the number and role of pets in the United States have grown measurably, and spending on pets is strong. The pet food market has many opportunity niches as pet owners navigate strong marketing trends and nutrition philosophies. We hypothesised that pet owners in the US would be willing to pay a premium for pet food containing welfare-friendly animal ingredients. Eight hundred and thirty-eight pet owners completed an online survey asking questions that measured their knowledge of and interest in farm animal welfare, and their willingness-to-pay for pet food labelled as farm animal welfare-friendly. Respondents overall displayed relatively low knowledge about farm animal welfare, but poor self-assessment of their own knowledge. They displayed interest in farm animal welfare and an overall positive mean willingness-to-pay (WTP) for welfare-friendly pet food. Younger respondents, women and cat owners displayed a higher WTP than older respondents, men and dog owners. Income level was not correlated to WTP. Creating pet food products that contain animal ingredients produced using welfare-friendly practices may enhance farm animal welfare via two primary avenues: by providing a sustainable and value-added outlet for the by-products of welfare-friendly human food products, and by providing an educational opportunity about farm animal production via pet food packaging and other advertising.

Veterinary Students' Use of Learning Objectives.

Learning objectives (LO) are the foundation of a competency-based curriculum, but no studies assess how students use LO for exam preparation and/or their general attitudes toward LO. Therefore, the objectives were to evaluate how much veterinary students use LO to study, assess student attitudes toward simple and expanded LO, and determine if LO type impacts grade performance. An alternative-treatment design with pre-test and nonrandom groups was used. Veterinary students in the Endocrine Systems course in the 2019 spring (n = 89) and fall (n = 86) semesters were invited to participate and provided with simple and expanded LO, respectively. After an examination, participants completed an online survey before and after receiving their grade. Overall, 114 students (65%) responded. The percentage of students using simple versus expanded LO was not statistically different (χ2 = 1.874, df = 1, p = .171). Fifty-five students did not use LO; the majority (76.4%) preferred other study methods. Independent samples t-tests found no significant differences in student perceptions of helpfulness (t(30) = -1.118, p = .272), format (t(29) = 0.813, p = .423), or relevance (t(30) = 0.326, p = .747) between simple and expanded LO. Students agreed that LO were helpful (M = 3.33) and well formatted (M = 3.42) and that the provided information was relevant and detailed (M = 3.36). An ANOVA tested whether exam grade differed between students using simple versus expanded LO and for students who did not use LO; no significant differences were found (F(2,78) = .087, p = .917). In conclusion, students did not prefer more detailed LO and LO use did not impact grade performance.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Pre-Veterinary Opportunities and Recommendations for DVM Admissions.

During the summer of 2020, a survey-based study was conducted at North Carolina State University, a land-grant university, to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on pre-veterinary students' ability to gain experience hours for Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) admissions. Of the 286 respondents (47% of the respondent pool), 92% reported losing at least one animal, veterinary, research, extracurricular, or work opportunity due to COVID-19, and 59% were not able to find a replacement. Of the lost experiences, 74 (20.8%) were for academic credit, resulting in 131 total academic credit hours lost, while only 12 credit hours were gained via alternative experiences. Of respondents, 30% (29.7%) identified as applicants of the 2020-2021 Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) cycle. More than half (52.6%) of the sample identified being concerned about the strength of their VMCAS experiences due to these lost opportunities. Many respondents reported considering delaying application submissions by taking a gap year (17.5%) or having had their intended graduation timeline affected (14.8%). Since the majority of veterinary colleges utilize a holistic review process, this study provides a basis for understanding the effects of COVID-19 on the duration, depth, and diversity of experiences gained by future DVM applicants. This article also provides recommendations for DVM admissions adaptations based on the outcomes of the data.

Effects of gender on income and family planning for diplomates of the American College of Zoological Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate income and family planning decisions of American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM) diplomates. SAMPLE: 98 ACZM diplomates. PROCEDURES: An online survey was sent to 201 ACZM diplomates. Participation was voluntary. RESULTS: 98 (49%) diplomates responded to the survey. The most commonly reported income categories were $90,000 to $94,999, $100,000 to $104,999, and $110,000 to $114,999. Overall, the mean of the salary-category midpoint responses was $105,357 but was $122,917 for those in academia and $94,508 for those working in zoos and aquaria. When incomes of males and females were matched (24 pairs matched for gender and age), no difference in income was observed. There were no significant differences in income between males and females with and without children. Diplomates who did not complete a residency had significantly higher incomes than diplomates who did. Sixteen of 21 (76%) females and 9 of 19 (47%) males reported delaying having children because of their career. Additionally, a higher percentage of females with children (13/20 [65%]) than males with children (3/19 [16%]) felt that having children had had a negative effect on their career. Thirty-five of 41 (85%) females without children and 4 of 9 (44%) males without children thought having children would have negatively affected their careers. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although substantial differences in income between female and male ACZM diplomates were not identified, differences in family planning and perceptions of the impact of having children on their careers did exist.

A novel career development course for animal science students pursuing veterinary college admissions.

A one-credit hour, elective, professional development course was created at North Carolina State University to introduce pre-veterinary track students to the admissions process and the breadth of the veterinary profession. The course was designed to facilitate career exploration while building self-efficacy through vicarious learning, interacting with speakers in various veterinary subfields, and addressing misperceptions about veterinary admissions. To evaluate the student learning objectives and improve upon the current practices of the course, data from two pretest and posttest course surveys for 235 course participants between Spring 2014 and 2017 were analyzed. The results of the study showed that students experienced significant gains in self-appraisal (Cohen's d ranged 1.88 to 2.53), gathering occupational information (Cohen's d ranged 1.59 to 2.53), goal selection (Cohen's d ranged 2.14 to 2.53), and planning and problem-solving (Cohen's d ranged 1.88 to 2.77) as well as experienced a decrease in five misperceptions about veterinary admissions. This novel course is presented as a prospective course for other universities.

What Matters Most to Residency and Intern Selection Committees in Veterinary Medicine?

A recent survey of members of residency selection committees for the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and American College of Veterinary Surgeons boards found letters of recommendation to be the most important factor when reviewing a resident's application followed by class rank as the second most important factor. These statistics indicate an interesting, but possibly troubling trend. This Letter to The Editor discusses the major problems concerning these findings and what residency program committees might consider as an alternative.

Association between Dog Owner Demographics and Decision to Seek Veterinary Care.

(1) Background: An important aspect of dog ownership is providing veterinary care. However, features of dog ownership differ across demographic groups and these may influence veterinary client decision making and behavior. The purpose of the present study was to elucidate relationships between American dog owner characteristics and willingness to seek veterinary care. (2) Methods: A total of 858 dog owners completed an online questionnaire asking participants to rate their level of likelihood to seek veterinary care for different medical conditions, answer supplemental questions about their previous veterinary barriers, and indicate barriers that prevent them from seeking veterinary care. (3) Results: Dog owners did not differ by demographics in their willingness to seek veterinary care. However, dog owner demographic groups varied in their relationship with their dog(s), previous behaviors accessing veterinary care, and barriers that make seeking veterinary care challenging. (4) Conclusions: Education, outreach and community-based veterinary medicine efforts should allocate resources to underserved communities identified within the context that they are affected by barriers to obtaining veterinary care for their dog(s).

Evaluation of Retention of Veterinary Clinical Pathology Knowledge between Second-Year and Fourth-Year Clinical Pathology Courses.

There is a concern over long-term retention of knowledge in professional programs. The goal of this study was to evaluate the retention of veterinary clinical pathology knowledge between the fourth-semester and fourth-year clinical pathology courses. We hypothesize that students will forget a significant amount of content area knowledge between the fourth semester and fourth year in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program. We further hypothesize that a review of material during the fourth-year clinical pathology rotation will help students rebuild existing knowledge and increase performance on specific test questions, between T2 (rotation pre-test) and T3 (rotation post-test). Initial mastery of course material was assessed via a 94-item multiple-choice final exam (T1) given in the semester 4 clinical pathology course. Retention of course material from semester 4 to year 4 was assessed via a 55-item multiple-choice pre-test, administered at the start of the clinical pathology rotation in year 4 while learning/mastery during the clinical rotation was assessed via a 55-item multiple-choice post-test, administered at the end of each clinical pathology rotation. In this study, evidence of knowledge retention between semester 4 and year 4 was 55.5%. There is a small increase in the measure of knowledge gain from the beginning to the end of the rotation. As an added benefit, we were able to use identified trends for retention of knowledge within specific subject areas as a mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of our course and reallocate additional instructional time to topics with poorer retention.

A National Survey of Companion Animal Owners' Self-Reported Methods of Coping Following Euthanasia.

(1) Background: The human-animal bond is often regarded as a special relationship in which owners benefit from unconditional love and perceived understanding from their companion animal. Thus, end-of-life decisions such as euthanasia may inflict significant emotional impact upon the companion animal owner and result in a complicated grief response. The purpose of this study was to examine the methods American companion animal owners utilize to cope with loss following companion animal euthanasia. (2) Methods: A total of 340 companion animal owners with experience euthanizing a companion animal completed an online survey asking how they found comfort after the loss of their companion animal. (3) Results: A total of 74.7% noted that they mourned privately, 58.2% sought social support, 32.1% adopted a new companion animal, 12.4% relied on faith or prayer and 0.9% participated in a support group. (4) Conclusions: Grief associated with companion animal loss is important. As a majority of clients that euthanized their companion animal mourn privately, the veterinary community must work towards identifying and providing appropriate, accessible social resources for bereaved companion animal owners to utilize, if desired.

Identifying Barriers to Implementing Pain Management for Piglet Castration: A Focus Group of Swine Veterinarians.

Surgical castration is a painful husbandry procedure performed on piglets in the United States (US) to improve meat quality. Veterinarians play a crucial role in developing pain management protocols. However, providing pain management for castration is not common practice in US swine production systems. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to identify factors influencing swine veterinarian decision-making in regard to pain management protocols for piglet castration using focus group methodologies. Swine veterinarians (n = 21) were recruited to participate in one of three focus groups. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by two independent coders who identified three areas of focus, including (1) the lack of approved products validated for efficacy, (2) economic limitations and challenges, and (3) deficient guidelines and training for veterinarians to develop protocols. Although participating veterinarians acknowledged the importance of pain management from an animal welfare standpoint, these barriers must be addressed to ensure that castration pain can be successfully mitigated on-farm.

A Comparison of Public Perceptions of Physicians and Veterinarians in the United States.

Veterinary medicine consists of virtually the same medical specialties as human medicine, with veterinarians performing similar roles as medical doctors, albeit with different species. Despite these similarities, anecdotally, some perceptions of veterinarians as not "real doctors" persist. The purpose of this study was to explore and compare public perceptions of physicians and veterinarians. Participants were provided brief definitions of a physician and a veterinarian and then asked to provide a rating that best describes their perception with respect to 25 different personality characteristics/traits. A sample of 606 participants (unweighted) in the United States completed the survey. The results of this research show that the public tends to perceive veterinarians more favorably than physicians. More specifically, veterinarians were viewed as more approachable, sensitive, sympathetic, patient and understanding, while physicians were viewed as more proud, arrogant and overconfident. These results point to the favorable public perceptions of veterinarians. These findings are particularly relevant for veterinary educators who train the future workforce and have a significant role both in how the profession is portrayed and emphasizing the relationship between the public trust and social responsibility. Reinforcing the public's strong trust in the veterinary profession throughout students' education could enhance their own self-concept, self-esteem and overall mental health and well-being.

Perceptions and attitudes of Small Animal Internal Medicine specialists toward the publication requirement for board certification.

BACKGROUND: The publication requirement for board certification in Small Animal Internal Medicine (SAIM) by the ACVIM is controversial. OBJECTIVES: Directly and indirectly evaluate the perceptions SAIM Diplomates have on the publication requirement. A secondary objective was to compare the frequency with which publications submitted for credentialing purposes (CredPubs) were cited compared to control articles. SUBJECTS: One thousand two hundred forty-one SAIM Diplomates were sent an electronic survey. METHODS: A electronic survey was sent to all SAIM Diplomates. Practice websites were evaluated for reference to publication or research. An electronic database was searched to identify the number of times a subset of CredPubs were cited was compared to control articles. RESULTS: Five hundred six individuals responded. The majority of respondents (n = 428, 85.25%) stated the requirement should be retained either with no changes (n = 186, 37.05%) or with clarifications or modifications (n = 242, 48.21%). A minority of respondents (n = 74, 14.7%) felt it should be eliminated. "Understanding the scientific process" was the most commonly selected reason (n = 467, 92.48%) for the publication requirement. All websites that mentioned research or publication did so using a positive sentiment. With regard to relative citation rates; 17% of CredPubs were in the lower quartile, 59.1% of CredPubs were in the interquartile range, and 23.5% were in the upper quartile compared to control articles. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: A majority of SAIM Diplomates favored the retention of the publication requirement in some form. CredPubs were cited at rates similar to control articles.

Cross-Sectional Assessment of the Emotional Intelligence of Fourth-Year Veterinary Students and Veterinary House Officers in a Teaching Hospital.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the recognition and management of emotions. This skill set is important to work relationships and professional success. In this cross-sectional, observational study, we investigated EI scores of 4th-year veterinary students, interns, and residents in a teaching hospital, using a psychometric tool with professional population norms. Participants' EI scores were compared with professional norms and between the sample groups. Scores were examined on the basis of demographics and residency program type. Twenty-four 4th-year students and 43 interns and residents completed the survey. Total, composite, and subscale scores for all groups were lower than professional means. We noted no statistically significant differences in EI scores between training levels, but evaluation of effect sizes showed a medium negative effect of higher training levels on Self-Perception Composite, Self-Regard, Emotional Expression, Interpersonal Composite, Flexibility, and Optimism and a medium positive effect of higher training levels on Impulse Control. Medium effects for residency type were found for Stress Tolerance, Flexibility, and Stress Management, with higher scores for residencies with heavy inpatient loads. Medium effects for residency type were found on Flexibility scores, with higher scores for residents in disciplines with a perceived high stress level. We found that baseline EI scores of 4th-year veterinary students, interns, and residents at a teaching hospital were similar to, but uniformly lower than, those of other professionals and did not increase with training level. These results may be used to build on strengths and address weaknesses associated with EI of students and house officers at this institution.

Use of a Versatile, Inexpensive Ophthalmoscopy Teaching Model in Veterinary Medical Student Education Increases Ophthalmoscopy Proficiency.

Ophthalmoscopy is an important examination technique in the diagnosis of disease. Although it is difficult to learn, practice increases confidence and proficiency. Practicing ophthalmoscopy on live animals presents an additional level of complexity, so we sought to evaluate how students would respond to practicing ophthalmoscopy on an ocular fundus model. We constructed a simple and inexpensive model and allowed half of the students (49/100) in a first-year veterinary medicine class to practice ophthalmoscopy (direct, PanOptic, and indirect) for 20 minutes using the model. Students completed a questionnaire regarding ease of use, enjoyment, and recommendations for future use of the model immediately after the practice session. Six weeks later, we tested students' ability to correctly match a fundus to a photograph using indirect ophthalmoscopy. All students who used the model rated it as 'easy' or 'somewhat easy' to use. All students reported that they 'enjoyed' (93.9%) or 'somewhat enjoyed' (6.1%) using the model. Also, all students who used the model stated the models should continue to be used to aid student learning. Students who used the model were significantly more likely (p = .013) to correctly match a fundus photograph to the fundus being observed than students who had not used the model. These findings demonstrate that the model used in this study is well received by students and results in discernible gains in proficiency.

Effect of a mindfulness exercise on stress in veterinary students performing surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To determine students' stress while performing surgery and evaluate the ability of a mindfulness intervention to reduce this stress. STUDY DESIGN: Quasi-experimental design. SAMPLE POPULATION: Eighteen fourth-year DVM program students (n = 9 student/group). METHODS: Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, students were randomly assigned to a control or treatment group. The treatment group performed a 5-minute breathing (mindfulness) exercise immediately prior to performing surgery. Each student provided 3 samples of saliva, at time 0, at 10 minutes before surgery, and at 10 minutes after surgery. Students' salivary cortisol and α-amylase levels were compared between groups. Students' self-reported mood measures were also correlated to levels of salivary biomarkers. RESULTS: Cortisol and α-amylase levels of students in both groups greatly exceeded normative reference groups (>90th percentile) prior to surgery and diminished to average levels (50th-60th percentile) after surgery but did not differ between groups at any time point. Immediately prior to surgery when stress values were likely to peak, salivary α-amylase levels decreased approximately 30 U/L units for students in the treatment group compared with an increase of approximately 10 U/L units for students in the control group. Students in the treatment group reported being more calm (mean [M] 2.67, SD 1.03, d = 0.75) and relaxed (M 2.33, SD 1.51, d = 0.90) than students in the control group (M 3.44, SD 1.01 and M 3.44, SD 0.88, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study provides some evidence that the mindfulness intervention temporarily decreased stress levels and improved students' sense of calmness and relaxation immediately before operating on a live animal. CLINICAL IMPACT: Students who are experiencing less stress may be less likely to commit a medical error and negatively impact animal health. This study, the first of its kind in veterinary surgery, may serve as a model for related future studies.