RESUMEN
With the growth of interest in veterinary ethics, the teaching of ethics to veterinary students has become more important. This study collects comprehensive data about ethics education at veterinary faculties in Turkey to contribute to the international literature. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design is used to collect data via questionnaire. Of the 31 faculty members actively teaching ethics at 24 of the 29 veterinary faculties in Turkey (as of the end of 2021), 30 responded to the survey. By the end of 2021, ethics courses in 24 veterinary faculties in Turkey were conducted between the 7th and 10th semesters with similar content across the examined institutions. Of the 31 faculty members responsible for ethics education, 22 were ethicists. Theoretical lectures and multiple-choice tests were the most preferred methods for teaching and assessment. The most preferred learning outcome to be gained by students was ethical awareness. Integrity by ethicists and morality by faculty members from other departments were considered the most important virtues. The collected qualitative data regarding the strengths of ethics education and areas for improvement were varied and controversial. Ethics training should be an ongoing process throughout veterinary education. Applied ethics education should be comprehensively included in the curricula and carried out with the cooperation of faculty members working in clinical fields.
RESUMEN
The importance of communication skills in veterinary medicine has been increasing for a long time. The aim of this article is to investigate how theoretical training, role-playing, and standardized/simulated client (SC) methods improve senior (fifth-year) veterinary students' skills in breaking bad news. The study was carried out with 67 volunteer senior students. The research was designed from a pre-test and post-test control group pattern. All students encountered the SC. After pre-tests, theoretical training was given to Experimental Group A (EGA) and Experimental Group B (EGB). Then, only the students in EGA role-played together. Each student completed a checklist consisting of 10 basic items after pre-tests and post-tests. After post-tests, focus group interviews with open-ended questions were conducted. In the pairwise comparisons, EGA's and EGB's adjusted post-test mean scores were significantly higher than the control group's (p < .001). EGA's and EGB's post-test scores were found to be significantly higher than their pre-test scores. Women's empathy and eye contact scores were found to be statistically higher than men's scores. This study is the first of its kind in Turkey to use SCs and peer-to-peer learning with role-play simulations in training students about breaking bad news in veterinary medicine. These findings show that theoretical training and role-playing has an impact on senior veterinary students' skills in breaking bad news.
