Development of a bovine continuing education program for early-career veterinarians to address clinical service shortage.

There is currently a shortage of production animal veterinarians worldwide. Access to adequate continuing education (CE) increases retention of health-care workers in rural areas. However, little information is available about the preferences of bovine veterinarians in their first years after graduation. Our objective was to design a readily available CE program tailored for recent veterinary graduates working in bovine medicine. For this, we conducted a cross-sectional survey to identify early-career bovine veterinarian needs and their preferences to access CE conducted while practicing full time. Subsequently, we conducted a second survey to triangulate their responses with the opinions of experienced veterinarians, where the experienced veterinarians ranked the relevance of the CE topics that resulted from the early-career veterinarian survey. We received a total of 132 valid responses from US veterinarians in their first 5 years after graduation, and 32 responses associated with bovine veterinarians with 10 or more years of experience. Our results showed that a combination of distance education and workshops to practice hands-on skills was the preferred method for accessing CE among early-career veterinarians. Furthermore, recent graduates were willing to commit 1 to 2 h/wk to distance education. From the list of 20 topics identified by early-career veterinarians, the experienced veterinarians ranked "calf/heifer management" and "immunology and vaccinology" as the most relevant ones for practice. With the information gathered from these surveys, we designed, implemented, and piloted a 180-h CE program on bovine health management that is delivered over 2 yr through asynchronous distance education and annual hands-on workshops. Participant feedback has been very positive. Overall, the survey results will serve to develop CE programs targeted to bovine veterinarians in their first years of practice. Future research is needed to evaluate this program's success in retaining the bovine veterinary workforce within the United States, particularly in rural underserved areas.

Effects of an 8-Week Dairy Production Medicine Course on Veterinary Student Self-Confidence and Perceptions of Knowledge and Skills Used by Dairy Veterinarians.

The 8-week dairy production medicine course at the National Center of Excellence in Dairy Production Medicine Education for Veterinarians is designed to equip senior veterinary students with the knowledge and skills needed to serve the dairy industry. Course developers identified 59 topics of importance for dairy production medicine veterinarians. Students (N = 50) were surveyed before and after the course to determine their perceptions of (a) the importance of the 59 topics for their intended positions and (b) their knowledge and skill in those areas. We expected the course to affirm or strengthen perceptions of importance and increase confidence. Students rated 57 of the topics as moderately or very important before the course. Ratings were unchanged (56 topics) or increased (3 topics) after the course. Before the course, students believed they had a lot of knowledge and skill in just one area: animal behavior and handling. At the end of the course, students believed they had a lot of knowledge and skill in 21 areas; confidence ratings were higher for 47 of the 59 topics. Alumni were surveyed 1-2 years after graduation to determine the importance of the 59 topics to their positions, their impressions about how well the course prepared them in those areas, and whether they referred back to course materials. Feedback was used to adjust the course. The topics alumni rated as most important were similar to those students predicted would be most important. Seventy-five percent of alumni used the course website as a resource in practice.

Methods Used to Assess Student Performance and Course Outcomes at the National Center of Excellence in Dairy Production Medicine Education for Veterinarians.

Between 2012 and 2014, three cohorts of senior veterinary students participated in an 8-week dairy production medicine course created by the National Center of Excellence in Dairy Production Medicine Education for Veterinarians. One goal of this course is to better prepare veterinary students to serve the increasingly complex needs of the dairy industry. In this article, we describe the assessment methods and student performance outcomes of those first three cohorts. A combination of assessment methods was used, including pre- and post-testing; instructor observations and scores on individual and group projects, including a final integrative project; and peer evaluation. Student feedback, collected via anonymous survey, provided insight into students' perceptions about the course and their learning. Performance and feedback suggest that the course was successful in preparing students for careers using skills in dairy production medicine. Pre- and post-testing was conducted for most topic modules in the course. The mean (median) pre- and post-test scores were 47% (50% ) and 83% (88%), respectively. The mean improvement in score was significant (p < .002) for all modules and cohorts. Students indicated a moderate or high degree of confidence in performing dairy production medicine skills after each module. Of students in cohorts 1, 2, and 3, respectively, 55%, 75%, and 82% felt they could provide dairy production medicine services (e.g., records analysis, problem investigation, protocol and standard operating procedure design) either alone or with some mentoring, immediately after graduation. In addition, assessment results and student feedback enabled timely course modifications during these first three cohorts.

Development and Implementation of a National Center of Excellence in Dairy Production Medicine Education for Veterinary Students: Description of the Effort and Lessons Learned.

The need for consortial programs to provide advanced education in food animal veterinary production medicine has been recognized and lauded for nearly three decades. This article describes one effort to create a dairy production medicine curriculum funded by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Higher Education Challenge Grant. This National Center of Excellence in Dairy Production Medicine Education for Veterinarians is housed at the Dairy Education Center of the University of Minnesota and the project was a collaboration of the University of Minnesota, the University of Illinois, the University of Georgia, and Kansas State University. The article reviews the need for innovative ways to educate students who will optimally serve the dairy industry, provides a broad overview of the process of developing and delivering the eight-week dairy production medicine curriculum, and describes the challenges faced and lessons learned as a result of offering such a program.

Prior Experience, Career Intentions, and Post-Graduate Positions of Veterinary Students Who Participated in an 8-week Dairy Production Medicine Course.

Three cohorts of senior veterinary students (n = 50) from seven United States (US) colleges of veterinary medicine took an 8-week dairy production medicine course at the Dairy Center of Excellence in Production Medicine Education for Veterinarians (DCE) between 2012 and 2014. Participants completed a questionnaire before and after the course and 1 to 2 years after graduation. Objectives were to determine the prior academic training and livestock experience of course participants, to compare students' career aspirations before and after taking the course, and to identify factors associated with post-graduate position. Response rates were 58%-96%. Most students had taken undergraduate animal science courses (83%), worked (76%) and/or lived (52%) on a livestock operation, participated in youth livestock activities (63%), worked at a mixed practice (71%), taken production medicine-related elective courses (65%), taken other food animal rotations (91%), and/or done dairy externships (65%) before taking the DCE course. Students who were very likely to pursue a dairy-focused position before taking the course (36%) remained committed after the course, whereas students who were not likely initially (39%) were not further motivated by the course. Students who had worked with a dairy veterinarian were more likely to pursue a dairy-focused position than those who had not. Most course alumni accepted positions in mixed practice, with a ≥ 50% (54%) or < 50% (23%) dairy component, and post-graduate positions were consistent with students' predictions. Students who held an undergraduate degree or had worked for a dairy veterinarian were more likely to accept a dairy-focused practice position than those who did not.

A one health perspective on dairy production and dairy food safety.

As the global population approaches 9.7 billion inhabitants by the year 2050, humanity faces enormous challenges to feed, house, and provide basic living requirements for the growing population while preserving the health of wildlife and the ecosystem. Dairy source foods play an important part in providing nutrient and energy dense sources of calories and establishing Bifidobacterium as a keystone species in the gut for positive health outcomes in infants and children. In developed countries, dairy products have a high food safety record when pasteurized and properly processed. However, when milk is consumed unpasteurized, as often occurs in developing countries where regulation and oversight of the dairy industry is lacking, dairy can serve as a vector for zoonotic transmission of disease and can contain adulterants such as antibiotic residues. Here we provide an overview for the importance of dairy source foods for nutrition and with a One Health perspective and discuss the historical events that have resulted in a high standard of dairy food safety in the United States. This review article covers the Origins of One Health, the role of milk in transmission of disease, management practices and regulations to ensure safe dairy products reach consumers, current challenges facing the dairy industry and impacts on public health, and how these standards can be employed in low and middle income countries to improve public health, nutrition and economic benefits to farmers.