Identifying the capabilities most important for veterinary employability using a modified Delphi process.

BACKGROUND: In the veterinary profession, employability has been defined as 'a set of personal and professional capabilities that enable a veterinarian to gain employment, contribute meaningfully to the profession, and develop a career pathway that achieves satisfaction and success'. This study was part of a multinational collaborative research project aiming to define the capabilities most important for employability in the veterinary context (www.VetSet2Go.edu.au). METHODS: The project gathered empirical evidence from multiple stakeholders including employees, employers, clients, team members, academics and professional bodies. These perspectives needed to be brought together as a cohesive body of evidence. We used a modified Delphi process, whereby a panel of experts were asked to reach consensus on the capabilities most important for veterinary employability, after considering the evidence from the sub-projects. RESULTS: The Delphi panel reached rapid consensus upon 21 of an initial 47 capabilities, including effective communication with clients and colleagues, teamwork, technical knowledge and skills, resilience and well-being, adaptability, emotional intelligence, workflow management and empathy and compassion. CONCLUSION: Of note for veterinary educators are those attitudinal items identified by this Delphi process as important to employability but potentially underemphasised in existing competency frameworks, such as accepts responsibility, keen to learn, diligence (high standard of care) and self-awareness.

Employability as a Guiding Outcome in Veterinary Education: Findings of the VetSet2Go Project.

This paper presents a mini-review of employability as a guiding outcome in veterinary education-its conceptualisation, utility, core elements and dimensions, and pedagogical approaches-through a summary of the findings of a major international project with the same aims (the VetSet2Go project). Guided by a conception of the successful veterinary professional as one capable of navigating and sustainably balancing the (sometimes competing) needs and expectations of multiple stakeholders, the project integrated multiple sources of evidence to derive an employability framework representing the dimensions and capabilities most important to veterinary professional success. This framework provides a useful complement to those based in narrower views of competency and professionalism. One notable difference is its added emphasis on broad success outcomes of satisfaction and sustainability as well as task-oriented efficacy, thus inserting "the self" as a major stakeholder and bringing attention to resilience and sustainable well-being. The framework contains 18 key capabilities consistently identified as important to employability in the veterinary context, aligned to five broad, overlapping domains: veterinary capabilities (task-oriented work performance), effective relationships (approaches to others), professional commitment (approaches to work and the broader professional "mission"), psychological resources (approaches to self), plus a central process of reflective self-awareness and identity formation. A summary of evidence supporting these is presented, as well as recommendations for situating, developing, and accessing these as learning outcomes within veterinary curricula. Though developed within the specific context of veterinarian transition-to-practise, this framework would be readily adaptable to other professions, particularly in other health disciplines.

Resilience of veterinarians at different career stages: The role of self-efficacy, coping strategies and personal resources for resilience in veterinary practice.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of demographic and psychological factors on resilience in new graduate-, mid- and late-career veterinarians working in Australia. METHOD: An online cross-sectional survey of 800 veterinarians collected demographic and descriptive data in two stages from late 2015 to 2017, such as gender, average hours worked per week, type and region of practice and intention to leave veterinary medicine. Psychological factors were measured utilising the Brief Resilience Scale, the Veterinary Resilience Scale-Personal Resources, the Brief COPE and General Self-Efficacy measures. RESULTS: Using a full-factorial univariate General Linear Model, no significant difference in general resilience was evident between the three career-stage groups (p > 0.05). However, higher self-efficacy, higher personal resources for resilience in veterinary practice, and lower problem-focused, higher emotion-focused and lower dysfunctional coping strategies were related to higher resilience. In the model for mid- and late-career veterinarians, a weak positive relationship existed between higher average hours worked per week and higher resilience, while intention to leave veterinary practice was also related to lower resilience in mid- and late-career veterinarians. CONCLUSION: This study supports the value of personal resources, rather than career stage, gender or region of work, as influential in developing veterinarian resilience.

International multi-stakeholder consensus for the capabilities most important to employability in the veterinary profession.

BACKGROUND: Employability has been defined within the veterinary context as a set of personal and professional capabilities that enable a veterinarian to gain employment, contribute meaningfully to the profession, and develop a career pathway that achieves satisfaction and success. This study explicitly addressed the construct of veterinary employability by exploring the perceptions of multiple stakeholders (recent graduates, employee veterinarians, veterinarian and non-veterinarian employers, para-veterinary staff, academics and policy makers). METHODS: A four-part online survey was distributed internationally via various agencies. Free-text responses, ratings of capabilities and rankings of categories were analysed. RESULTS: The congruence of stakeholder responses was notable, regardless of age and geographical location, with minor differences noted in academics' and para-veterinary staff responses, and gender. The most important capabilities were honesty, ethical behaviour, communicating effectively and collaboratively with clients, knowing when to ask for help, and the willingness to learn. The categories of communication and teamwork ranked highest. CONCLUSION: This study adds granularity to the existing evidence for the importance of communication and teamwork. The relationship between the veterinarian (self) and their work, enabled by engagement, meaning and purpose, and respect for their profession was a key finding, and illustrative of how to achieve personal satisfaction and well-being within the profession.

Development and validation of a contextualised measure of resilience in veterinary practice: the Veterinary Resilience Scale-Personal Resources (VRS-PR).

BACKGROUND: This article reports on the development and validation of a contextualised measure of personal resources for resilience in veterinary practice. METHODS: Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to evaluate data from two surveys of veterinary practitioners. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis of the first survey (n=300) revealed six items comprising the Veterinary Resilience Scale-Personal Resources (VRS-PR). These items focused on flexibility, adaptability, optimism, building strengths, enjoying challenges, and maintaining motivation and enthusiasm at work. Structural equation modelling using the second survey (n=744) confirmed the factor structure of the VRS-PR and established convergent validity with an established measure of general resilience, the Brief Resilience Scale. Examination of the mean and standard deviation of the combined survey data enabled scores on the VRS-PR to be provisionally classified into 'low', 'moderate' and 'high' (reported by approximately 13%, 72% and 15% of respondents, respectively). Respondents also reported results spanning 'low', 'moderate' and 'high' classifications for the Brief Resilience Scale (approximately 34%, 57% and 9%, respectively). CONCLUSION: The VRS-PR may be used to evaluate the extent to which respondents draw upon the personal resources captured in the scale and identify areas for improvement.

Challenging identity: development of a measure of veterinary career motivations.

BACKGROUND: While little is known about the motivations underpinning veterinary work, previous literature has suggested that the main influences on veterinary career choice are early/formative exposure to animals or veterinary role models. The aim of this study was to develop and provisionally validate a veterinary career motivations questionnaire to assess the strength of various types of career motivations in graduating and experienced veterinarians. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of experienced veterinarians (n=305) and a smaller cohort of newly graduated veterinarians (n=53) were surveyed online using a long-form questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to iteratively derive a final, short-form questionnaire for survey of a second cross-sectional sample of experienced veterinarians (n=751). RESULTS: EFA derived a final questionnaire with 22 items loading onto six factors (social purpose, animal orientation, vocational identity, challenge and learning, career affordances, and people orientation). While motivations based on animal orientation were predictably strong, those based on vocational identity were not universal and were weaker in younger and graduate veterinarians; both of these motivations were rated lower by male veterinarians. Motivations based on challenge and learning emerged as some of the strongest, most universal and most influential; people orientation and social purpose were also important, particularly for older veterinarians. CONCLUSION: The major motivations for pursuing a veterinary career may best be represented as an intrinsic passion for animal care and for learning through solving varied challenges. These motivations are largely intrinsically oriented and autonomously regulated, thus likely to be supportive of work satisfaction and wellbeing.

An Exploration of the Career Motivations Stated by Early-Career Veterinarians in Australia.

Despite the critical influence of motivation on education and work outcomes, little is known about the motivations driving people to become and remain veterinarians. This qualitative study explored the career motivations stated by Australian veterinary graduates (n = 43) using a free-response Ten Statements Test (TST) at graduation, with follow-up interviews 6-8 months later (n = 10). TST responses were coded using an alternate inductive-deductive approach that tested their fit against existing theories of motivation. Results showed that the stated motivations were predominantly oriented to perceived value, rather than self-beliefs such as expectancy of success. About a quarter of the statements were animal-related, principally themed around intrinsic animal orientation (e.g., I like animals) or extrinsic animal-related purpose (e.g., I want to help animals). However, many non-animal themes also emerged, including both intrinsic (e.g., love of learning, challenge/problem solving, variety, social relatedness) and extrinsic (e.g., helping people, social contribution, career opportunity) motivations. Interview data revealed a motivational narrative of early formative influences, with some interviewees describing a later transition toward more people- or goal-oriented motivations. This exploratory study, outlining a broad taxonomy of veterinary career motivations and their alignment to self-determination theory in particular, may provide a useful framework for exploring career motivations in veterinary education.

Beyond Competence: Why We Should Talk About Employability in Veterinary Education.

The purpose of this article is to explore employability as a complement to competency in defining the overarching objectives of veterinary education. Although the working usage of the term competency has evolved and stretched in recent years, and contemporary competence frameworks have expanded to better reflect the range of capabilities required of a veterinary professional, the potential remains for the dominance of competency-led discourse to obscure the aim of producing not only competent but also successful and satisfied veterinarians. Expanding the educational mission to include employability may provide this broader focus, by stretching the end point, scope, and scale of veterinary education into the crucial transition-to-practice period, and beyond. In this article we review available evidence from multiple stakeholder perspectives and argue that employability expands the focus beyond servicing the needs of the public to better integrate and balance the needs of all the stakeholders in veterinary education, including the graduates themselves. By refocusing the goal of veterinary education to include the richer end point of success, turning the attention to employability could enhance current attribute frameworks and result in veterinarians who not only better meet the needs of those they serve but are also better prepared to experience fulfilling and satisfying careers. Finally, we suggest one educational approach may be to conceptualize competency, professionalism, and employability as overlapping dimensions of the successful veterinary professional.

Finding the Balance: Uncovering Resilience in the Veterinary Literature.

Resilience is an issue of emerging importance in veterinary education and research, as in other professional contexts. The aim of this study was to perform an appraisal of how resilience is portrayed in the contemporary (1995-present) research and education literature around veterinary mental health, and to attempt a provisional synthesis informing a conception of resilience in the veterinary context. Qualitative analysis of the literature (59 sources included) revealed a dominant emphasis on mental health problems, particularly stress, which outweighs and potentially obscures complementary approaches to well-being and resilience. We found the construct of resilience underdeveloped in the veterinary literature and in need of further research, but provide a preliminary synthesis of key themes emerging from the current literature (emotional competence, motivation, personal resources, social support, organizational culture, life balance, and well-being strategies). We advocate for greater balance between complementary perspectives in veterinary mental health education and research, and propose that an increasing focus on resilience (here endorsed as a dynamic and multi-dimensional process involving personal and contextual resources, strategies, and outcomes) will help to address this balance.