Learning through clinical extramural studies: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Veterinary medicine programmes require students to learn in formal educational settings and through workplace experiences. Previous studies have indicated that learning in the clinical workplace can be informal as students participate in daily activities of service provision by veterinary teams. It can be complex however for students to transition from a traditional formal educational setting to learning in the workplace and students must be able to self-regulate their learning. This requires students to set their own learning goals, consider available learning opportunities and to evaluate if intended learning outcomes have been attained. There is a need to identify strategies students undertake to self-regulate their learning in the workplace to design supports to enhance their learning. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of how final year veterinary medicine students plan, learn and reflect on their learning in the workplace context of clinical extramural studies (CEMS) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An observational repeated cross-sectional design study was conducted with two groups of final year veterinary medicine students in University College Dublin. Data was collected in two stages by analysing student activity records and surveying students in 2017 and 2018. Participants were asked to describe how they planned their CEMS, to describe the types of learning activities they participated in, and describe their reflections of CEMS. RESULTS: The results are interpreted through the lens of self-regulated learning theory. Analyses of student CEMS activity records indicate that students from both groups primarily participated in small animal / production animal or mixed practice work placements. The majority of respondents of the survey indicated that CEMS was a valuable learning opportunity and they were motivated by placements that would support their future career goals. Financing CEMS placements was a key obstacle to their planning. The majority of respondents indicated varying frequencies of engaging in different types of learning activities and noted that finding suitable placements that facilitated practical skill development and active student learning was a challenge. Implications for veterinary education are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Student perspectives on planning and learning in the CEMS workplace context yielded important insights into the factors that influence their self-regulatory activities which can help inform future educational interventions to support student learning.

Using examination performance data and focus groups to inform teaching - a case study from final year students of veterinary medicine.

BACKGROUND: Student feedback has played an important role in the maintenance of quality and standards in higher education. Perhaps the most commonly used method to capture feedback is a series of questions or statements where students indicate their degree of satisfaction or agreement. Focus groups offer an alternative means of capturing 'richer' qualitative data relating to students' thoughts on course structure. Aside from student evaluations, student examination performance has been used as a method to evaluate the efficacy of curriculum changes at programme level. However, this data is utilised less so at a 'finer detail' level to identify specific issues with the delivery of teaching. CASE PRESENTATION: The purpose of this report was to outline the approach taken using qualitative and quantitative data to identify problems with a specific area of teaching, inform a new teaching approach and to assess the impact of those changes. Following quantitative and qualitative analysis, a practical class on dairy herd fertility performance was highlighted as an area for improvement. After the introduction of the newly formatted practical class with a greater focus on self-directed learning, there was a significant increase in the average score (p < 0.001) and a decrease in the proportion of students failing (p < 0.001) the question that assessed the analysis of dairy herd fertility data. In addition, the R-squared value between students' performance in the fertility question and their performance in the overall examination increased from 0.06 to 0.11. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of qualitative focus group data and quantitative analysis of examination performance data represent robust methods for identifying problems associated with specific aspects of veterinary teaching.

Structural adaptation and intracortical bone turnover in an ovine model of osteoporosis.

Compact bone makes up approximately 80% of the human skeletal mass. This study examines the effect of estrogen deficiency on compact bone turnover and associated geometrical structural adaptation over a 31-month period in a large animal model. Twenty-seven skeletally mature sheep were divided into control (n = 16) and ovariectomy group (OVX, n = 11). Animals were administered five different fluorochrome dyes to label intracortical bone turnover, and sacrificed at 31 months. Compact bone samples were analyzed for cortical geometry, intracortical turnover at five time points, resorption cavities, porosity, and compressive strength. Intracortical bone turnover was significantly increased in OVX, which demonstrated seasonal variation. Cross-sectional area in OVX was significantly greater than control and was associated with an increased section modulus. Intracortical porosity was significantly increased in OVX, however, there was no significant difference in ultimate compressive strength between the groups. Our results demonstrate increased intracortical bone turnover, resportion spaces, and porosity in OVX, without adversely affecting compressive strength. Our results also support the hypothesis of geometrical adaptation of compact bone in response to estrogen deficiency. These results suggest an early structural compensatory response in compact bone, despite increased intracortical turnover.