Development of competencies for new graduates in small ruminant practice by utilizing a survey of current practitioners

Abstract

There are no standardized clinical competencies for new gradu­ates interested in small ruminant herd health, medicine and surgery. This void is obvious as other professional veterinary associations publish competency guidelines for new graduates. Small ruminants are becoming increasingly popular with the development of niche markets, low startup cost and increased interest in livestock production for home consumption by own­ers in suburban areas, which leads to more mixed and small animal practitioners being tasked with seeing small ruminants. A survey was sent to small ruminant practitioners in North America to gauge the type of small ruminants seen by the prac­tice, procedures performed on small ruminants, and small ruminant disease prevalence in the practice. Results from this survey will be used to establish clinical competencies for new graduates interested in small ruminant practice.