Evaluation of a practice-based ambulatory program in food animal medicine, surgery, and herd health management

Abstract

Objective— To assess the educational value of a practice-based ambulatory program used at a school of veterinary medicine. Design— Retrospective cohort study. Sample Population— Graduates of US veterinary medical schools between 1987 and 1994. Procedure— Phase I involved use of interviews and focus groups to assist in development of the questionnaire used in phase II, a retrospective cohort study. The pretested questionnaire was sent to a study population consisting of all graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine, between 1987 and 1994 as well as a control group who were randomly selected from the 1994 AVMA list of veterinarians. Control-group veterinarians were matched on the basis of professional activity, region, and year of graduation. Results— 728 of 1.067 veterinarians completed the questionnaire in phase II of the study (response rate, 68%). The practice-based ambulatory program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison compared favorably with university-based ambulatory programs in volume of experiences and perceived educational quality. Regardless of rotation type. female students were significantly less likely to observe or perform 12 specific clinical procedures and were significantly less likely to rate instructional quality as excellent or very good. compared with male students. Clinical Implications— Practice-based ambulatory rotations can be a good alternative to existing university-based ambulatory rotations. Implementation of these programs should emphasize performance of procedures while striving to ensure participation of female students. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 1997;210:1590–1594