Preparing Veterinary Students for Extramural Clinical Placement Training: Issues Identified and a Possible Solution

Andrew Cavers,Sarah Baillie,Catriona Bell,Tierney Kinnison

doi:10.3138/jvme.37.2.190

Abstract

Extramural clinical placement training is an important part of many veterinary degree programs and provides students with valuable learning experiences in private practice, often focusing on the management of typical first-opinion cases. In the United Kingdom, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has a mandatory requirement that students take 26 weeks of clinical placement or extramural studies (EMS) before graduation. However, if students are to maximize their learning opportunities during these placements, it is important that they be adequately prepared. In response to recent topical issues surrounding EMS in the United Kingdom, the current project undertook an iterative consultation process with key stakeholders, including students and placement providers, to identify key issues associated with students attending placements. These findings then informed the development and content of a computer-aided learning (CAL) package titled "The EMS Driving Licence" that aimed to improve the preparation of students for placements. The CAL package included sections covering the main identified areas of concern: Preparation (including what to take), Working With People (staff and clients), Professionalism (including confidentiality), Frequently Asked Questions (from students), and Top Tips (from practitioners). The CAL package was evaluated by students, and feedback was gathered by means of a questionnaire. Students recognized that the content addressed many of their concerns, and all reported that they would recommend the package to others. The CAL package has been made available to all UK veterinary schools and has received backing from the RCVS as part of their current recommendations on EMS to the UK veterinary profession.

Highlights

Clinical placement training is a form of work-based learning (WBL) that provides students with learning opportunities in typical working environments outside of their university or college
extramural studies (EMS) placements have become an extremely topical issue for the UK veterinary profession in recent years, generating a wide-ranging review, consultation process, and list of recommendations from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and eliciting much discussion in the veterinary press.[26,27]. This process has confirmed the importance of EMS placements for student learning,[13,19] and the profession has overwhelmingly supported their being maintained as a mandatory requirement of veterinary education in the United Kingdom.[28]
Because the twenty-first-century veterinary profession is constantly changing, it faces a variety of relevant challenges and issues, including increasing student numbers, and demand for placements; increasing student debt, which is compounded by the requirement to undertake extramural placements; increasingly demanding and litigious clients, which reinforces the requirement to demonstrate professional behavior and maintain client confidentiality at all times; and increasing time and resource pressures within veterinary practices, which can make supervision of students difficult

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Clinical placement training is a form of work-based learning (WBL) that provides students with learning opportunities in typical working environments outside of their university or college (i.e., extramural) It is an important part of undergraduate education in a variety of professional disciplines, including medicine,[1] nursing,[2] social work,[3] and accounting.[4] These placements can offer quite different experiences to those in the institution (intramural), in relation to the type of learning opportunities provided and the background and training of staff responsible for supervising students. IDENTIFYING THE ISSUES Issues relating to EMS placements can be considered from the perspectives of four key stakeholder groups, namely veterinary students, EMS providers (mostly private practitioners and other practice staff ), veterinary schools, and regulatory professional bodies such as the RCVS. Do you have any other comments or feedback on how the EMS experience could be improved for both practices and students?

What is your role within the practice?

A POSSIBLE SOLUTION

Findings

DISCUSSION