Vet Practice Research Articles

Cow-calf chute side data collection in the field and its role in cow-calf consultation

Cattle Health and Reproduction LLC is a private vet practice located in the Snake River valley of Idaho servicing east Idaho and southwest Montana. It primarily serves beef cattle produc­ers with a major focus on large cow-calf operations with herds of 250 to 3,500 mother cows. The practice also services stocker/ yearling/feedlot operators and has a growing embryo transfer division. The practice retains a strong service-oriented approach with significant involvement in the herd management of its cli­ents. Data collection and information management has been a focus of the practice over the past couple of years and has aided in the development of a consultation leg of the practice.

Combining sentiment analysis and text mining with content analysis of farm vet interviews on mental wellbeing in livestock practice.

The aim of the How Farm Vets Cope project was to co-design, with farm veterinary surgeons, a set of web-based resources to help them and others deal with the different situations that they can face. As part of the wider project, participants were recruited for one-to-one semi-structured phone interviews. These interviews focused on elements of job satisfaction and how the participants coped during periods of poor mental wellbeing or with setbacks and failure. Transcripts of these interviews were analysed using both quantitative methods of sentiment analysis and text mining, including term frequency/inverse document frequency and rapid automated keyword extraction, and qualitative content analysis. The twin aims of the analysis were identifying the important themes discussed by the participants and comparing the results of the two methods to see what differences, if any, arose. Analysis using the afinn and nrc sentiment lexicons identified emotional themes of anticipation and trust. Rapid automated keyword extraction highlighted issues around age of vets and support, whilst using term frequency/inverse document frequency allowed for individual themes, such as religion, not present across all responses, to be identified. Content analysis supported these findings, pinpointing examples of trust around relationships with farmers and more experienced vets, along with some examples of the difference good support networks can make, particularly to younger vets. This work has confirmed previous results in identifying the themes of trust, communication and support to be integral to the experience of practicing farm veterinary surgeons. Younger or less experienced vets recognised themselves as benefiting from further support and signposting, leading to a discussion around the preparation of veterinary students for entry into a farm animal vet practice. The two different approaches taken showed very good agreement in their results. The quantitative approaches can be scaled to allow a larger number of interviews to be utilised in studies whilst still allowing the important qualitative results to be identified.

The Terminator and veterinary medicine: can they meet outside the world of sci-fi?

Big data, AI and machine learning aren't phrases normally associated with vet practice, but Taran Rai, applied AI lead and data scientist at the University of Surrey, reveals how his career joins the dots.

Human Behaviour in Veterinary Care

Abstract The human in veterinary practice is an oft-neglected component of both human and animal welfare. Those in vet practice, including veterinarians, vet nurses, technical staff, and front-of-house staff all have a role to play in ensuring that animals receive the best possible care. How should clinicians approach the cognitive load of decision making in stressful situations, recognise the biases in their decision making, and balance non-technical skills alongside highly specialised clinical skills to support animal health? Veterinary work requires effective communication across diverse teams in stressful situations, and good animal care necessitates an understanding of human factors in the veterinary practice. Even after care has concluded, veterinarians need to recognise the impact that human behaviour has on supporting animal welfare. We describe how human behaviour impacts veterinary care, and how veterinarians can utilise up-to-date research on human behaviour such as the Knowledge Deficit Model of communication, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, and the 5As Behavioural Change model to improve animal welfare. Information © The Authors 2023

Equine endoparasite resistance and its management - a vet practice perspective.

With concerns growing globally about anthelmintic resistance in equine endoparasites, James Wallace's practice undertook some research among its horse-owning clients and introduced a fixed-fee parasite management programme to help ensure the most effective use of these valuable medicines.

The new CHS portal is live – register your vet practice today

Most vet practices now make their hip and elbow dysplasia submissions using the new Canine Health Schemes' online portal as Clare McNamara, CHS head of operations, explains.

Stress-free vet visits: considering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Visits to the small animal veterinary practice are typically stressful for many animals, especially where they already have an anxious or fearful disposition. Although the purpose of the visit is to improve the animal's welfare (by improving physical health and wellbeing), there may be an impact on the animal's mental health and emotional state. The current pandemic situation has made vet visits even more difficult, because a number of options for preparing for the visit, or carrying out the visit itself, have not always been available. This article considers techniques for minimising fear, anxiety and stress in companion animals being treated at the vet practice, through preparation, protocols and procedures. Principles of good practice when helping animals to have the least stressful experience during a vet visit are considered. Additional special measures for particularly anxious or fearful animals are also discussed. The identification of stress-reducing protocols is largely based on the low-stress handling techniques identified in research and the importance of these as perceived by veterinary staff. Changes within the practice that have impacted animals' anxiety levels, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, are identified and considered. Reflections concerning the pandemic experience, as provided to the author by a number of veterinary surgeons and nurses, are recorded and considered as the basis for further research. Consideration is also given to the feasibility and value of retaining some changes implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vet Practice News

Veterinary RecordVolume 189, Issue 1 p. 15-15 Business & Innovation Vet Practice News First published: 09 July 2021 https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.697Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume189, Issue110/17 July 2021Pages 15-15 RelatedInformation

Melvyn Driver

A designer of humane veterinary products since the 1980s, it is estimated that every vet practice in the UK will have at least one of his products in use.

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Vocational education between image campaigns and individual attractiveness

In the context of VET, terms such as attractiveness, image or value are often used. However, the connections are manifold and the meanings often different. The present article addresses the problem of conceptual diversity by first of all receiving and classifying the scientific literature on the definition and use of terms. In a second step, a structural approach is introduced, which takes up the different concepts from the perspective of different actors. The possible use of the approach in German VET practice is demonstrated by means of examples.

Farm vet practice is the cream of the crop

Veterinary RecordVolume 182, Issue 10 p. 280-280 News and reports Farm vet practice is the cream of the crop First published: 10 March 2018 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2042-7670.2018.tb00047.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume182, Issue10March 2018Pages 280-280 RelatedInformation

Married to the job: working with your partner in a vet practice.

Kate Holton describes what it's like to work alongside her husband as vets and co-joint venture partners at their Vets4Pets practice in Yate.

Helping you to help the vulnerable

Every vet practice in the country should have a designated person that staff can talk to if they suspect a case of deliberate animal abuse, Paula Boyden will tell BSAVA members at Scottish Congress in Glasgow on Sunday 4 September.

Attracting and retaining farm vets

James Allcock, of Lambert, Leonard & May, a farm-only vet practice in Shropshire, describes the steps the practice has taken to help with recruitment and retention of farm vets.

Realities of private VET practice through VET teachers’ lenses: Learning contexts for international students in private VET in Australia

Since the introduction of the competitive vocational education and training market model in the Australia in the 1990s, the growth and participation of international students and private providers has led to sustained debates about training standards in commercial-for-profit, private registered training organisations. Much of this debate has been negative and critical, focusing on providers seen as ‘dodgy’ and international students’ permanent residence ‘PR’ reasons for participating in the Australian Vocational Education and Training sector (Smith, 2010; Tran & Nyland, 2013). This article argues that this focus has limited critical debates on other contextual factors, particularly the influence of teacher perceptions on learning experiences and the way vocational education and training is understood and practised.

Understanding the Mind of the Pet Owner for Veterinary Services

To improve efficiency and effectiveness, veterinary practitioners must match their marketing/advertising mix to the needs of their clients. We present an empirical approach to understanding what a client wants and the nature of mind-set segments, using different messages to convey the nature of a vet practice. Data suggest that pet owners divide into three distinct mindset segments: (a) responds strongly to elements that convey warmth and reassurance, (b) responds strongly to technology, and (c) responds to treatment that is similar in nature to that given to people. Each segment, both new and old clients, will respond when veterinarians use different ad messaging.

Renaissance or a backward step? Disparities and tensions in two new Swedish pathways in VET

This article builds on results from studies of two new pathways in Swedish upper secondary VET. A major reform was launched in 2011 and the restructuring was presented by the Minister of Education as a ‘renaissance for VET education’. The conclusion of the Upper Secondary Commission is that ‘students shall be more specialised within their vocational or study area compared to today’s vocationally oriented programmes’. We conceptualize the restructured upper secondary VET and these two new educational pathways as a new ‘VET practice architecture’. Apprenticeship Education and Vocational Introduction are both regarded as alternatives to school-based VET, particularly beneficial for students with ‘practical’ learning styles and as alternatives for students who lack the motivation to study in regular VET programmes. The results from the empirical studies show a landscape of disparities and tensions and the vocational learning taking place challenges the notion of a ‘renaissance for VET education’.