Building Bridges through Graduate attributes: Easing the Transition to the Veterinary Profession
N.B. The information below is authored by the mini-project applicants, not by staff of MEDEV. This text represents the views and opinions of the mini-project team only, not those of MEDEV or its affiliates.
Principal investigator
Susan Rhind, ssssssFull list of project partners
Catriona Bell (R(D)SVS), Neil Hudson (R(D)SVS), Sarah Baillie, (RVC), Jenny Hammond (Glasgow), Ruth Donnelly (University of Edinburgh)
Description
A central requirement of the veterinary curriculum is to provide the new graduate with the necessary skills to be a successful clinician. This is particularly crucial for veterinary students since unlike medical and dental graduates, there is no standardised support structure within the workplace available to recent veterinary graduates in their first job. Despite the importance of this task, the profession has been slow to gain feedback from recent graduates on the attributes which they feel ease the transition from student to clinician; likewise, there is a little data on the opinions of other key stakeholders in the veterinary profession as to what they consider to be important attributes in recent graduates. These issues are particularly pertinent in the veterinary profession as amongst its members there is growing evidence of poor mental health (Bartram et al 2009), high incidence of suicide (Mellanby 2005) and considerable workplace stress (Mellanby and Herrtage 2004).
The central aim of this project is to establish the attributes which recent veterinary graduates feel ease the transition from the undergraduate student environment to working as a member of the profession. In order to gain the best understanding of all factors and perspectives, we will undertake an initial questionnaire based survey of what the following groups feel are important attributes in recent graduates:
• Recent graduates
• Final year veterinary students
• Employers
• Clients
We will also undertake focus groups with recent graduates to further examine issues emerging from the questionnaires. We are keen to carry out this work as we appreciate the need to improve the link between the veterinary school environment and the profession, to provide an evidence base on which to base changes in the curriculum to better develop positive attributes in veterinary students and to improve the subsequent support offered to them post graduation. The need for this work is supported by data from our own graduate surveys which indicates that more support in this transition period would be of great value.
Bartram D, Baldwin D. Mental health and wellbeing survey. Vet Rec 2008;162:868.
Mellanby RJ. Incidence of suicide in the veterinary profession in England and Wales. Vet Rec 2005;157:415-417.
Mellanby RJ, Herrtage ME. Survey of mistakes made by recent veterinary graduates. Vet Rec 2004;155:761-765.
Activities
Questionnaire design, piloting and issuing: October-December 2009
Initial data analysis to inform focus groups: January 2010 – March 2010
Focus group planning and running: Jan 2010 – April 2010
Transcription and thematic analysis: March 2010 – September 2010
National evidence gathering workshop: July 2010
Final analysis and report writing: September – December 2010
Aimed at
Our project is aimed at veterinary graduates. It will therefore initially affect current final year cohorts across all 3 institutions (approx. 450) however the research findings will be translated into curricular revisions which will ultimately impact upon students in all subsequent years across the 3 collaborative institutions. Furthermore research findings will be transferable to all veterinary schools in the UK and beyond. We also believe that this work will have relevance for the medical and dental professions given that many of the challenges faced by young veterinary professionals are similar to those of medical and dental professionals.
Outcomes
• We will publish a research study presenting key issues highlighted by recent graduates focussing on the ‘graduates voice’
• We will triangulate the information from the graduates with other key stakeholders – final year veterinary students, employers and clients.
• We will distil the larger study into a series of key recommendations for staff involved in curriculum development – this will include an agreed set of common learning outcomes linked where appropriate to case studies and/ or suggested curricular activities to support the transition and acquisition of the key graduate attributes identified.
• We will raise the profile of issues surrounding desirable graduate attributes and transition to practice by running a national ‘transitions’ workshop to discuss and disseminate research findings
Personal experience
Susan Rhind: Director of veterinary teaching and chair of veterinary medical education (R(D)SVS). Experienced in running and delivering educational research projects
Richard Mellanby: Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellow, experienced in development and execution of projects examining workplace stress and well being in the veterinary profession
Neil Hudson: Neil Hudson: Veterinary Clinical Lecturer with longstanding interest in veterinary education. Involved in veterinary education projects and leads admissions research projects. Has postgraduate research and clinical specialist qualifications.
Catriona Bell: Lecturer in Veterinary Education at the R(D)SVS. Several years experience as a mixed veterinary practitioner prior to taking up lecturer positions in both farm animal medicine and then veterinary education. Experience in undertaking educational research projects, one of which (The EMS Driving Licence) involved running focus groups with practitioners to identify the ‘professional attributes’ they would look for when employing a new graduate.
Gill McConnell: Educational development manager (RDSVS). Experience in educational research and e-learning.
Jenny Hammond: University Teacher in Small Animal General Practice at University of Glasgow Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Background in small animal general practice, now teaching final year students on their general practice rotation based at the PDSA Veterinary clinic in Glasgow where adapting to the clinical practice environment is a key issue.
Sarah Baillie: Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Education at LIVE, The Royal Veterinary College. Worked in mixed practice for 20 years before moving into academia full time. Currently involved in a wide range of veterinary education research projects and teaching activities.
Ruth Donnelly: Employability consultant, University of Edinburgh
Ethical approval
The study will require ethical approval which
will be sought through the UoE college of
medicine and veterinary medicine (CMVM) ethical
approval committee
Outcomes
• We will publish a research study presenting key issues highlighted by recent graduates focussing on the ‘graduates voice’
• We will triangulate the information from the graduates with other key stakeholders – final year veterinary students, employers and clients.
• We will distil the larger study into a series of key recommendations for staff involved in curriculum development – this will include an agreed set of common learning outcomes linked where appropriate to case studies and/ or suggested curricular activities to support the transition and acquisition of the key graduate attributes identified.
• We will raise the profile of issues surrounding desirable graduate attributes and transition to practice by running a national ‘transitions’ workshop to discuss and disseminate research findings
Contact details
Amount awarded: 4950
MEDEV project contact: Gillian Brown
This proposal was funded under the Funded mini-projects from SFC institutions reflecting the new Quality Enhancement Theme: Graduates for the 21st century call
