Examining the Motivational Climate and Student Effort in Professional Competency Courses: Suggestions for Improvement.

The attainment of professional competencies leads to essential skills for successful and employable veterinarians. However, the inclusion of professional competencies in veterinary curricula is often underdeveloped, and it is sometimes less appreciated by students than the science/technical skill curricula. The aim of this study was to better understand students' motivation within professional competency courses (PC courses) by (a) comparing students' motivational perceptions in PC courses to those in science/technical skill courses (ST courses), (b) determining the extent to which students' motivational perceptions predict their course effort, and (c) identifying teaching strategies that could be used to improve PC courses. Participants included students from eight courses enrolled in their first or second year of a veterinary college at a large land-grant university in the United States. A partially mixed concurrent dominant status research design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Students completed closed- and open-ended survey items regarding their effort and the motivational climate in their courses. Compared to ST courses, students put forth less effort in PC courses; rated PC courses lower on empowerment, usefulness, and interest; and had higher success expectancies in PC courses. Although students' perceptions of empowerment, usefulness, interest, and caring were significantly correlated with their effort, interest was the most significant predictor of effort in both PC and ST courses. Based on students' responses to the open-ended questions, specific motivational strategies are recommended to increase students' effort in PC courses, such as intentionally implementing strategies to increase students' interest and perceptions of usefulness and empowerment.

A Novel Canine Otoscopy Teaching Model for Veterinary Students.

Otoscopic evaluation using an otoscope is an important tool among the diagnostic modalities for otitis externa and is considered a core component of a canine patient's complete physical examination. Traditionally, otoscopic training in veterinary school involves using live dogs (i.e., laboratory dogs or dogs that are patients of the veterinary teaching hospital). While this approach has its advantages, performing otoscopic examination on live dogs presents several challenges: it requires adequate patient restraint, can cause stress to the dog, and can potentially cause trauma and/or injury to the dog's ear canal when performed by an inexperienced individual. Using an alternative teaching tool for otoscopic evaluation could overcome these challenges and improve veterinary students' learning experience. In this study, we investigated student perceptions of a novel canine teaching model for otoscopic evaluation in first-year veterinary students. The Elnady preservation technique was employed to create a realistic, durable, and flexible model for otoscopic training in a dermatology laboratory session in a first-year veterinary course. Student feedback was assessed on a Likert scale, and overall feedback indicated that students felt that the model was beneficial for skill building and removed many of the stressors incurred with using live animals when training in clinical skills. Most students stated that they would like to have additional similar models incorporated into training and would recommend these models to other students.

Professional Skills Teaching within Veterinary Education and Possible Future Directions.

Once ignored for their potential to take up precious time within the veterinary curriculum at the expense of hard science and technical competencies, professional skills such as ethical conduct, professional conduct, and communication skills are now considered essential in the creation of successful and employable graduates. Despite the requirement to include professional skills in veterinary curricula, limited communication among colleges and inconsistent documentation of curricular developments have led to a wide range of teaching and assessment methods with no consistent standards existing among colleges. Integration of professional competency teaching into the general curriculum is lauded widely, but barriers such as faculty buy-in have kept many colleges from moving toward a standard in which professional competencies are integrated into the general curriculum. The aim of this article is to provide veterinary educators and curriculum designers with an understanding of the rationale for including professional skills teaching within the curriculum while also presenting currently used, as well as recommended, strategies for effective instruction of professional skills.

Validation of the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation Inventory: Evidence for Use With Veterinary Medicine Students.

The MUSIC® Model of Motivation is used to help instructors select strategies that can increase students' motivation and engagement in courses. The MUSIC model is comprised of five categories of strategies titled: empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the MUSIC® Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (College Student version, short-form), demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties when used with students enrolled in a College of Veterinary Medicine. The inventory is comprised of five scales that correspond to the five MUSIC model components, and it measures the extent to which students perceive that: they have control in the course (empowerment); the activities in the course are useful to their future (usefulness); they can succeed in the course (success); the teaching activities and coursework are interesting (interest); and the instructor cares about students' learning and well-being (caring). The inventory has been validated for use with many different student populations, including students in different countries and of different ages (e.g., college students, middle and high school students, elementary school students). However, the inventory has not been validated for use with veterinary medicine students. We analyzed the data from 578 questionnaires that were obtained from students in six different courses at a College of Veterinary Medicine. We examined the psychometric properties of the MUSIC inventory by: (a) computing the internal consistency reliabilities for the scales; (b) calculating the fit indices and factor loadings obtained from confirmatory factor analyses; and (c) computing correlation coefficients between the inventory scales and students' self-reported effort in the course. The results provide evidence that the inventory demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties for use with veterinary medicine students. Consequently, the MUSIC Inventory can be used by researchers and instructors to assess students' motivation-related perceptions of courses.

Development and evaluation of a protocol for control of Giardia duodenalis in a colony of group-housed dogs at a veterinary medical college.

OBJECTIVE To develop and evaluate a protocol for control of Giardia duodenalis in naturally infected group-housed dogs at a veterinary medical college. DESIGN Prospective evaluation study. ANIMALS 34 dogs. PROCEDURES All dogs were tested for evidence of G duodenalis infection. Dogs were treated with fenbendazole on study days 1 through 10. On day 5, dogs were bathed and moved into clean, disinfected kennels in a different room to allow for disinfection and drying of their assigned kennels at 26.7°C (80°F) for 24 hours on day 6. After treatment, dogs were returned to their original housing; fecal samples were collected weekly from days 8 through 41 and then every 3 weeks until day 209. Samples were fixed in formalin and examined by direct immunofluorescence assay. Additionally, 1 pretreatment sample underwent PCR assay and DNA sequencing to determine the assemblage (genotype) of the organism. Normal handling routines for the dogs and their use in teaching activities were not changed. RESULTS Initially, all dogs in the colony shed G duodenalis cysts. During and immediately after treatment (days 8 and 13), no cysts were detected in any dogs. On day 20, 1 cyst was observed in the fecal sample from 1 dog; results for all subsequent fecal analyses were negative. The G duodenalis cysts collected from the pretreatment sample had an assemblage C genotype. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE The integrated protocol was successful in controlling G duodenalis infection in this dog colony, despite exposure of dogs to a variety of environments and frequent handling by multiple individuals. Sequence analysis identified an assemblage typically found in dogs but not in people, indicating that zoonotic transmission would be unlikely.

Synergy in polymicrobial infections in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes.

Human diabetics frequently suffer delayed wound healing, increased susceptibility to localized and systemic infections, and limb amputations as a consequence of the disease. Lower-limb infections in diabetic patients are most often polymicrobial, involving mixtures of aerobic, facultative anaerobic, and anaerobic bacteria. The purpose of this study is to determine if these organisms contribute to synergy in polymicrobial infections by using diabetic mice as an in vivo model. The model was the obese diabetic mouse strain BKS.Cg-m +/+ Lepr(db)/J, a model of human type 2 diabetes. Young (5- to 6-week-old) prediabetic mice and aged (23- to 24-week-old) diabetic mice were compared. The mice were injected subcutaneously with mixed cultures containing Escherichia coli, Bacteroides fragilis, and Clostridium perfringens. Progression of the infection (usually abscess formation) was monitored by examining mice for bacterial populations and numbers of white blood cells at 1, 8, and 22 days postinfection. Synergy in the mixed infections was defined as a statistically significant increase in the number of bacteria at the site of injection when coinfected with a second bacterium, compared to when the bacterium was inoculated alone. E. coli provided strong synergy to B. fragilis but not to C. perfringens. C. perfringens and B. fragilis provided moderate synergy to each other but only in young mice. B. fragilis was anergistic (antagonistic) to E. coli in coinfections in young mice at 22 days postinfection. When age-matched nondiabetic mice (C57BLKS/J) were used as controls, the diabetic mice exhibited 5 to 35 times the number of CFU as did the nondiabetic mice, indicating that diabetes was a significant factor in the severity of the polymicrobial infections.