Measurement of leadership skills development among veterinary students and veterinary professionals participating in an experiential leadership program (the Veterinary Leadership Experience).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate outcomes associated with an experiential leadership program (the Veterinary Leadership Experience [VLE]) among participants 1 year after program completion. SAMPLE: 157 veterinary students and 61 veterinary professionals who participated in the 2015 or 2016 VLE. PROCEDURES: Participants completed various instruments to assess emotional intelligence, psychological flexibility, resilience, and client-communication skills prior to (pretest) and 1 year after (posttest) attending the VLE; pretest and posttest findings were compared for all but client-communication skills, for which only posttest responses were analyzed. An additional posttest instrument assessed the impact that the VLE had on key knowledge areas (ie, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relational competence, communication skills, and conflict management skills) and overall impact. RESULTS: 1 year after completing the VLE, participants reported that the program had a high impact on all key knowledge areas; the impact on social awareness and overall impact was significantly higher for veterinary students than for veterinary professionals. Veterinary professionals reported a greater increase in emotional intelligence after program completion than did veterinary students. For each assessed client-communication skill, the percentage of veterinary professionals who reported increased confidence in that skill after program completion was lower than the corresponding percentage of veterinary students. Resilience and psychological flexibility scores did not increase after program completion. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Assessment of the effectiveness and long-term outcomes of experiential leadership programs is important to understanding whether such programs are having the intended effect. Veterinary students and veterinary professionals who were assessed 1 year after completing the VLE reported improvements in leadership skills foundational to the program.

Heartworm 'lack of effectiveness' claims in the Mississippi delta: computerized analysis of owner compliance--2004-2011.

A retrospective medical record review was conducted to identify factors from veterinary clinic medical records that may have contributed to suspected ineffectiveness of a heartworm preventive product. Patient records of 271 dogs, comprising 301 instances of positive heartworm antigen test results while the dogs were receiving heartworm preventive were evaluated. Nineteen veterinary practices in 17 counties and parishes in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee participated in the study. Records were selected by the veterinary clinics as representative of cases of suspected lack of effectiveness for a heartworm preventive, and for which an owner satisfaction claim had been filed with the manufacturer. Medical record data were entered into a software program, and a graphic representation was created to facilitate analysis of whether pet owners had purchased sufficient heartworm preventive for the dog to be compliant during the period when infection with Dirofilaria immitis could have led to the positive heartworm antigen test result for that patient ("window of infection"). In 243 (80.7%) cases, there was insufficient heartworm preventive purchased, leading to a gap in protection during the "window of infection". In only five cases (1.7%) there were no purchase lapses or extenuating circumstances (underdosing of medication, multiple purchase gaps outside the established window of infection, or dogs have been diagnosed with heartworm infection more than once during the period studied). Half the cases were from multiple-dog households, and in many of these households, sharing of product between pets was acknowledged. In another 28% of the cases from multiple-dog households, more product was purchased than was needed for one dog, suggesting that the product was being shared between more than one pet. In most cases, there was at least one reason that a dog did not receive sufficient heartworm preventive product, placing the dog at risk of developing an infection with mature heartworms. Several actions were identified that veterinary clinics can take to improve heartworm disease prevention in their patients.