Abstract
Background
The alignment of student and workplace supervisors’ perspectives on student preparedness for veterinary workplace clinical training (WCT) is unknown, yet misalignment could negatively impact workplace learning. The aim of this study was to quantify the relative importance of WCT preparedness characteristics according to students and supervisors and to identify differences.
Methods
A survey was completed by 657 veterinary students and 244 clinical supervisors from 25 veterinary schools, from which rankings of the preparedness characteristics were derived. Significant rank differences were assessed using confidence intervals and permutation tests.
Results
‘Honesty, integrity and dependability’ was the most important characteristic according to both groups. The three characteristics with the largest rank differences were: students’ awareness of their own and others’ mental wellbeing and the importance of self-care; being willing to try new practical skills with support (students ranked both of these higher); and having a clinical reasoning framework for common problems (supervisors ranked higher).
Limitations
Using pooled data from many schools means that the results are not necessarily representative of the perspectives at any one institution.
Conclusion
There are both similarities and differences in the perspectives of students and supervisors regarding which characteristics are more important for WCT. This provides insights that can be used by educators, curriculum developers and admissions tutors to improve student preparedness for workplace learning.
The alignment of student and workplace supervisors’ perspectives on student preparedness for veterinary workplace clinical training (WCT) is unknown, yet misalignment could negatively impact workplace learning. The aim of this study was to quantify the relative importance of WCT preparedness characteristics according to students and supervisors and to identify differences.
Methods
A survey was completed by 657 veterinary students and 244 clinical supervisors from 25 veterinary schools, from which rankings of the preparedness characteristics were derived. Significant rank differences were assessed using confidence intervals and permutation tests.
Results
‘Honesty, integrity and dependability’ was the most important characteristic according to both groups. The three characteristics with the largest rank differences were: students’ awareness of their own and others’ mental wellbeing and the importance of self-care; being willing to try new practical skills with support (students ranked both of these higher); and having a clinical reasoning framework for common problems (supervisors ranked higher).
Limitations
Using pooled data from many schools means that the results are not necessarily representative of the perspectives at any one institution.
Conclusion
There are both similarities and differences in the perspectives of students and supervisors regarding which characteristics are more important for WCT. This provides insights that can be used by educators, curriculum developers and admissions tutors to improve student preparedness for workplace learning.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e3504 |
| Pages (from-to) | no |
| Journal | Veterinary Record |
| Volume | 193 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| Early online date | 13 Nov 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Nov 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to thank the 11 University of Surrey academic staff and veterinary surgeons who took part in the pilot to test an early version of the survey. The authors would like to thank the local champions at the participating veterinary schools who distributed the survey locally. The authors would like to thank all participants who took part in the main survey. The authors would like to thank Christian Gilson for his technical support. Jennifer Routh's PhD is funded by the Longhurst Legacy at the University of Surrey.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Veterinary Record published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Veterinary Association.
Research Groups and Themes
- Veterinary Education Research Group