During the development of the Veterinary Technology program at York County Community College (YCCC), we realized how important it would be to be attentive to the behaviors of our students that would be sent out to clinical sites in order to complete their practicum experiences. The YCCC Veterinary Technology program was built using what the American Veterinary Medical Association refers to as the 'Distributive Model' meaning that the college does not have an onsite veterinary facility so students spend a good bit of time out at veterinary clinics, animal shelters and local farms practicing their skills. We realized that if we were to send out students into those practices who were unable to demonstrate appropriate professional behaviors, many of those sites would potential decide not to work with the program in the long run. In order to develop a program of developing, assessing and remediation for professional behaviors in students, I developed a list of behaviors that best related to professional behaviors and then studied models used to remediate concerns with professionalism in other medical programs. This work was published in the Journal of Veterinary Technician Educators in June of 2016 and can be found at the link provided below. Should the link not work for you, the hard copy with peer reviewed edits is also attached in Word document form below.
In September of 2016 I was invited to present the findings and process described in this peer reviewed article to a group of medical practitioners at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. This was a group of approximately 35 experienced physicians who practice in their cardiac catheter unit. The commonality of concerns related to maintaining professionalism in the course of practice in all stressful medical applications was clear and it was a great opportunity to share my work. The professional development session covered the process we use in both assessing professionalism and in working to create remediation programs for those who are struggling. Lisa Dittrich, the facilitator of staff development at the Maine Medical Center's Cardiac Catheter unit, has communicated to me that the doctors found this to be a good use of their time and that they would like to engage in a follow up session! Very exciting to share work beyond the YCCC boundaries!
https://avte.memberclicks.net/assets/images/JAVTE/javte%20june%202016.pdf