Posters 2024

Value of various resources for preparation for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE)

Margaret V. Root Kustritz, DVM, PhD, DACT, MMedEd

University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine

Why did I do this study? – This information will help guide the College in determining whether it wishes to support any tool or set of tools for student NAVLE prep and guides future students in what was successful for students in previous years.

What were my primary findings? – Commercial products were most valuable, with about half of the students using VetPrep and the other half using Zuku Review. Both groups found the chosen program to be very valuable. The next most valuable things are the practice NAVLE and the Professional Development in Clinical Teaching (PDCT) rotation.

What are my conclusions? – Students preparing for the NAVLE are strongly recommended to identify dedicated study time and to use a system that provides incentives and keeps them on track. The College should continue the PDCT rotation and should offer the practice NAVLE in the future, perhaps using one or more ICVA examinations as part of that practice NAVLE.

New content for the DVM curriculum: A sampling over time

Margaret V. Root Kustritz, DVM, PhD, DACT, MMedEd  |  Andre Nault, BSc, MLS

Why did we do this study? – This is a part of a larger analysis of curriculum change in the College over the last 70 years. 

What were our primary findings? – It was generally one decade from when things appeared in the literature until they were used in general practice. Once a new topic was introduced, it generally did not go away, as graduates often will need to know how to use the less contemporary equipment and drugs they are exposed to in practice.

What are our conclusions? –Instead of conclusions, we have points to ponder – Is this a sustainable model or is the discipline of veterinary medicine better served by increasing training time or moving toward limited licensure? How can we as a College best determine what content should be reduced or eliminated to permit us to introduce valuable new information without continuing to overload students, staff, faculty, and administrators of veterinary programs?

Understanding the quiet student: Perspectives from instructors and students

Margaret V. Root Kustritz, DVM, PhD, DACT, MMedEd

Why did I do this study? – Quiet students are defined as those who do not demonstrate participation in a course verbally. The endpoints of this study were to evaluate student self-assessment as quiet and to identify reasons for not participating verbally in course sessions, identify instructor perceptions around quiet students, and to determine what teaching paradigms support quiet students.

What were my primary findings? – Students were more likely to participate verbally in laboratory and clinical settings. Students were very uncomfortable with cold calling. The most common reason for students to remain quiet was that they feared judgment from their classmates.

What are my conclusions? – Instructors should strive to create a classroom where quiet students can participate equally with more talkative students. Teaching paradigms permitting this include giving students time to create a response either in writing or by discussion with a peer, using anonymous polling tools, and permitting students to interact in small groups instead of presenting to the class as a whole.

Teaching tips as a component of an instructor development program in veterinary medicine

Margaret V. Root Kustritz, DVM, PhD, DACT, MMedEd

Why did I do this study? – Teaching tips have been provided in the college for over 10 years. This was an assessment of the accessibility of new and archived teaching tips and of the user experience.

What were my primary findings? – Users were aware of the teaching tips as sent out but were not as aware of the archive. Users found them informative and valuable.

What are my conclusions? – The College will continue to provide teaching tips and will strive to advertise them more robustly as they are sent out and are archived. Participants provided good suggestions for topics and presenters for future teaching tips.

Spectrum of Care Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship

L. Knox, W. Waldsmith, L. Bernstein, J. Glover, D. Freedman, E. Burton

Why did I do this study? – The SoC LIC was designed and planned based on human medical education literature suggesting better integration of clinical and communication skills in graduates.  A shortened version was adopted and developed for the veterinary curriculum at University of Minnesota to educate a cohort of veterinary students in practicing medicine along a spectrum of care. 

What were my primary findings? – Initial assessment identified that students were engaged and completed all required components of the SoC LIC.  Longer term assessment has been initiated to understand how participation in the SoC LIC will affect participating students’ transition into practice, including general practice, urgent care, and additional training for specialty care.

What are my conclusions? – The cohort who participated in the pilot SoC LIC will matriculate into a variety of clinical veterinary jobs.  Ongoing assessment will aim to understand the impact of the SoC LIC on Day One clinical competency, consideration for community-level challenges, and ability to engage with diverse cultures.   

Retrospective Evaluation of Gastrotomy and Enterotomy Resident Learning Curves

Andrew Backman, DVM, Snighdha Paul, DVM, Richard B Evans, PhD, Wanda J Gordon-Evans, DVM, PhD, DACVS(SA), DACVSMR

Why did I do this study? – The purpose of this project was to define learning curves for first, second, and third-year veterinary surgical residents performing gastrotomies and enterotomies over the course of their residency program.

What were my primary findings? – The gastrotomy data showed a clinical decrease in the time of surgery as experience increased from year one to year two at which time the surgical time started to increase in year three, but the enterotomy data did not create a clear curve.

What are my conclusions? – Gastrotomy surgical time can be used as an indication of resident progression through the program and/or be used to evaluate interventions that may change the curve for individual doctors.

Who needs practice? Practice ZONE sessions and Mass Excision Assessment Outcomes

Dr. Sue Spence, DVM  |  Abby Brown, BS, AAS, CVT

Why did I do this study? – Did increased practice ZONE sessions correlate w/higher scores on MEA step 4 assessment?

What were my primary findings? – No distinct association with higher number of practice sessions and higher MEA step 4 score was found with these data points. 

What are my conclusions? – This finding is actually not surprising given the complex nature of learning the subcuticular suture pattern, individual variation in how many sessions it may take to be able to process and practice this complex skill. We always meet students where they are and ask them to self assess to see where they perceive the easy bits and complex bits are in the suturing skill, then give helpful feedforward and demonstration of what to try next time. Capturing a student's performance in the form of a pre and post session evaluation might be helpful to chart progression of skill component by component.  The author has already seen groups of students making beginner errors such as not starting at the apex and leaving space open at the end of the incision-these findings have been incorporated in step by step videos w/common mistakes to avoid.  Further research into skill level and attitude toward suturing will be helpful to track rate of skill progress and perhaps guided improvement in perception and perspective toward surgery to improve suturing skills.

Wellbeing Content in Professional Development

Vesna Hampel-Kozar  |  Tanja Philhower

Why did I do this study? – During the academic year 2023-2024, students in years 1-3 were exposed to wellbeing-related content presented by the College’s VMC Social Worker and Director of Student Wellbeing and Success through live and independent learning module sessions in Professional Development. Education Day presents an opportunity to share with the College some themes from the rich student reflection papers, and observations from the wellbeing content facilitators. While not a planned research study, the themes and observations provide an opportunity to better understand the DVM students and their experiences, both prior to and while engaging with the content.

What were my primary findings? – Many themes emerged in the review of the reflection paper submissions. The presenters will highlight a few in the poster session (e.g. power dynamics, generational dynamics, advocacy for self and others, empathy, systems change in veterinary medicine education and practice, mental health histories)

What are my conclusions? – We find that the reflection papers are a rich source of data about students, facilitate connection with us as wellbeing professionals and resources for support, and have potential to inform future curricular and co-curricular offerings. We also see potential for change to the format and ease of gathering themes from this content. 

Efficacy of a 3D-printed model to teach bovine epidurals

Whitney Knauer, VMD, PhD, Timothy Goldsmith, DVM, MPH, Dipl. ACVPM, Perle Zhitnitskiy, DVM, MSpVM

Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota

Why did I do this study? – This study was done to evaluate the efficacy of a 3D-printed model to teach third-year veterinary students how to perform epidural injections on bovine patients. Using the model allowed students to practice the injection for the first time on an inanimate object instead of a live animal, to increase the number of times they can practice from 2 to 4, and to evaluate their proficiency during an OSCE prior to a live animal surgery.

What were my primary findings? – At the end of the course, all respondents felt confident or somewhat confident that they could do an epidural on a live bovine while being supervised and all but one felt that they could do it unsupervised. 91.7% of the respondents agreed that the model was a useful learning tool and 71.8% agreed that using the model increased their dexterity skills.

What are my conclusions? – The development of a bovine epidural model using 3D printing technology was successful. The model was user-friendly and resistant enough to sustain 3 rounds of injections from 38 students. Students felt more confident when performing the injection on a live animal and faculty overseeing the omentopexy surgery lab reported that students were better prepared.

Advancing Global Veterinary Education:

The WOAH Educational Twinning Project and the University of Minnesota's Collaborative Initiatives with Samarkand State University of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Husbandry and Biotechnology

V. Yustyniuk, A. Safarov, K. Yunusov, M.K. O’Brien, S. Perez

Center for Animal and Food Safety (CAHFS), College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Why did I do this study? – The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) Educational Twinning Project was implemented to enhance veterinary education capacity by fostering collaborative partnerships between countries. Through Twinning, institutions exchange knowledge to improve education quality and institutional capacity building, with CAHFS serving as WOAH's Collaborative Center for Veterinary Services Capacity Building.

What were my primary findings? – Our project identified common challenges, including communication and logistical barriers due to geographical and cultural differences, which hindered collaboration. COVID-related travel restrictions during the initial phase emphasized the importance of building trust among partners from the outset.

What are my conclusions? – The project focused on institutional capacity building through the review and update of the curriculum for the veterinary medicine degree, and faculty training, aiming to foster sustainability in veterinary education. Additionally, curriculum mapping guided strategic planning efforts to ensure the long-term success and effectiveness of the project's outcomes.

ProgRESSVet, an Asynchronous Collaborative Learning Initiative for International Veterinary Services Capacity Building

Bryan Birtcil, Mila Velimirovich-Holtz

Why did I do this study? – Online and hybrid education for professional workforce development is known to have its benefits and challenges regarding long-term effectiveness and applicability. Due to their responsibilities, many professionals cannot fully engage in synchronous online or traditional classroom learning. ProgRESSVet is a hybrid education and training program offered internationally by the Center for Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) at the University of Minnesota, that develops and administers hybrid courses for Veterinary Services (VS) capacity building. The ProgRESSVet program, in collaboration with partner countries’ VS leadership, provides an accessible option for in-service training and offers a neutral and low-stakes platform for animal health and industry professionals to constructively exchange, discuss, and synthesize novel ideas and solutions to better address transboundary animal diseases and trade challenges. This poster will share how the ProgRESSVet Philippines ‘23-’24 program engaged participants in peer-to-peer learning and how participants’ course evaluations reflected the program’s success in areas of professional relevancy and motivating critical thinking.

What were my primary findings? – Participants in the ProgRESSVet Philippines ‘23-’24 cohort showed an increasing tendency over the course of the program to engage in meaningful peer-to-peer discussion and information exchange in assigned discussion board activities (DBAs). Data gathered on DBAs showed an increase in the number of reply posts per DBA, the rate of participants who returned to the post in the same reply chain, and the distribution of reply levels (i.e., distance to the original post). Participant feedback scores for the first three parts of the course showed high positive scores in response to questions about (1) the DBAs being helpful to their learning in the course, (2) the course materials motivating critical thinking, and (3) how relevant the course material was to their future professional practice.

What are my conclusions? – Collaborative learning is one of ProgRESSVet’s greatest strengths; facilitating the exchange of information that is both country/region-specific and beyond the original scope of the course material. Our program also gathers and analyzes participant feedback to help us continue adapting our curriculum to better meet participants’ and partner countries’ needs. This user-driven approach to continuous improvement is part of why ProgRESSVet has successfully grown into a worldwide program to help address the complex issue of animal disease and safe trade with solutions that are innovative, sustainable, and effective.

How Does a Remediation Plan During the Semester Support Students’ Learning?

Sarah K. Brown, Emily N. Truckenbrod, Roxanne J. Larsen,  Debra Freedman

Why did I do this study? – The purpose of the project was to determine how a remediation plan during the semester supports students’ learning. The primary intention is limited to the curriculum evaluation designed specifically to evaluate and improve performance within the College of Veterinary Medicine.

What were my primary findings? – Students who remediated an exam found the process to be helpful, not only for raising their grades but also for enhancing their learning.  The majority of survey respondents did not need to remediate an exam but still perceived benefits from knowing the option was available, describing lower stress levels, a more conducive learning environment, and feeling supported in the class as positive aspects.

What are my conclusions? – Overall exam remediation during the semester was a helpful process for the students and supported their learning. However, it highly increased the workload for faculty and remediating students after exams. Our next steps are to think of how to optimize the process to alleviate the stress involved both for faculty and students.

Instructor development in teaching – The CVM Instructor Development program (CID 3.0) at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine

Margaret V. Root Kustritz, Ryan Rupprecht

Why did I do this study? – This is a description of the CID program and includes a new tool, a Qualtrics survey that permits users to identify which competencies in teaching they lack or wish to enhance and which modules will best permit them to address those specific competencies.