This project aims to improve the development and assessment of student competencies in professional communication and life/leadership skills. This will be achieved through the development of innovative learning and teaching strategies throughout the curricula of the collaborating institutions. Effective and empathic communication is an essential attribute of veterinary graduates and includes aspects of personal and social/emotional intelligence and team skills. Uniquely in veterinary science, it also includes an applied understanding of the human-animal bond.  Assessment of both the curriculum and changes in student competencies will be an essential part of the project, with a collaborative sharing of experiences and outcomes with staff at all Australasian veterinary schools. Whilst the initial focus is on the undergraduate curriculum, there is scope for this work to be extended to postgraduate awards and/or concurrent awards in Leadership for Health Professionals. These changes aim to better prepare graduates for success in the workplace. The project involves three collaborating teams from Murdoch University and the Universities of Queensland and Sydney.

Background

Poor communication is responsible for the majority of complaints to Veterinary Surgeons’ Boards; the Registrar of the WA Board has said this is… ‘essentially because the vet appeared to the client to be indifferent, arrogant, off-hand  or dismissive of the client’s observations..’ (Registrar’s Reflections, Sept 2004)

The need for veterinary education to include a wider human perspective was recognized by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Taskforce on the Future of the Veterinary Profession. ‘Opportunity for Renewal’ (June 1998)

‘Perhaps the profession has focused too much on animals when in reality veterinary medicine is a human-driven business in which animals are merely the recipient of our care and attention. ‘Only if we accept the concept that our mandate involves human health, are we likely to fulfil the needs of society in the 21st century.’