"Clinical Teachers: Teaching Tips for the Busy Veterinary Team": Reflections on the Development of a Multimodal Resource for Veterinarians and Veterinary Nurses/ Technologists New to Clinical Teaching

J Vet Med Educ. 2022 Aug;49(4):437-441. doi: 10.3138/jvme-2020-0147. Epub 2021 Aug 2.

Abstract

Clinical practice-based training/work-integrated learning is an applied, social, and high-impact element of the veterinary curriculum. Within this context, students are learning on the job with clinician-educators who are carrying out their professional duties at the same time as supporting learning. To equip clinician-educators with role awareness and general teaching skills, it is recommended that all have access to basic teacher training. However, delivering this training can be challenging to organize and potentially costly when busy, time-poor clinician-educators are distributed across many geographical locations. This Teaching Tip shares our insights about developing and delivering a set of novel clinical teacher resources for veterinarians and veterinary nurses/technologists new to clinical teaching. The resources, underpinned by the principles of participatory design, integrate contemporary clinical educational theories with practical strategies and are interwoven with video clips capturing staff and student perspectives on key topics. While initially focused on creating just an online resource, we ultimately produced an A6 ring-bound booklet version and face-to-face workshops. In this article, we unpack considerations involved in committing to such a project and designing and creating the resources. We hope that this information may be of use to others when developing similar resources.

Keywords: clinical teaching; clinician–educator; work-integrated learning.

MeSH terms

  • Animal Technicians*
  • Animals
  • Curriculum
  • Education, Veterinary*
  • Humans
  • Learning
  • Teaching
  • Veterinarians*