Placement Preparation: Online Tools for Veterinary and Veterinary Nursing Students

There are currently three Online Placement Preparation Tools available for veterinary and veterinary nursing students:

Overview

Veterinary and veterinary nursing students in the UK are required to undertake extramural studies (EMS) placements (work-based learning placements) as a compulsory part of their training.

Adequate preparation is essential to:

  1. enable students to optimise their learning during these placements
  2. help students avoid creating possible issues or conflicts for their placement providers.

Three computer programs were therefore developed as outputs of collaborative projects between the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh, Bristol Veterinary School and the Royal Veterinary College, London. All three tools include sections such as ‘Preparation’, ‘Dealing with People’, ‘Professionalism’, ‘Top Tips’, ‘FAQs’ and ‘Useful Links’. Once students have viewed all sections in full they can print, save, or e-mail a unique certificate of completion (via the Mozilla Backpack® system) which can then be presented to their school or placement provider. The tools are openly available, free to use and have been recommended by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Development of the tools

All three tools were developed through extensive stakeholder consultations, i.e. interviews with veterinarians/veterinary nurses in practice, veterinary/ veterinary nursing students and placement coordinators. The tools have been evaluated by relevant students via focus groups and questionnaires, and they continue to be revised and updated in response to feedback from users. Most recently (August 2014), colleagues at the R(D)SVS have exported the tools from their original ‘Flash’® based format to a ‘WordPress’® format in order to increase both functionality and accessibility for students via devices such as tablets and smartphones.

The EMS Driving Licence

This was the first tool to be developed, and was led by the R(D)SVS. This program is aimed at veterinary students in their third year, prior to attending their first EMS placement.

The VN Online Placement Tool

Following the success of the EMS Driving Licence, the project team developed a program to assist veterinary nursing students to prepare for their placements. This project was led by the RVC.

The Animal Management and Husbandry Online Placement Tool

The third tool in the series is The Animal Management and Husbandry Online Placement Tool aimed at students about to start their Animal Husbandry EMS (AHEMS). This project was led by the University of Bristol.

Relevant Publications

For further information about the development and evaluation of these online tools, please read our publications:

  • Bell, C., Baillie, S., Kinnison, T., Cavers, A. 2010. Preparing Veterinary Students for Extramural Clinical Placement Training: Issues Identified and a Possible Solution. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 37: 190-197.
  • Kinnison, T., Pullen, S., Orpet, H., McNae, J., Bell, C., Gregory, S., Baillie, S. 2011. Development of the VN online clinical placement tool. The Veterinary Nurse, 2: 428 – 433.

Funding

  • Funding for development of the EMS Driving Licence: HEA MEDEV mini-project grant (2006-2009)
  • Funding for evaluation of the EMS Driving Licence: CEPPL, University of Plymouth (2009-2010)
  • Funding for development of the VN Online Clinical Placement Tool: LIVE Development Fund mini-project grant (2010-2011)
  • Funding for transfer of all content from Flash to WordPress: in-house funding from R(D)SVS (2014)

With thanks to Andrew Cavers, Neil Forrest, Eoghan Clarkson and Amber Noronha for their development and support of these projects.