Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Receiving mentorship from an experienced and supportive colleague can be transformative for early career veterinarians. During the first year of practice, when many new veterinarians find the job to be arduous, a good mentorship program can help instill confidence, build new skills, and reduce exhaustion and burnout. Specifically, within large animal veterinary practice, lack of mentorship has repeatedly been found to be a reason for leaving bovine practice [1, 2]. While there are many options available for mentorship, one reliable route is through a well-structured internship program. The benefits of a good internship have become increasingly evident to many new veterinary graduates, as noted by the 229% increase in the number of applicants for veterinary internship programs between 1988 and 2022 [3].Within rural practice, many veterinarians are faced with the challenge of providing care for multiple species while playing a pivotal role in the public health of their communities. However, currently, there is a paucity of mixed animal internships available. A well-structured academic mixed animal internship could provide an educational opportunity to new graduates, allowing them to gain mentored experiences in both small and large animal medicine. Therefore, the goal of this proposed project is to provide a year of mentorship through a rotating mixed animal internship program that will work to prepare new graduates to be confident in their veterinary skills upon entry into a rural mixed animal practice. The goal of this internship program is to provide an educational experience for new graduates that will result in a positive experience that will build momentum for the future of that veterinarian to provide support for a rural community.The proposed program will be organized through the University of Missouri (MU) College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Veterinary Health Center (VHC) but will include a mix of both academic and private practice experiences. The internship program will provide opportunities in small and large animal medicine. Within the academic hospital, components of the internship will include small animal community practice, small animal emergency practice, shelter medicine, food animal ambulatory, food animal emergency, equine ambulatory, and equine emergency cases. Through collaboration with MU extension and private practice colleagues, the intern will also have the opportunity to gain experience in production medicine, beef cattle reproductive services, mixed rural practice, small animal practice, and beef cattle consultation. This program aligns with the Veterinary Service Grant Program goals by providing valuable education for students interested in high quality mixed animal practice that will help fill rural veterinary shortages with qualified mixed animal veterinarians throughout the US.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this proposed project is to provide a year of mentorship through a rotating mixed animal internship program that will work to prepare new graduates to be confident in their veterinary skills upon entry into a rural mixed animal practice.The proposed project has 4 specific objectives:Objective 1: Create a rotating academic internship program that will provide both specialized and routine care opportunities in all species.Objective 2: Create a list of options for high quality private practice elective opportunities for a mixed animal intern.Objective 3: Create community engagement opportunities for a mixed animal intern to gain experience in public outreach and support.Objective 4: Create educational opportunities for a mixed animal intern to gain knowledge in specific areas of interest that will benefit their rural practice outcomes.
Project Methods
Objective 1: Create a rotating academic veterinary internship program that will provide both specialized and routine care opportunities in all common domestic species.A 12.5-month academic internship will be created using adesign that exists within the MU VHC.The internship will include 9 months of academic training and 3 months of outside elective training. The academic component of the program will include rotations through several areas of the MU VHC, including small animal community practice, shelter medicine, food animal ambulatory/medicine, and equine ambulatory/medicine services. Overall, the intern will spend 3 months on small animal services, 3 months on food animal services, and 3 months on equine services. Interns will have primary case management on all services with direct faculty supervision.The program will be advertised through the Veterinary Internship and Matching Program (VIRMP).Details regarding cost of living, license and citizenship requirements, total expected work hour per week, emergency and on call load, and seminar expectations will be posted in the advertisement.This internship will be eligible for the public loan service forgiveness program to help with repayment of students' loans.A clinical orientation specifically designed for interns will be completed. Interns will be matched with a faculty advisor who will serve as their mentor throughout the year. The advisor will help the intern rectify problems encountered during the internship and serves as the person to whom faculty, residents, and staff may consult when they perceive a problem with the intern. Faculty advisors are expected to attend intern rounds and the intern seminar when their specific intern is presenting. An internship handbook will be created and disseminated to each intern in the program during the orientation week. The handbook will detail information such as general information, scheduling, rounds, emergency duty expectations, medical records responsibilities, and descriptions of disciplinary processes. The handbook will include the evaluation form and service specificinformation. The handbook will also detail the available elective rotations. Specific details pertaining to emergency/critical care duties will be included in the handbook. To minimize response time for hospitalized patients, the intern will be expected to obtain housing within a 20-minute radius of the VHC.Each intern will be provided with a stipend in an account to be used to purchase textbooks, make photocopies, travel to attend a professional meeting, travel, and housing for elective rotations, and/or finances for other expenditures related to the intern's professional duties as an employee of the University of Missouri.Objective 2: Create a list of options for high quality external stake holder elective opportunities for a mixed animal intern.A total of 3 months will be used as elective with the goal of providing additional rotations in areas of interest. Elective opportunities will be available in mixed animal private practice, production medicine, small animal private practice, beef cattle consulting, and reproduction (see letters of commitment). An additional elective option will be the MU Production medicine elective, which focuses on system-based production evaluations in beef, dairy, and swine. The aim of these electives is to provide an opportunity for the interns to experience private practice case management as well as practice business management.This program will provide a variety of electives chosen to expand the interns knowable in traditional mixed animal veterinary interest and obligations. Many of the selected elective opportunities are practices that are owned by veterinarians that have graduated in the last 10 years.Elective programming will include focused scheduling to ensure success for the mentor and mentee, working to find the optimal time for visiting each selected elective. Clear expectations in the form of detailed evaluation schematics that both the elective site and the intern are made aware of before time spent at the site. Written feedback will be collected at the end of the intern's elective from both the intern and the elective supervisor for tracking program success. A written report to include data points of cases seen and lessons learned will be required of each intern within two weeks of completion of their elective experience.Objective 3: Create community engagement opportunities for a mixed animal intern to gain experience in public outreach and support.This internship program will provide several different platforms for community engagement and outreach. Firstly, the intern is expected to complete a short seminar session that acts as continuing education credit for other veterinarians, veterinary technicians, assistants, and students. This seminar is open to be attended by veterinary professionals from the community and it provides information on a specific case or topic relevant to clinical practice or research. Additionally, the interns will have the opportunity to present a talk and interact with the public at the annual MU CVM Equine Education Day, where clients and community members are invited to a day filled with veterinary education tailored for owners. The interns also will be able to participate in the MU CVM Open House and other related events that engage the public. Through these opportunities and by working with MU Extension, the interns will have an opportunity to gain experience in public speaking, community engagement, and outreach activities related to educating the public about veterinary medicine and public health topics.The internship will also include a variety of youth engagement opportunities. These will be in the form of humane education efforts for youth pertaining to animal safety and veterinary career opportunities in the form of short presentations. These opportunities will vary but could include MU Stem Clubs, a program designed to touch youth from all backgrounds in STEM areas, 4H outreach opportunities, and various school presentations as available. Content delivered may vary based on youth program requests. Twice yearly, the intern will have the opportunity to help with a program called Project Homeless Connect where they will educate, examine, vaccinate, and microchip pets belonging to the underhoused in the Columbia, MO area. These opportunities will encourage connection with underrepresented groups and help provide wellness/access to care for the pets and animal health knowledge for those in attendance.Objective 4: Create educational opportunities for a mixed animal intern to gain knowledge in specific areas of interest that will benefit their rural practice outcomes.Mixed animal interns will have the opportunity to learn from a wide range of experienced practitioners and be exposed to managing a diverse caseload while participating in this internship. Faculty members that will be involved with intern training include specialists boarded in canine and feline practice as well as small animal generalists with public health training, large and small animal internal medicine, equine practice, preventative medicine, shelter medicine, theriogenology, and emergency and critical care. In addition to boarded specialists, the program has a cast of highly trained and experienced general practitioners who have worked in academia and private practice successfully for many years.Veterinarians from the community, practicing in rural or suburban mixed animal practice will be involved as elective hosts.During the components of the internship that are held within the CVM VHC, the interns will be expected to attend several educational rounds held each week. These educational rounds include journal clubs, case management rounds, pathology rounds, morbidity and mortality rounds, and weekly seminars.