Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Postmortem examinations are an essential tool for diagnosis and surveillance, yet limited in application due to time constraints, costs, lack of trained personnel, cultural barriers and beliefs, and shortage of food animal veterinarians. This study aims to enroll up to 25 feedlots, 25 dairy operations, 50 food animal veterinarians across the Texas Panhandle & High Plains regions, Eastern New Mexico, Oklahoma's Panhandle region, 25 high school students enrolled at AmTech Career Academy and 25 veterinary students attending Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine (TTU SVM)). The objectives of the study are to (1) identify attitudes, beliefs and challenges that exist in performing and reporting postmortem exanimations, (2) develop a targeted communication program to enhance skills, rapport and adherence surrounding post-mortem examinations, (3) leverage technology and digital photography to teach postmortem examination and reporting of gross lesions for remote diagnosis, and (4) increase interest of high school and veterinary students for a career in food animal medicine. Surveys will be disseminated prior to training and at six- and twelve-month post interventions and analyzed to evaluate training outcomes. Participants enrolled in the study will attend a one-day communication training as well as complete an online education module specific to the use of digital photography for training and reporting of postmortem examinations. Materials will be prepared in English and Spanish languages. Study outcomes target enhancing communication and clinical competencies surrounding postmortem examinations and increasing interest in food animal medicine. Through these efforts, our goal is to mitigate the food animal veterinary shortage while concurrently enhancing food safety and animal health by strengthening disease detection and diagnosis.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
50%
Developmental
30%
Goals / Objectives
The main goal of this project is to mitigate the food animal veterinarian shortage in areas with limited veterinary services by equipping both veterinarians and feedlot and dairy personnel the skills to allow remote animal health monitoring and disease detection in instances where a veterinarian is unable to visit the farm in a timely fashion. Our secondary goal is to mitigate the food animal veterinarian shortage by immersing high school students in production medicine through feedlot and diary visits. These goals will be met through the overall aim of this project which is to develop effective communication methods that convey the value of postmortem examinations in high-quality health surveillance as well as educational programs and resources that teach efficient postmortem procedures. By engaging feedlot/ dairy managers and owners into the veterinary care team we hope to enhance remote diagnosis and control animal disease. Further, we aim to train farmers, feedlot managers, and other field personnel to perform postmortem examinations and share digital findings with veterinarians to remotely diagnose resulting in increased efficiency, better understanding of animal health and disease trends and improved prevention strategies and biosecurity, even in areas with limited access to veterinary services. Additionally, our project will engage third year veterinary and high school students in field work, workshops and development of educational materials surrounding production medicine and standard operating necropsy procedures. Early exposure in this field supports developing a great appreciation of its importance in food security and increases interest and commitment to pursue a career in food animal medicine mitigating the current shortages in veterinary services. Objective 1:Identify and assess beliefs, challenges and limitations that exist across feedlots and dairy farms located in underserved rural areas within and around Texas Panhandle & High Plains regions, eastern New Mexico, Oklahoma's Panhandle region in performing and reporting postmortem examinations.Objective 1 will focus on surveying food animal veterinarians, feedlots/dairy farm operations located in Texas Panhandle and High Plains regions, eastern New Mexico, Oklahoma's Panhandle region. We plan to enroll 25 feedlots and 25 dairy farms, and a maximum of 50 farm animal veterinarians.Objective 2:Develop a targeted communication program that focuses on communication skills that enhance the veterinarian-farmer-feedlot/dairy manager relationship as well as increase motivation and adherence specific to postmortem examinations.Objective 2 will be completed based on a thorough literature review providing evidence surrounding perceptions and practices of the value of postmortem examinations as well as incorporate survey results from Objective 1. Communication training will combine interactive lectures and small group experiential learning to practice skills in small groups with standardized clients (SCs). The communication training workshop will be offered both in-person and synchronously online.Objective 3:Leverage technology and specifically the use of digital photography in developing a continuing education module that trains veterinarians to teach farmers, feedlot/dairy managers postmortem examinations documenting gross lesions for remote diagnosis.Objective 3 will consist of developing two 30-minute segment modules to teach basic necropsy techniques and required protective equipment; the use of digital photography to accurately capture gross anatomic structures; and retention and storage of images.Objective 4:Provide high school and veterinary students an early and immersive exposure to feedlot/dairy operations increasing their interest in a career in food animal medicine.Objective 4 aims to enroll up to 50 students: 25 third year veterinary students that attend Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine (TTU SVM) and 25 high school students that are enrolled at the AmTech Career Academy. All student participants will visit two feedlots and two diary operations, complete surveys, participate in the communication workshop, and engage in the development of educational material.
Project Methods
Methods:The study will target feedlots with >25,000 cattle and dairies greater than or equal to 4,000 cattle in the Texas Panhandle and High Plains regions, eastern New Mexico, and Oklahoma's Panhandle region. Recruitment of feedlot and dairy facilities will follow convenience sampling through contact information through the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA), public information and direct outreach. A member of the research team will visit the facilities and a personalized invitation and recruitment letter to participate in the study will be distributed. A maximum of fifty practicing veterinarians servicing these areas, up to 50 third year TTU SVM students, and high school students enrolled at AmTech Career Academy (25 students per group) will be invited to participate in the study following the same recruitment process.All participants will be asked to complete an online questionnaire to collect demographics, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices related to postmortem examinations and it will be distributed prior to the study, following at six months during the project and at 12 months upon completion of the study. A US $50.00 incentive will be offered to feedlot and dairy managers and farm animal veterinarians for completing the survey. The survey will be designed using survey monkey software and will include both quantitative and qualitative questions. It will be piloted among TTU SVM faculty and veterinary practices for validity prior to dissemination. Descriptive statistics will be conducted including means, standard deviations and frequency responses. Random forest classification models will be used to assess Likert scale response variables and identify significant factors that lead veterinarians to recommend and perform postmortem examinations, and feedlot and dairy personnel for employing postmortem examinations in their herd health programs. Machine learning and statistical analyses will be performed using Anaconda Distribution with Python or R programming languages and appropriate packages. Chi-square analysis will be used for survey data involving categorical values and compared the response distribution prior to the intervention and following at six- and 12-month intervals. Qualitative analyses will use a phenomenological approach with grounded theory to conduct thematic analyses of open-ended survey responses and will be completed using NVivo 14 software.The communication and education training will follow active learner-center approaches following andragogical educational premises. The communication training will be based on the Calgary Cambridge Guide (CCG) and principles of Motivational Interviewing (MI) include 2 hours of interactive lectures followed by six hours of small group experiential learning working with a facilitator and a Standardized Client (SC). A four-station pre and post Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) will evaluate the effectiveness of the training and participants' communication skills. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation (sc) will be calculated for participant OSCE data, and paired t-tests will be used to assess changes in communication skills post training intervention. Generalizability theory will be used to establish OSCE reliability and inter-rater agreement.The online education module will consist of two 30-minute segments with a focus on basic necropsy and photography techniques. Pre and post multiple-choice questions (MCQs) will evaluate participants' knowledge and skills. Descriptive statistics (mean, SD) and paired t-test will assess changes in participant's knowledge post training.