Progress 09/01/21 to 02/16/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The principal target audience for this reporting period was rural veterinarians in the United States. Additional target audienceincludes veterinary technicians, and veterinary students. Changes/Problems:Year 1 In addition to providing CE credit to veterinarians taking these courses we will seek RACE approval for veterinary technicians to complete these courses and earn CE credit. Year 2 A no cost extension was sought and approved for this grant. Our advisory group members had conflicts, including the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak in poultry, which caused them to take longer than expected to review and provide input to course content. These delays pushed the project timetable deeper into the spring season, a much busier time for those working with livestock. This delayed the launch the Organic/Alternative Animal Health continuing education course to the end of June 2023. To complete our long-term evaluation, we requested to extend the project until December 31, 2023, to gather adequate data. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about the courses is being disseminated through veterinary organizations, via email, social media, websites, blog posts, and conference presentations. Emails were sent to all US State Veterinarians, State Veterinary Medical Associations, Industry groups related to dairy and beef cattle, poultry, sheep, goats, bison, swine; national veterinary medical associations including the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV), and the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM). Reminder emails will be sent out again at in September 2023. Course flyers have been sent to organizations that support organic and alternative medical practices including Organic Valley, American Gassfed Association, College of Integrated Veterinary Therapies, American Association of Veterinary Acupuncture, International Veterinary Acupuncture Society, American Veterinary Chiropractic Association, Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and more.. Reminder emails with course flyers will be sent out again in September 2023. Emails will be sent to large animal faculty at AVMA accredited US, Canadian, European, and Caribbean veterinary schools and to all veterinary technician schools in the US in late August 2023 to coincide with the return of students to class, to inspire faculty to include some mention of organic and alternative livestock in their courses and to point their students to the materials as a source to learn more about organic and alternative livestock health. The Center for Food Security and Public Health (CFSPH) website main page rotating banner includes an advertisement for the courses. The Livestock Project website and Facebook Page have posted a blog about the courses with links to course registration. An AG member will present information and materials created under this grant at the American Grassfed Association's annual conference in November 2023. Other State Veterinary medical associations have contacted us regarding presentations of the materials and options are being considered. Course delivery. The six CE courses created under this grant opened to the public on June 30, 2023. They will remain open and available for RACE approved CE credit through June 2025. The data presented here represent the first six months of the 2 year course. The grant ends December 31, 2023. Overall Course Data 255 individuals registered to access the six courses, and were encouraged to take as many courses as desired at no cost. The Overview, Rules and Regulations, Communication, Practice Management and Treatment and Modalities chapters were each one RACE approved CE; the Prevention chapter was worth two RACE approved CE credits for a total of 7 CE credits if all courses were taken. Users came from 32 US states and 15 countries including Mexico, South America, Canada, Australia, and additional participants from Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, SE Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The largest subgroup of registered users (23) were from Latin America. Registered users included 208 veterinarians (65 were state or federal government officials), 17 veterinary technicians, 20 veterinary students, and 11 others including producers. Registered veterinarians worked in a variety of situations including private practice, state and federal government and industry. Of those in private practice 79% were in large or mixed animal practice. Users completed 316 courses and their respective evaluations. RACE approved CE certificates were issued to 274 individuals. The overall rating of the courses was 8.2/10. The recommendation of the courses to colleagues overall was 8.2/10. Individual course data There were 255 Registered users who completed 316 individual courses. The number of completed courses, rating by users, recommends to colleague rating and number of course downloads is included in the table below. Chapter # completed Rating by user Recommend to colleagues # of chapter downloads Overview 116 7.8/10 7.9/10 62 Prevention 66 7.7/10 7.8/10 27 Rules and Regulations 36 7.8/10 7.8/10 29 Communication 37 7.5/10 7.5/10 13 Practice Management 30 7.9/10 7.9/10 10 Treatments and Modalities 31 8.2/10 8.1/10 21 Summary of delayed evaluation Twenty-one individuals completed the delayed evaluation which was sent out to registered users at least 2 months after they took their first class. Taken together, this group had completed 92 courses; all users had completed multiple courses: Overview course (20/21), Prevention (16/21), rules and Regulations (16/21), communication 13/21, Practice Management 13/21, Modalities and Treatments (14/21). Registered users were asked questions regarding usefulness of course and supporting course materials for their work and personal life. This CE series provides useful content that I can use in my work - 7.7/10 This CE series provides an understanding of the organic and alternative livestock industry that will be useful in my personal life (e.g. as a consumer, citizen etc.) 8.5/10 The materials supporting this CE series (chapter handouts, The Livestock Project Website, etc.) help support my ability to apply this new knowledge 8.5/10 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Year 1 • An advisory group of 6 members representing various species and production methods, was assembled. Individual meetings were held with each group member to discuss project goals. These interviews yielded ideas for important topics and specific details, learning objectives and draft outlines for the six courses under development under this grant. (An overview presentation - Overview of Organic and Alternative Livestock Health was developed under a USDA NADPRP grant). The six CE courses developed under this NIFA grant will expand on those topic areas and include: • Rules, Regulations Standards and Allowed and Prohibited Substances • Prevention - proactive practical measures to prioritize animal health • Practicing medicine on O/A farms - Part 1 (background, natural treatments, VCPR • Practicing medicine on O/A Farms part 2 -species specific conditions/treatments. • Communication - expanding communication styles, conflict resolution techniques • Practice Management - incorporating organic and alternative clients into your practice Year 2 Consultation with our advisory group (AG) continued during year two as we researched and wrote content for the five additional CE courses. The AG reviewed outlines and provided review and input on content, scenarios, interactives and graphics. • The courses were finalized and entered into Pressbooks, the open-source publishing tool we are using to present the courses and to create a downloadable PDF version of each course. • Web programming was completed in the learning management system (Moodle) to provide delivery and tracking of course completion and issuing of continuing education credit and certificates earned by participants. • Documentation was submitted to the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) and RACE approval was obtained for each of the courses. The Overview course was created under a different grant but was submitted for approval again with the additional five courses created under this grant. RACE credits associated with each course: Overview (1), Rules and Regulations (1), Prevention (2), Communication (1), Practice Management (1), Treatments and Modalities (1). • Courses were posted for use on June 29, 2023 and outreach/advertisement about the courses was launched June 30, 2023.
Publications
|
Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The principal target audience for this reporting period was rural veterinarians in the United States. Additional target audience includes veterinary technicians, and veterinary students. Changes/Problems:Year 1 In addition to providing CE credit to veterinarians taking these courses we will seek RACE approval for veterinary technicians to complete these courses and earn CE credit. Year 2 A no cost extension was sought and approved for this grant. Our advisory group members had conflicts, including the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak in poultry, which caused them to take longer than expected to review and provide input to course content. These delays pushed the project timetable deeper into the spring season, a much busier time for those working with livestock. This delayed the launch the Organic/Alternative Animal Health continuing education course to the end of June 2023. To complete our long-term evaluation, we requested to extend the project until December 31, 2023, to gather adequate data. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about the courses is being disseminated through veterinary organizations, via email, social media, websites, blog posts, and conference presentations. Emails were sent to all US State Veterinarians, State Veterinary Medical Associations, Industry groups related to dairy and beef cattle, poultry, sheep, goats, bison, swine; national veterinary medical associations including the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV), and the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM). Reminder emails will be sent out again at in September 2023. Course flyers have been sent to organizations that support organic and alternative medical practices including Organic Valley, American Gassfed Association, College of Integrated Veterinary Therapies, American Association of Veterinary Acupuncture, International Veterinary Acupuncture Society, American Veterinary Chiropractic Association, Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and more.. Reminder emails with course flyers will be sent out again in September 2023. Emails will be sent to large animal faculty at AVMA accredited US, Canadian, European, and Caribbean veterinary schools and to all veterinary technician schools in the US in late August 2023 to coincide with the return of students to class, to inspire faculty to include some mention of organic and alternative livestock in their courses and to point their students to the materials as a source to learn more about organic and alternative livestock health. The Center for Food Security and Public Health (CFSPH) website main page rotating banner includes an advertisement for the courses. The Livestock Project website and Facebook Page have posted a blog about the courses with links to course registration. An AG member will present information and materials created under this grant at the American Grassfed Association's annual conference in November 2023. Other State Veterinary medical associations have contacted us regarding presentations of the materials and options are being considered. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Remaining goals include evaluation and assessment of the enrollment and effectiveness of the courses. A delayed course evaluation survey has been developed to assess learning retention and learning transfer (if they now use what they learned in their work). Two months after participants have taken the courses they will receive the short evaluation survey. The results will be analyzed, and results reported.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Year 1 An advisory group of 6 members representing various species and production methods, was assembled. Individual meetings were held with each group member to discuss project goals. These interviews yielded ideas for important topics and specific details, learning objectives and draft outlines for the six courses under development under this grant. (An overview presentation - Overview of Organic and Alternative Livestock Health was developed under a USDA NADPRP grant). The six CE courses developed under this NIFA grant will expand on those topic areas and include: Rules, Regulations Standards and Allowed and Prohibited Substances Prevention - proactive practical measures to prioritize animal health Practicing medicine on O/A farms - Part 1 (background, natural treatments, VCPR Practicing medicine on O/A Farms part 2 -species specific conditions/treatments. Communication - expanding communication styles, conflict resolution techniques Practice Management - incorporating organic and alternative clients into your practice Year 2 Consultation with our advisory group (AG) continued during year two as we researched and wrote content for the five additional CE courses. The AG reviewed outlines and provided review and input on content, scenarios, interactives and graphics. The courses were finalized and entered into Pressbooks, the open-source publishing tool we are using to present the courses and to create a downloadable PDF version of each course. Web programming was completed in the learning management system (Moodle) to provide delivery and tracking of course completion and issuing of continuing education credit and certificates earned by participants. Documentation was submitted to the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) and RACE approval was obtained for each of the courses. The Overview course was created under a different grant but was submitted for approval again with the additional five courses created under this grant. RACE credits associated with each course: Overview (1), Rules and Regulations (1), Prevention (2), Communication (1), Practice Management (1), Treatments and Modalities (1). Courses were posted for use on June 29, 2023 and outreach/advertisement about the courses was launched June 30, 2023.
Publications
|