List of Contributors
Stacy L. Anderson College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN, USA
Elizabeth Armitage‐Chan LIVE Centre, Department of Clinical Sciences and Services Royal Veterinary College Hatfield UK
Sarah Baillie Bristol Veterinary School University of BristolBristol, UK
Teresa Burns College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA
Alison Catterall Bristol Veterinary School University of Bristol Bristol UK
Kate Cobb School of Veterinary Medicine and Science University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington UK
Sarah Cripps School of Veterinary Medicine and Science University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington UK
Marc Dilly Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Justus Liebig University Giessen Giessen Germany
Robin Farrell UCD School of Veterinary Medicine University College Dublin Dublin Ireland
Andrew Gardiner Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies University of Edinburgh Scotland UK
Rachel Harris Bristol Veterinary School University of Bristol Bristol UK
Jennifer Hodgson Virginia‐Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA USA
Steven Horvath College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA
Julie A. Hunt College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN USA
Keshia John School of Veterinary Medicine St. George's University Grenada West Indies
Jennifer T. Johnson College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN USA
Rikke Langebæk Department of Veterinary Clinical Science University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
Rachel Lumbis Royal Veterinary College Hatfield UK
Susan M. Matthew Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine Washington State University Pullman, WA USA
Missy Matusicky College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA
Catherine May Faculty of Veterinary Science University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa
Tatiana Motta College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA
Máire O’Reilly University College Dublin Dublin Ireland
Carolina Ricco Pereira College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA
Megan Preston College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN USA
Lindsey Ramirez College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN USA
Emma K. Read College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA
Matt R. Read MedVet Worthington, OH USA
Alfredo E. Romero Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta Canada
Elrien Scheepers Faculty of Veterinary Science University of Pretoria Pretoria, RSA
Jennifer Schleining College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Texas A&M University College Station, TX USA
Lucy Squire Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol Bristol UK
Jean‐Yin Tan Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta Canada
Abi Taylor College of Veterinary Medicine North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC USA
Sheena Warman Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol Bristol UK
Catherine Werners School of Veterinary Medicine St. George's University Grenada West Indies
Lissann Wolfe School of Veterinary Medicine College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences University of Glasgow Glasgow UK
Preface
Our original vision for this book was to try to collate the content of many years of conversations that we have had with colleagues and students about Clinical Skills teaching and learning into a single, useful resource. Many of those discussions centered around what is known about how to teach and learn better – in essence, where to spend one's precious time, effort, and resources in order to see the best returns. To this end, we wanted to create a book that would appeal to both instructors and students and provide a broad overview of what is already known about teaching and learning Clinical Skills for those starting out so they had a good base from which to take the leap.
We have been fortunate to help institute modern clinical skills training programs into our own institutions at a time when they were just beginning to be implemented across veterinary medicine. In the early days, we learned by trial and error by adapting “hard knocks” lessons we had learned in private practice to our academic learning environments. As programs evolved, so did the research that proves that there is value in learning how to use best teaching practices to inform Clinical Skills instruction. However, even though so much has been published, clinical skills instructors are a generous group and much of the sharing of information still tends to be open source or available by simply asking a colleague. Websites, conferences, and Zoom calls all serve as a means for sharing what we have learned, making sure that someone else does not have to reinvent the wheel.
The basis for this book is that, despite all of the sharing of ideas and best practices that has occurred to date (or maybe as a result of it!), it can still be challenging for instructors and students to review what has been documented about teaching and learning Clinical Skills in one concise place. New instructors often feel overwhelmed with all there is to know about teaching and assessment and, although many teachers may not be new to veterinary medicine or to teaching Clinical Skills, it is the evidence‐based teaching of others that is novel and challenging. Students tackling clinical skills training are often overwhelmed with where to begin and how best to practice the huge volume of skills and procedures that a veterinarian needs to be able to perform following graduation. Although handbooks have been published that list skills and explain “how to” perform a variety of procedures, a concise reference that summarizes all that is known about teaching, learning, and assessing clinical skills all in one place has still been missing.
We hope that this book helps point newbies of all types in the right direction while also serving as a go‐to reference for experienced teachers. The enthusiasm and dedication to clinical skills training is as evident now as it was when it started over 10 years ago and we are immensely grateful to all of the authors who participated in this project
