Veterinary Curriculum Leaders: Motivators, Barriers, and Attributes.

Curriculum leaders (individuals with responsibility for an institution's veterinary curriculum) play a vital role in driving local curriculum priorities, development, and accreditation. This study aimed to describe the career paths of curriculum leaders and identify what motivates them, the barriers they face, and the knowledge, skills, and attributes they perceive as essential for the role. Self-determination theory was used to identify tensions experienced within the role.

Employability as a Guiding Outcome in Veterinary Education: Findings of the VetSet2Go Project.

This paper presents a mini-review of employability as a guiding outcome in veterinary education-its conceptualisation, utility, core elements and dimensions, and pedagogical approaches-through a summary of the findings of a major international project with the same aims (the VetSet2Go project). Guided by a conception of the successful veterinary professional as one capable of navigating and sustainably balancing the (sometimes competing) needs and expectations of multiple stakeholders, the project integrated multiple sources of evidence to derive an employability framework representing the dimensions and capabilities most important to veterinary professional success. This framework provides a useful complement to those based in narrower views of competency and professionalism.

Resilience of veterinarians at different career stages: The role of self-efficacy, coping strategies and personal resources for resilience in veterinary practice.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of demographic and psychological factors on resilience in new graduate-, mid- and late-career veterinarians working in Australia.

Method: An online cross-sectional survey of 800 veterinarians collected demographic and descriptive data in two stages from late 2015 to 2017, such as gender, average hours worked per week, type and region of practice and intention to leave veterinary medicine. Psychological factors were measured utilising the Brief Resilience Scale, the Veterinary Resilience Scale-Personal Resources, the Brief COPE and General Self-Efficacy measures.

Identifying the capabilities most important for veterinary employability using a modified Delphi process.

Background: In the veterinary profession, employability has been defined as 'a set of personal and professional capabilities that enable a veterinarian to gain employment, contribute meaningfully to the profession, and develop a career pathway that achieves satisfaction and success'. This study was part of a multinational collaborative research project aiming to define the capabilities most important for employability in the veterinary context (www.VetSet2Go.

International multi-stakeholder consensus for the capabilities most important to employability in the veterinary profession.

Background: Employability has been defined within the veterinary context as a set of personal and professional capabilities that enable a veterinarian to gain employment, contribute meaningfully to the profession, and develop a career pathway that achieves satisfaction and success. This study explicitly addressed the construct of veterinary employability by exploring the perceptions of multiple stakeholders (recent graduates, employee veterinarians, veterinarian and non-veterinarian employers, para-veterinary staff, academics and policy makers).

Methods: A four-part online survey was distributed internationally via various agencies.

Extreme bilateral polydactyly in a wild-caught western grey kangaroo.

Polydactyly is a congenital malformation resulting from an autosomal dominant mutation manifesting as supernumerary digits of the hands or feet. It is most commonly reported in humans and domestic mammals, though there have also been isolated examples across a range of wild vertebrate species. Here we report a case of extremely unusual bilateral preaxial polydactyly on the pectoral limbs of a male western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) from the South West region of Western Australia, in which two supernumerary digits were present on each manus.

Development and validation of a contextualised measure of resilience in veterinary practice: the Veterinary Resilience Scale-Personal Resources (VRS-PR).

Background: This article reports on the development and validation of a contextualised measure of personal resources for resilience in veterinary practice.

Methods: Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to evaluate data from two surveys of veterinary practitioners.

Results: Exploratory factor analysis of the first survey (=300) revealed six items comprising the Veterinary Resilience Scale-Personal Resources (VRS-PR).

Lipid and protein catabolism contribute to aerobic metabolic responses to exhaustive exercise during the protracted spawning run of the lamprey Geotria australis.

This paper has integrated new and past data to elucidate how lipid, protein and glycogen metabolism contribute to generating the ATP required by the southern hemisphere lamprey Geotria australis during its ~ 13-15 months, non-trophic upstream spawning migration. Energy is required for maintenance, swimming, the development of gonads and secondary sexual characters and spawning and post-spawning activities. Plasma and muscle metabolites were measured in animals subjected to an exercise-recovery regime at the commencement and completion of the spawning run.

An Exploration of the Career Motivations Stated by Early-Career Veterinarians in Australia.

Despite the critical influence of motivation on education and work outcomes, little is known about the motivations driving people to become and remain veterinarians. This qualitative study explored the career motivations stated by Australian veterinary graduates ( = 43) using a free-response Ten Statements Test (TST) at graduation, with follow-up interviews 6-8 months later ( = 10). TST responses were coded using an alternate inductive-deductive approach that tested their fit against existing theories of motivation.

Challenging identity: development of a measure of veterinary career motivations.

Background: While little is known about the motivations underpinning veterinary work, previous literature has suggested that the main influences on veterinary career choice are early/formative exposure to animals or veterinary role models. The aim of this study was to develop and provisionally validate a veterinary career motivations questionnaire to assess the strength of various types of career motivations in graduating and experienced veterinarians.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of experienced veterinarians (n=305) and a smaller cohort of newly graduated veterinarians (n=53) were surveyed online using a long-form questionnaire.

Success in career transitions in veterinary practice: perspectives of employers and their employees.

This study qualitatively explored success factors across career transitions in veterinary practice. Semistructured interviews were conducted independently with pairs of veterinary employers and their recent graduate employees, focusing on success in gaining initial employment, their transition to practising veterinarian and longevity in the veterinary profession. The divergence and convergence of interviewees' perspectives, the changing emphasis of capabilities over different career phases, and the meaning of success were explored.

Instruments to measure the ability to self-reflect: A systematic review of evidence from workplace and educational settings including health care.

Introduction: Self-reflection has become recognised as a core skill in dental education, although the ability to self-reflect is valued and measured within several professions. This review appraises the evidence for instruments available to measure the self-reflective ability of adults studying or working within any setting, not just health care.

Materials And Methods: A systematic review was conducted of 20 electronic databases (including Medline, ERIC, CINAHL and Business Source Complete) from 1975 to 2017, supplemented by citation searches.

Predicting career sector intent and the theory of planned behaviour: survey findings from Australian veterinary science students.

Background: Producing graduates for a breadth of sectors is a priority for veterinary science programs. Undergraduate career intentions represent de-facto 'outcome' measures of admissions policy and curricula design, as intentions are strong predictors of eventual behaviour. Informed by Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour, this study aimed to identify if contextually relevant attitudes and self-ratings affect student intentions for veterinary career sectors.

'Care about my animal, know your stuff and take me seriously': United Kingdom and Australian clients' views on the capabilities most important in their veterinarians.

Success in veterinary practice requires careful balancing of stakeholder needs. The aim of this study was to investigate the current expectations and needs of veterinary clients across a range of practice types. Interviews and focus groups were undertaken with veterinary clients to identify the capabilities of veterinarians that result in the best client experience, generating a 'Veterinary Capability Framework'.

The fibular meniscus of the kangaroo as an adaptation against external tibial rotation during saltatorial locomotion.

The kangaroo knee is, as in other species, a complex diarthrodial joint dependent on interacting osseous, cartilaginous and ligamentous components for its stability. While principal load bearing occurs through the femorotibial articulation, additional lateral articulations involving the fibula and lateral fabella also contribute to the functional arrangement. Several fibrocartilage and ligamentous structures in this joint remain unexplained or have been misunderstood in previous studies.

Beyond Competence: Why We Should Talk About Employability in Veterinary Education.

The purpose of this article is to explore employability as a complement to competency in defining the overarching objectives of veterinary education. Although the working usage of the term competency has evolved and stretched in recent years, and contemporary competence frameworks have expanded to better reflect the range of capabilities required of a veterinary professional, the potential remains for the dominance of competency-led discourse to obscure the aim of producing not only competent but also successful and satisfied veterinarians. Expanding the educational mission to include employability may provide this broader focus, by stretching the end point, scope, and scale of veterinary education into the crucial transition-to-practice period, and beyond.

Finding the Balance: Uncovering Resilience in the Veterinary Literature.

Resilience is an issue of emerging importance in veterinary education and research, as in other professional contexts. The aim of this study was to perform an appraisal of how resilience is portrayed in the contemporary (1995-present) research and education literature around veterinary mental health, and to attempt a provisional synthesis informing a conception of resilience in the veterinary context. Qualitative analysis of the literature (59 sources included) revealed a dominant emphasis on mental health problems, particularly stress, which outweighs and potentially obscures complementary approaches to well-being and resilience.

The Impact of a Brief Embedded Mindfulness-Based Program for Veterinary Students.

Veterinary medical students, like other university students, are likely to experience elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and depression over the course of their studies. Mindfulness-based interventions have previously been effective for university students in reducing stress, depression, and anxiety. In this study, a mindfulness-based intervention was embedded in a core (compulsory) unit of a veterinary science course, in part with the aim of improving student well-being.

What is the identity of fibroblast-pneumocyte factor?

Glucocorticoid induction of pulmonary surfactant involves a mesenchyme-derived protein first characterized in 1978 by Smith and termed fibroblast-pneumocyte factor (FPF). Despite a number of agents having been postulated as being FPF, its identity has remained obscure. In the past decade, three strong candidates for FPF have arisen.