An admissions system to select veterinary medical students with an interest in food animals and veterinary public health.

The research article discusses the development and evaluation of an admission system aimed at identifying and selecting veterinary medicine students with interests and aptitudes geared towards food animals (FA) and veterinary public health (VPH).

Objective of the Research

• The objective of this research was to develop an admission system to identify and select prospective veterinary students with an interest in food animals and veterinary public health, areas where there is a decreasing interest and an expected shortage of veterinarians.

Methodology

• The team from Utrecht Faculty of Veterinary Medicine designed a method that utilized expert meetings, open interviews, and document analysis which were used to pinpoint personal traits that distinguished veterinarians working in FA and VPH from their counterparts specializing in companion animals (CA) and equine medicine (E).
• These outcomes aided in the creation of a written selection instrument that evaluates the personal traits.
• This tool was then validated by utilizing a study with final year undergraduate veterinary students.
• The practicality of the tool was verified by implementing it among first-year students who had chosen to pursue either FA/VPH or CA/E.

Results

• After applying the selection tool among students, the researchers found statistically significant differences with acceptable effect sizes between students interested in FA/VPH and those favouring CA/E.
• The tool however, did not account for all differences between the specializations. Therefore, a prestructured panel interview was introduced to supplement the questionnaire in order to provide a complete evaluation.

Conclusion

• The final evaluation of the tool was favourable, indicating that it was effective in selecting those students most likely to succeed in the FA/VPH track.
• This research offers a solution to address the impending shortage of veterinarians in these less popular areas by selecting students most apt for these specializations.