Innovating for Curriculum Design Using a Text-Mining Exploration of Common Clinical Topics in Equine Primary Care.
Abstract: To ensure veterinary students are prepared for clinical practice, curricula must provide opportunities for students to learn about the cases most frequently seen in practice. Currently, there is a gap in the literature with regard to the identification of common clinical topics encountered in equine primary care practice in the UK. This study aims to address this gap by utilizing text-mining techniques on electronic medical records (EMRs) to produce a ranked list of the most common clinical topics encountered in equine primary care in the UK. The study included 1,092,731 rows of data from 150,465 equine patients between 2012 and 2022, sourced from six primary care equine practices. Dictionaries were developed in the text-mining software and applied to the corpus of EMRs, enabling the identification of 30 common clinical topics. The clinical topics were ranked in order of their prevalence, and estimates of incidence rate per horse-year calculated for each. Results showed lameness, vaccination, sedation, dental, and worming as the five most frequently mentioned clinical topics in equine primary care EMRs in the UK. This work provides an evidence-based list of commonly encountered clinical topics in equine primary care practice, guiding educators to focus their teaching and curricula, and students to prioritize their learning. The results of this study provide data-driven validation of core concepts that should be prioritized within equine undergraduate curricula.
Publication Date: 2025-07-16 PubMed ID: 40668258DOI: 10.3138/jvme-2024-0175Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research paper explains how text-mining of electronic medical records was used to identify the most common clinical topics in equine primary care in the UK. The findings, showing lameness, vaccination, sedation, dental issues, and worming as the most prevalent topics, are used to guide the curricula for veterinary students.
Research Context and Goals
- The study was launched to fill an existent knowledge gap on the most frequently encountered clinical topics in equine primary care in the UK.
- The goal was to ensure the curriculums for veterinary students are well-equipped and focused on the most common cases, thus preparing students better for their future practice.
- The researchers used text-mining techniques – a method for extracting valuable insights from large volumes of text – on electronic medical records to achieve these goals.
Research Methodology
- The study incorporated a large volume of data – 1,092,731 rows from 150,465 equine patients spanning from 2012 to 2022.
- The data were sourced from six primary equine care practices in the UK.
- The researchers developed dictionaries within the text-mining software, which were then applied to the large corpus of electronic medical records.
- By doing this, they were able to identify 30 common clinical topics and ranked them in the order of their prevalence.
- Incidence rate per horse-year was also calculated for each clinical topic.
Research Findings
- The five most frequently mentioned clinical topics in UK equine primary care electronic medical records (EMRs) were lameness, vaccination, sedation, dental issues, and worming.
- These results provide a data-driven insight into the most pressing matters in equine primary care, thus giving veterinary educators a clear direction of focus for their teaching and course design.
- The findings also indicate to students what they should prioritize in their learning process to best prepare for their clinical practice.
- This evidence-based list contributes significantly to the prioritization of core concepts within equine undergraduate curricula.
Cite This Article
APA
Batterham R, Allen K, Dickson J, Warman S, Parkin T.
(2025).
Innovating for Curriculum Design Using a Text-Mining Exploration of Common Clinical Topics in Equine Primary Care.
J Vet Med Educ, e20240175.
https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme-2024-0175 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol, United Kingdom.
- Equine Sports Medicine, Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol, United Kingdom.
- Veterinary Integrated Structure, Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol, United Kingdom.
- Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol, United Kingdom.
- Head of Bristol Veterinary School, Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol, United Kingdom.
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