Degeling C, Fawcett A, Collins T, Hazel S, Johnson J, Lloyd J, Phillips Cjc, Stafford K, Tzioumis V, McGreevy P
Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Aust Vet J. 2017 Jun;95(6):189-193. doi: 10.1111/avj.12590.
To determine what veterinary students in Australia and New Zealand consider important competences in companion animal welfare and ethics (AWE) required on their first day of practice, and to explore how their priorities relate to gender and stage of study.
Undergraduate students at all veterinary schools in Australia and New Zealand were sent an online survey. A subset of questions required participants to rank the importance of preselected AWE topics pertaining to companion animals. Data were analysed to determine differences in the way students of different gender or academic stage prioritised each of these AWE topics.
Of 3220 currently enrolled students, 851 participated in the survey: 79% were female, 17% male, 4% unspecified. Ranking of the AWE topics, from highest to lowest importance, was: neutering, companion animal husbandry, euthanasia, behaviour and training, animal breeding, over-servicing in relation to animal needs and cosmetic surgery. Female students consistently ranked competency in AWE issues surrounding neutering more highly than male students (P = 0.006). Students in senior years of study ranked the importance of competency in animal abuse/hoarding (P = 0.048), shelter medicine (P = 0.012) and animal breeding (P = 0.002) less highly than those in junior years.
Australasian veterinary students placed more importance on competency in AWE issues associated with clinical practice (such as neutering and euthanasia) than on professional behaviours (such as over-servicing and animal breeding). However, we consider that emphasis should still be placed on developing graduate competency in the latter categories to reflect growing societal concerns about companion animal over-supply and inappropriate professional conduct.
确定澳大利亚和新西兰的兽医专业学生认为在其临床实习首日伴侣动物福利与伦理（AWE）方面所需的重要能力，并探讨他们的优先事项与性别和学习阶段之间的关系。
向澳大利亚和新西兰所有兽医学院的本科生发送在线调查问卷。一部分问题要求参与者对与伴侣动物相关的预选AWE主题的重要性进行排序。分析数据以确定不同性别或学术阶段的学生对每个AWE主题进行优先排序方式的差异。
在3220名当前注册的学生中，851名参与了调查：79%为女性，17%为男性，4%未明确说明。AWE主题的重要性排名从高到低依次为：绝育、伴侣动物饲养、安乐死、行为与训练、动物繁殖、相对于动物需求的过度服务以及整容手术。女生在绝育相关的AWE问题上的能力排名一直高于男生（P = 0.006）。高年级学生对虐待/囤积动物（P = 0.048）、收容所医学（P = 0.012）和动物繁殖（P = 0.002）方面能力的重要性排名低于低年级学生。
澳大拉西亚地区的兽医专业学生更重视与临床实践相关的AWE问题（如绝育和安乐死）的能力，而非专业行为（如过度服务和动物繁殖）。然而，我们认为仍应强调培养后者类别的毕业生能力，以反映社会对伴侣动物供应过剩和不当专业行为日益增长的关注。
