University of Pennsylvania. 3900 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA.
Clinical Shelter Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3900 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA.
J Vet Med Educ. 2023 Feb;50(1):27-52. doi: 10.3138/jvme-2021-0112. Epub 2021 Nov 15.
Shelter medicine appears to be popular among prospective veterinarians, but there is a shortage of veterinarians entering the field to fill available positions. The reasons for this discordance are not well understand. This study describes veterinary students' interest in shelter medicine, their perceptions of common duties, and their perceptions of employment attributes in shelter medicine, compared with those of current veterinarians. The sample included 146 first-year students, 155 final-year students, and 221 veterinarians who self-completed an online survey between September 2020 and March 2021. We found high levels of interest in shelter medicine, with 40% of first- and 43% of final-year students indicating they were likely to consider working in shelter medicine. Outreach clinics (84% of first-year students, 86% of final-year students), access-to-care clinics (82%, 83%), and loan forgiveness programs (75%, 64%) encouraged many veterinary students to consider working in shelter medicine. The risk of compassion fatigue, burnout, and stress (70%, 68%); weekend work (51%, 59%); euthanasia decision making (49%, 47%); euthanasia (43%, 41%); and expected salaries of shelter veterinarians (39%, 37%) acted as deterrents. Kruskal-Wallis tests revealed students reported more positive ratings than veterinarians for most shelter medicine duties and employment characteristics, with moderate to strong consensus within groups. Little difference appeared between first- and final-year students. This study highlights target areas for animal shelters to boost recruitment of newly graduated veterinarians. Increasing veterinary students' exposure to shelter medicine throughout their veterinary training may also help address their concerns regarding euthanasia, salary, and quality of care.
收容医学似乎在未来的兽医中很受欢迎，但进入该领域的兽医数量短缺，无法填补现有职位空缺。造成这种不和谐的原因尚不清楚。本研究描述了兽医学生对收容医学的兴趣、他们对常见职责的看法，以及他们对收容医学的就业属性的看法，与当前兽医的看法进行了比较。该样本包括 146 名一年级学生、155 名五年级学生和 221 名兽医，他们在 2020 年 9 月至 2021 年 3 月期间自行完成了在线调查。我们发现对收容医学的兴趣很高，40%的一年级学生和 43%的五年级学生表示他们可能会考虑在收容医学领域工作。外展诊所（84%的一年级学生，86%的五年级学生）、获得医疗服务的诊所（82%，83%）和贷款免除计划（75%，64%）鼓励了许多兽医学生考虑在收容医学领域工作。同情心疲劳、倦怠和压力的风险（70%，68%）；周末工作（51%，59%）；安乐死决策（49%，47%）；安乐死（43%，41%）；以及收容所兽医的预期工资（39%，37%）是阻碍因素。Kruskal-Wallis 检验显示，学生对大多数收容医学职责和就业特征的评价比兽医更积极，组内有中等至强烈的共识。一年级和五年级学生之间几乎没有差异。本研究强调了动物收容所的目标领域，以促进新毕业兽医的招聘。在兽医培训过程中增加兽医学生对收容医学的接触，也有助于解决他们对安乐死、工资和护理质量的担忧。
