“Obligated to Keep Things Under Control”: Sociocultural Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Services Among Veterinary Medical Students

Research reveals veterinary medical students and professionals are at increased risk for mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and suicidality, yet many individuals in distress do not seek professional mental health services. Although some barriers to accessing services have been identified, other factors, including how professional culture influences service underutilization, are poorly understood. In this study, we used a mixed-methods approach to investigate 573 veterinary students’ perceptions of barriers to seeking mental health services and potential mechanisms to lessen them. We identified four barrier themes: stigma, veterinary medical culture and identities, services, and personal factors. Participants’ suggestions for reducing barriers to seeking help related to three themes: culture, services, and programmatic factors. We compared perceptions of barriers based on the severity of participants’ self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety and found that participants with severe depression, compared with participants with mild depression, were more likely to perceive barriers related to veterinary medical culture. The results of this study provide a deeper understanding of veterinary students’ barriers to seeking mental health services and, in particular, how these barriers, as both individual and sociocultural phenomena, are often interrelated and mutually reinforcing.

Using Strategies from Physical Training of Athletes to Develop Self-Study Programs for Veterinary Medical Students

Veterinary medical students, similar to elite collegiate athletes, are developing strategies for learning new skills and for self-care to take their performance to the next level. As veterinary students learn to successfully navigate an information-dense, high-volume curriculum, many sacrifice wellness, leadership opportunities, extracurricular activities, and social interactions. Strategies from athletes’ physical training were used to design a self-study program for first-year veterinary medical students. Major considerations in program design were the characteristics of the human being, learning goals, and contextual constraints. The study program included a warm-up, study sessions, and a cooldown. The program was offered to first-year veterinary medical students at Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Thirty-two students requested study programs and 21 completed surveys at the semester end. Results were analyzed quantitatively and by using an adapted conventional content analysis approach. Responses were organized into three main domains: reason for participation, program utility, and program satisfaction. Students shared that the most helpful aspects of the program were assisting with organization and time management, providing accountability, and reducing overwhelm by enhancing well-being and performance; they reported that these learned skills would support their well-being as future professionals. This article describes the experiences of one group of veterinary students at one college using these programs. The long-term goal is to develop a model program for all veterinary students to manage curricular demands while maintaining well-being.

Percepção de estudantes de medicina veterinária sobre o uso de animais como recurso didático / Veterinary medical students perception on the use of animals as educational resource

A aquisição de habilidades e os conhecimentos práticos obtidos com o uso de animais vivos em aulas práticas são conflitantes com os conceitos científicos de bem-estar animal, podendo prejudicar a formação dos estudantes. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a percepção de alunos iniciantes (3º semestre, I) e concluintes (8º e 9º semestres, C) de um curso de medicina veterinária em relação ao uso de animais vivos em aulas práticas. Foram entrevistados 255 alunos, sendo 55,3% I e 44,7% C e identificou-se que a maioria destes apontou posicionamento de desconforto com a utilização dos animais em aulas práticas, e simpatizantes à adoção de métodos substitutivos. De maneira geral, os estudantes conseguiram identificar diversos problemas de ordem ética em relação ao uso de animais no ensino, indicando que os mesmos deveriam ser substituídos por completo, sempre que possível. Entretanto ressaltaram que desconhecem tais métodos substitutivos e acreditam que sua adoção exija altos investimentos financeiros. De acordo com dados obtidos, os alunos consideram importante a implantação de métodos substitutivos, e estão abertos à essas novas perspectivas, que representam um avanço para a formação de profissionais com princípios mais sólidos na questão ética, legal e de respeito e cuidado para com a vida.

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 pandemic) in Nigeria: Multi-institutional survey of knowledge, practices and perception amongst undergraduate veterinary medical students

The novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic with an increasing public health concern. Due to the non-availability of a vaccine against the disease, non-pharmaceutical interventions constitute major preventive and control measures. However, inadequate knowledge about the disease and poor perception might limit compliance. This study examined COVID-19-related knowledge, practices, perceptions and associated factors amongst undergraduate veterinary medical students in Nigeria. A cross-sectional web survey was employed to collect data from 437 consenting respondents using pre-tested self-administered questionnaire (August 2020). Demographic factors associated with the knowledge and adoption of recommended preventive practices towards COVID-19 were explored using multivariate logistic regression at P ≤ 0.05. The respondents’ mean knowledge and practice scores were 22.7 (SD ± 3.0) and 24.1 (SD ± 2.9), respectively with overall 63.4% and 88.8% displaying good knowledge and satisfactory practice levels. However, relatively lower proportions showed adherence to avoid touching face or nose (19.5%), face mask-wearing (58.1%), and social distancing (57.4%). Being in the 6th year of study (OR = 3.18, 95%CI: 1.62–6.26, P = 0.001) and female (OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.11–4.41, P = 0.024) were significant positive predictors of good knowledge and satisfactory practices, respectively. While only 30% of the respondents perceived the pandemic as a scam or a disease of the elites (24.0%), the respondents were worried about their academics being affected negatively (55.6%). Veterinary Medical Students in Nigeria had good knowledge and satisfactory preventive practices towards COVID-19; albeit with essential gaps in the key non-pharmaceutical preventive measures recommended by the WHO. Therefore, there is a need to step up enlightenment and targeted campaigns about COVID-19 pandemic.

Correction to: Assessment of burnout in veterinary medical students using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educational Survey: a survey during two semesters

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.