Training Veterinary Students in Shelter-Medicine: A Service-Learning Community Classroom Based Technique

摘要

Shelter medicine is a rapidly developing field of great importance, and shelters themselves provide abundant training opportunities for veterinary medical students. Students trained in shelter medicine have opportunities to practice zoonotic and species-specific infectious disease control, behavioral evaluation and management, primary care, as well as animal welfare, ethics, and public policy issues.Ranges of sheltering systems now exist, from brick-and-mortar facilities to networks of foster homes with no centralized facility. Exposure to a single shelter setting may not allow students to understand the full range of sheltering systems that exist; a community classroom approach balances the opportunity to introduce students to a diverse array of sheltering systems, while gaining practical experience. This article presents the details and results of a series of two-week, elective clinical rotations with a focus on field and service-learning in animal shelters. The overall aim was to provide opportunities that familiarized students with sheltering systems and provided primary care training. Other priorities included increasing awareness of public health concerns, and equipping students to evaluate shelters on design, operating protocols, infectious disease control, enrichment and community outreach. Students were required to participate in rounds, and complete a project that addressed a need recognized by them during the rotation. This article includes costs associated with the rotation, a blueprint for how the rotation was carried out at our institution, and details of shelters visited and animals treated, including a breakdown of treatments provided. Also discussed are the student projects and student feedback on this valuable clinical experience.