Fulfilling societal needs for veterinary care is becoming increasingly complex. The pandemic revealed gaps, accelerated trends, and coerced acceptance of new norms. Preparing future veterinary graduates to work within increasingly complicated clinical environments can be even more challenging. From concepts such as teams and teamwork in veterinary healthcare, access to veterinary care, spectrum of care, roles and responsibilities of veterinary healthcare team members, to complicated economic issues impacting practice models and demanding state and federal regulations, the issues are collectively addressed by a focus on systems-based practice. This has become an emerging theme of discussion within veterinary literature, and amongst leadership in veterinary professional organizations and institutions of veterinary medical education. Along with a commitment to competency-based veterinary education, we must prepare graduates with the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes required for collaborative care and systems-based practice in expanded clinical environments.
The Interprofessional Practice and Education (IPE) program at Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) was established in 2008 to include graduate healthcare students representing 9 health professions, including veterinary medicine. A unique curriculum was established that utilizes a modified problem-based learning delivery method where students from different professions meet in small group sessions to explore topics related to healthcare delivery, roles and responsibilities of the health professions, foundations of team science and team work in healthcare, interprofessional communication techniques, and the ethics and values that underlie healthcare delivery. Topics in One Health, Health Systems Science (HSS), and systems-based practice are also included. Students meet weekly throughout the first year of the veterinary program and on select days throughout the second year to explore cases and topics related to collaborative healthcare delivery.
The IPE program has evolved to include the foundations of HSS, which is defined as the study of healthcare delivery, including how health professionals collaborate and how healthcare systems can improve patient care. The American Medical Association first published the HSS framework in 2016 as the third pillar of medical education in addition to the basic and clinical sciences. The learning domains of focus are value in healthcare, patient safety, quality improvement, teamwork and team science, leadership, clinical informatics, population health, socioeconomic determinants of health, healthcare policy and healthcare economics. These topics are increasingly important within veterinary education and the veterinary healthcare delivery system. During IPE sessions, students are provided clinical cases that emphasize collaboration and systems-based challenges of care delivery, which provides the context and relevancy to various veterinary practice settings. Value is gained when students compare and contrast care delivery models across professions and discuss how each organizes and delivers care in complex clinical environments. Providing opportunities for students to examine their own professions through the lenses of students from other health professions is key to bringing new insights to systems challenges.
Interprofessional Practice & Education adds value to veterinary medical education through systems thinking and practice. To learn more, visit www.westernu.edu/veterinary/spotlight.
Citation: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261, 6; 10.2460/javma.23.04.0201
Through the WesternU IPE courses, veterinary students explore how healthcare teams are expanding in both general and specialty veterinary practice. Next year, we will expand into experiential learning activities alongside our healthcare delivery partners throughout the healthcare system to fully embrace the important roles and responsibilities of the veterinary profession. WesternU has established clinical experiential learning in Southern California with underserved communities through our Veterinary Ambulatory Community Clinical Service (VACS). The VACS mobile clinics and partnerships with shelters and other facilities have been foundational components. Students are living the motto, “Learning to serve, serving to learn.” We are expanding strategic partnerships with additional organizations that serve the underserved. These experiences strengthen the abilities of our veterinary students to successfully navigate systems-based practice to embrace societal needs for veterinary care.
