Communication Skills and Veterinary Education

Abstract

Veterinarians require effective communication skills for interacting with clients, colleagues and other people, but very little emphasis has been placed on these skills either in the professional literature, or in the curricula of veterinary schools. In this study questionnaires were used to assess attitudes of Queensland veterinary students and recent graduates to various aspects of communication. These revealed that students entered the veterinary course with a relatively low appreciation of the importance to a veterinarian of the skills needed to interact effectively with people, but placed high importance on skills for dealing with animals. As the students proceeded from first to fifth year, they became increasingly aware of the relative importance to veterinarians of understanding and communicating with people. Formal teaching of communication skills to veterinary students has recently been pioneered at the University of Queensland. This involves a sequence of subjects in the first, third and fifth year of the veterinary course. Emphasis is placed on factors that help and hinder both spoken and written communication, and on the desirability of adopting a critical, analytical approach to (veterinary) scientific literature. Surveys have indicated that the students appreciate the value of these subjects in relation to their future career, and feedback from employers of recent graduates has been positive.