Changing Perceptions of Veterinary Undergraduates to Module Re-Structuring as They Progress Through the Curriculum

Abstract

The evaluation of student and faculty opinions on curricular changes in veterinary medical education is an essential part of the quality assurance process. This study investigates if the perceived educational value of a newly introduced module (veterinary pathobiology) in the earlier stages of a veterinary curriculum changes as students progress into the later phases of their training. Data were collected by anonymous questionnaire from two sequential final year student cohorts in 2021 and 2022. These students had previously been surveyed on their views of the new integrated pathobiology module immediately after taking it in their third year. Within 2 years, student satisfaction with the module's learning objectives increased significantly. Final year students had much clearer appreciation of how this pedagogical innovation enhanced their learning and that this was particularly true of the case-based learning approach adopted. While faculty teaching these students in their final year clinical pathobiology rotation expressed the view that overall, student performance was no different when compared to previous years, this somewhat disappointing finding needed to be viewed in the context of the intervening COVID-19 pandemic where face-to-face teaching of students over many months had been severely curtailed as had student attendance of their extramural studies. This study confirms a positive effect of an integrated curricular intervention in veterinary undergraduate education and highlights the necessity of student evaluation at multiple time points as their perception of the value of such changes appears to be linked to their experience and expectations.