Professional Skills

Course Description

The Professional Skills coursework (VM 802A, 802B, 802C, and 802D) represents four consecutive semesters of interactive learning designed to introduce students to key occupational attributes that are required for success in clinical practice. Emphasis will be placed on interpersonal skills, including professional behavior, ethics, and how to communicate effectively with all members of the veterinary team (employers, colleagues, support staff, and veterinary clients). Instructional sessions on clinic conversations will introduce Calgary-Cambridge communication skills and allow students multiple opportunities to practice these skills in simulated encounters with standardized clients. Simulated encounters will include every day clinic dialogues, such as comprehensive and focused history-taking, estimate sharing, explanation of physical exam findings, and review of the diagnostic and/or treatment plans. As students develop proficiency in foundational communication skills, their encounters with standardized clients will advance in difficulty to include such difficult conversations as financial constraints, disease progression, euthanasia, and anticipatory grief. In addition to oral communication skills, students will practice the art of written communication by learning how to construct concise medical records (SOAP notes) that hold up in courts of law. Other key professional skills that will be explored in depth include sessions on financial acuity and student debt, practice management, contract negotiation, work-life balance, mental health and wellbeing.

Code

VETM 802A

Credits

3

Subject

Veterinary Medicine, Col of