Veterinary Medicine and Science BVMSci (Hons) - 2024/5

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Programme Philosophy
Our mission is to inspire and educate veterinary professionals who will advance veterinary medicine to meet the needs of a changing world.

Our vision is to educate confident and compassionate veterinarians committed to animal welfare, who through clinical and scientific excellence, contribute significantly to society with professionalism and integrity. We will deliver world- leading, multi-disciplinary, translational research and innovative education through local and global partnerships to benefit veterinary and human medicine.

Our core values: Inclusion, Inspiration, Innovation, Integrity.

Educational Philosophy
Our educational philosophy is based on a collaborative approach to learning that enables our learners to graduate with the confidence and competence to be effective veterinarians, who continue to develop and learn. Based upon authentic approaches to learning, our aim is to develop learners who use evidence-based practice underpinned by sound scientific approaches who can communicate to a broad range of people with different specialisms and experience. With increasing skill and confidence, we aim to stimulate inquisitive minds who use sound principles to investigate, inquire, and innovate thus helping the profession to evolve in an increasingly complex world. Through an engaged and critical approach to learning, our students will be encouraged to develop appropriate questions to further their work and understanding of animal health and welfare as well as links to broader aspects of a One Health approach.

Our philosophy is underpinned the following key principles:
Transparency. The goals, structures and methods of our teaching are made explicit to staff and to students. We will explain why we do what we do.
Alignment. What we teach, the way we teach it, and the way we assess students' learning all point towards the same goal. We will do everything for a reason.

Reflection. Students are encouraged to record their experiences and to reflect upon these experiences in order to build a conscious awareness of the self and of the learning process. Our students will be active participants in the learning process.

Integration and connectivity. A curriculum that is framed around education principles which encourage learners to integrate their knowledge and understanding across boundaries so that they can apply this in practice. Students will analyse learning outcomes and synthesise knowledge from a range of evidence to draw conclusions and develop further questions.

Authenticity. A curriculum that provides authentic experience by using partners, clinical specialists, practicing veterinarians, and researchers to provide breadth and depth of understanding applicable to an interdisciplinary approach to learning. The range of authentic experiences informs our students¿ understanding of the diverse career options open to veterinary graduates. The final year clinical training phase will occur in a workplace-based environment in a network of veterinary practices.

Engagement. A curriculum that encourages dialogue where learners are involved in practical experience throughout the programme of study. As engaged learners students will be actively involved in their own learning and understand how to identify where and how they can develop themselves and others.

Knowledge. A curriculum based on the knowledge required to be confident and competent primary care veterinarians who understand the fundamental principles of veterinary medicine. This knowledge will be delivered through a vertical application that encourages learners to construct integrated knowledge and understanding that can be applied to the different situations encountered.

Communication. A curriculum based on effective communication so that learners are both informed and contributors to their own professional development. Our students will be able to adapt their communication style to suit different audiences such as partner agencies, researchers, teaching staff, clinicians, owners and peers.

Criticality. A curriculum that facilitates a research and practice-based teaching approach that develops critical thinkers who can identify problems and formulate hypotheses.

Inclusive. A curriculum based on inclusivity with regards to content, delivery, and assessments to ensure that all students are provided with an equitable and supportive learning experience that offers them the opportunity to succeed, whatever their background.

Cocreated. Students will be involved in strategic changes to the curriculum enabling unexpected consequences and impact on students to be identified and alternative approaches suggested by students to be considered.
Research informed and evidence-based. The curriculum pedagogy and content will be research informed and evidence-based providing students with exposure to the latest research and empowering them to actively participate in inquiry-led learning processes.

The Surrey Advantage as it applies to becoming a Day One Competent Veterinarian.
Global and cultural capabilities. Living and studying in our diverse community, students will develop intercultural awareness and informed views on global, social, and ethical issues. Students will develop their competence to engage effectively with people from different backgrounds in ways that respect the interests of cultural groups and individual rights. Students will develop appreciation of a diversity of cultural experience and ways of relating to others without stereotyping.

RCVS Day One Competencies define professional attributes a day one competent veterinarian should demonstrate including global and cultural capabilities as defined by competencies 18 and 19. In Competency 18 as defined by the RCVS, requires graduates to demonstrate inclusivity and cultural competence, and to encourage diverse contributions within the workplace. Competency 19 as defined by the RCVS, requires graduates to Work effectively as a member of a professional/inter-professional team, fully recognising the contribution of each professional, and demonstrate an understanding of cognitive diversity. The curriculum is designed to align with these competencies in modules across all levels of the programme.

Modules contain authentic teaching with exposure to diverse socio-economic client groups in different environments including charity practice. Students are exposed to discussions with and considerations about the diverse clientele and their differing needs when discussing different case management options. Students engage with a multitude of viewpoints and develop arguments which nurture their appreciation for the world around them taking into consideration diversity in society beyond their immediate context. Students are assessed with modalities such as individual presentations and self-reflections that provide the opportunity to share autobiographical and culturally diverse experiences. Students are given ample opportunity to explore what it means to be a global citizen with cultural capabilities including exposure to equity, diversity, and inclusion concepts and tools for students to be able to engage as veterinary surgeons with a range of stakeholders from different faiths and ethnicities. There will also be opportunity for students to engage with material about international organisations like the World Health Organisation and consider managing animal health within an international One Health context. Students can carry out EMS all over the world. There is no limit to the number of weeks spent abroad doing EMS. Enhancing their global and cultural competencies.

Digital capabilities. Surrey students will encounter a range of increasingly sophisticated tasks which enable them to develop and demonstrate the digital capabilities most relevant to the veterinary profession. They will develop as digital citizens, fully able to take advantage of and participate in society and professional life, within a digital, connected world.

Digital capabilities are embedded throughout the BVMSci Programme at all academic levels. Students are expected to master basic key skills such as word processing, use of spreadsheets and PowerPoint which are essential not only for students¿ time at University, but as future veterinary professionals. Throughout the programme, students will be encouraged to engage with learning through the online virtual learning environment (SurreyLearn), which contains digitised documents in the form of lecture notes, learning logs, slide-decks, and informational documents such as assessment briefs and module handbooks. The programme uses a software called Panopto to capture lectures that students may use for both preparation for learning sessions, and as revision to review covered learning objectives. The programme also uses digital technology in the assessment strategy with students producing presentations, preparing video recordings, and producing detailed word-processed documents with scholarly referencing using reference managing software such as Mendeley, which will help with employability and research in veterinary clinical practice. Furthermore, students are taught in the use of specific scientific analytical software appropriate to research methods in line with their third-year research projects.

Students arriving to study on the programme in Year 1 will have a wide level of experience and comfort with various digital programmes, which may enhance their learning experience, or could be detrimental if their comfort is low. As such, in their first year of study the module VMS1002: The Veterinary Professional, will be embedded a portfolio task designed to help students assess their current skill level with the most used Microsoft Office programmes that the programme requires proficiency with. For each skill, students are asked to review the category and associated tasks. If there are any gaps in those skills, students are asked to add them to a development plan to work on using signposted resources.

Employability. Each Surrey student will be supported to develop a unique set of individual, interpersonal, and professional skills, which are relevant to their discipline and career ambitions. These skills will equip students with all the tools needed to progress, complete their studies and be employment ready.

As an accredited programme with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the BVMSci Programme is designed to prepare students for employment as Day One competent veterinary surgeons. Over the course of the five-year programme, veterinary students will undertake extra-mural studies (EMS) in a range of self-selected placements focusing on animal husbandry in the first two years, and different clinical veterinary practice in the final three years outside of semester time. This provides a student-centred learning opportunity to gain valuable experience of employment in a workplace-based context. Students also receive training in other aspects of employability such as CV writing, reviewing and negotiating employment contracts, and appropriate interview techniques. They are also exposed to the range of employment opportunities within the profession and attend a careers fair in the final year.
The final year of the course is workplace-based with 28 weeks spent in different veterinary practices across different disciplines important to achieving the Day One competencies that govern the programme. Students will spend the year working in primary care of different core species, experience working in veterinary pathology and public health, experience emergency and critical care, and also have the opportunity to spend some elective time in primary and referral care in either small animal, equine, or production animals. The final year is a unique opportunity to experience a wide variety of different working environments and to integrate into different teams. Students receive feedback on a weekly basis from specially trained mentors who work alongside students in their day-to-day practice. Progress is tracked throughout the year and this feedback forms part of the final grade. Students are assessed and graded on knowledge, clinical reasoning, technical skills, communication skills, patient care and professional skills and behaviours.

Resourcefulness and resilience. Each Surrey student is encouraged to embrace academic opportunities and challenges to develop their independence, learning agility, reflectiveness, self-awareness, proactivity, and self-regulation. These capabilities are developed throughout the programme and are important attributes for practicing veterinarians. The module The Veterinary Professional in Year 1 is designed to increase student awareness of resourcefulness and resilience as concepts in both their learning, and in their future careers as veterinarians, and provide them with coping strategies to thrive in a challenging but fulfilling career. These concepts are further developed in the clinical and professional skills teaching in Years 3 and 4. Immersive simulations and group activities provide challenging experiences where resourcefulness and the need for resilience is encountered. Authentic experiential learning on EMS and during final year rotations, sometimes in remote locations, further increases these capabilities.

Sustainability. Surrey students will develop the knowledge, understanding, skills, and attributes needed to work and live in a way that the needs of the present are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Students will be nurtured as future leaders in sustainability thinking and empowered to make informed decisions and take responsible actions that promote the wellbeing of present and future generations.

Sustainability concepts are woven throughout the curriculum in each year. For example, the re-use of donated anatomical specimens and use of models to exemplify sustainable practical teaching in each year. Students are taught about sustainability in the context of the individual as veterinary professionals, with discussions and simulations relating to good health practices such as stress-management and maintenance of a positive working environment. Students will also learn about sustainability in the context of agricultural practices and environmental considerations with discussions relating to intensive pig production, global food demands, and the environmental impact of large-scale poultry production. This includes a sustainability audit of an EMS placement.

In Year 4, students will cover specific sustainability themes and concepts applicable to sustainable practice and the role it plays in the context of One Health. Students receive lectures and seminar content about sustainable veterinary clinical practice, the environmental impact of medication and anaesthetics, the environmental impact of intensive livestock production, antimicrobial resistance, and alternatives to antibiotics. This module will also highlight transdisciplinary collaboration by including joint seminars with environmental organisations and the medical school. Importantly, it will also provide lectures and seminars on equity, diversity, and inclusion, connecting sustainability to greater global equity and the UN sustainable development goals. An element of assessment will involve auditing a veterinary practice for sustainability and inclusivity. In the final year, students will have the opportunity to apply their learning and explore sustainability on their work placements and reflect upon that sustainability as part of their assessments and must also mention this as part of their clinical audit assessment.